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Re: Yaupon Hollies
- To: Carolinabirds@duke.edu
- Subject: Re: Yaupon Hollies
- From: Joshua Stuart Rose <jsr6@duke.edu>
- Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2001 16:29:38 -0400 (EDT)
- In-reply-to: <20010401140334.68785.qmail@web13303.mail.yahoo.com>
- Sender: carolinabirds-owner@acpub.duke.edu
Kate and other Carolinabirders,
The Latin name of the Yaupon Holly comes from the fact that the berries
make humans vomit; it was apparently used for this purpose by native
Americans. I'm not sure if this is always true, or if the berries lose
this property when they become edible to birds after freezing and thawing
a few times. They also cause dia... um... Montezuma's Revenge, which some
folks think assists in the successful dispersal of the seeds after
they've been eaten.
Sandy Cash reports that the date of Dave Sibley's visit to the Regulator
Bookshop on 9th street in Durham, May 5, is also the date of the Durham
Spring Bird Count. Hmmmmmm. Maybe we should arrange to have a lunchtime
countdown in one of the 9th street restaurants...
My girlfriend's suet feeder is finally attracting some customers, but not
the ones I expected: Cardinals! Not sure if they really like the suet, or
if they're just picking out the seeds. I'm just glad SOMEbody's eating it!
Good birding,
Josh
On Sun, 1 Apr 2001, Kate Finlayson wrote:
>
> Thanks for more interesting info. love the yaupon
> holly story. Is that why vomit is in its latin name?
> >
> > Yaupon Holly (Ilex vomitoria), a species native to the NC
> > coastal plain. Apparently, the bright red berries are inedible when
> > they first ripen. Somehow, after 2-3 freezes, the freezing and
> > thawing renders them edible. Then the waxwings move in...
Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)
jsr6@acpub.duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/