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Story by Environmental Educator, Louis Keller:
There is a common multi trunked plant called the Yaupon tree (Ilex vomitoria) that I find fascinating at Westcave. It can be found in abundance in central Texas and most of the southeastern American seaboard. This evergreen tree has small serrated leaves and hardy red berries. Landscapers love to use yaupon due to its ability to survive without too much water or care. People often overlook yaupon as something ordinary, resembling a more jagged persimmon tree without a juicy fruit. However, most folks do not realize that yaupon is one of the only native caffeinated trees in North America! We import our coffee and tea from all across the world yet we have a great source of natural energy in our backyards and hills! The closest caffeinated plants beside the yaupon in relation to our geography are dahoon holly (Ilex cassine), guayusa (Ilex guayusa) and yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis). Caffeine has developed in families and species like the holly trees in the Americas (Ilex family), coffee (Coffea family), and tea (Camellia sinensis) time and time again, because of its great ability to deter pests, and it is more advantageous for plants to annoy a pest than to kill them. If caffeine were to be lethal to insects, the few that did have the ability to survive this natural pesticide would go on to repopulate in a world without competitors and these plants would soon be in a heap of trouble. I always find it so interesting that one of the most enjoyable energy boosts from nature is a delicate pesticidal balancing act! Yaupon has a similar caffeine amount to a cup of black tea with an earthy taste. On the north patio of Westcave's Environmental Learning Center, you'll notice that humans aren't the only lovers of yaupon, but Leafcutter ants, too!
A cup of delicious yaupon tea and the diligent Leafcutter ants pictured above.
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