This photo of an Agarita (Mahonia trifoliolata) branch was taken in May of this year.

Agarita Spring

This native is a member of the barberry family and is an evergreen shrub about 3 – 6 feet in height. The wood and flowers are a bright yellow and, as you can see, the berries a bright red. It has holly-like leaves, and in fact many people mistake it for a holly. The leaflets are lobed and end in sharp spines.

Agarita is widespread on our property and the flowers are fragrant and quite beautiful, especially in a year of good rain, like this was. The berries put on a great show and jump out as they dot the landscape.

I just learned this year that the berries are edible, so every time I was walking on our property and came across one, I would taste the berries. They are quite sweet when ripe.

One of my fellow Hays County Master Naturalists made agarita jelly this year since the berries were so plentiful. He found a recipe on the Internet and got to work. Here’s one recipe I found. He reports that picking the berries can be quite painful. He then read about a different method: spread a canvas or plastic sheet around the bush and then shake it! He was able to gather about 3 pounds an hour with this method. He collected a total of about 5 pounds of berries which resulted in 14 1/2 8-ounce jars of jelly.

I donated a framed print of “Agarita Spring” to the silent auction at the Texas Master Naturalist State Meeting which was held last month in New Braunfels. The silent auction was a great success and raised funds for the state organization. I’m glad I could help.