July 2021

By Ranger Amy

Growing along wet culverts in the park you’ll find elderberry trees in bloom. You could call them a tree or a shrub since they don’t get very tall: 10 feet, give or take. This June we saw their clusters of small white flowers blooming throughout the wet areas of the park.

Most parts of the plant, except for the flowers and berries, are poisonous.

In East Texas, elderberries are almost sacred. I know many people who make medicinal tinctures out of the berries and wine from the flowers (and berries), and who cook the flowers to make fried fritters.

To learn more about the medicinal and edible properties of this amazing plant check out the Foraging Texas blog.

Enjoy these plants and learn to identify them while visiting the park, but please leave them be. To protect and preserve our flora and fauna, we do not allow foraging and collecting in state parks.