Foraging: identifying and eating turks cap flowers and fruit, easy for beginners

Isn't that vivid red and green combo perfect for this time of year?

Identification difficulty: Beginner

Turk's cap sometimes known as Texas mallow, Drummond's mallow or Mexican apple, and formally known as Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii, is an edible wild plant and a member of the hibiscus family, native to Texas, the Southwestern US, and Mexico. 

Most, if not all, members of the hibiscus family have edible parts, or are at least, non-poisonous. The flowers of many varieties are steeped into herbal teas, where they impart a tartness, like pomegranate, but also a lovely floral note.  For those of you who enjoy Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger, that's a hibiscus-focused tea. 

Even if hibiscus isn't the primary flavor in your tea, check out the package, chances are, there's some hibiscus in there. The flower family is used to provide floral aromas, tartness and rich color to teas, candies, confections and more. 

The most famously used hibiscus is the roselle, Hibiscus sabdariffa, native to Africa. Roselle is the main ingredient in the famous Jamaican sorrel punch, infused with citrus, sugar and ginger and served virgin or spiked with rum. It's also used throughout processed foods, primarily to impart a vivid red color. When you see "natural colors and flavors" and the item is red, there's a good chance it contains hibiscus, specifically roselle. 

My point in this divergence is that you've almost certainly eaten a hibiscus before, even if you didn't know it. 

Most hibiscus have edible flowers, and some, like roselle, are used for their calyxes or buds, but turk's cap also produces an edible fruit of a reasonable size and decent flavor. Furthermore, while the whole family is pretty easy to identify, Turk's cap is one of the easiest of them all. 

Turk's cap is an important late season food source for bees

How to identify Turk's cap

One of the reasons Turk's cap is so easy to ID is that it will generally continually produce flowers throughout its long season. You can find both the distinctive flowers and buds pretty much all the time. 

M. arboreus grows to be about 42 - 55" tall, with large (up to 7") green leaves on thin, smooth, green woody stalks. The stalks branch infrequently, mostly at the top, and the branches are nearly as thick as the main stalk. What looks like a cluster of single-stemmed plants is often one large, multi-branched plant, as Turk's cap is technically a shrub. 

The mature leaves are wide, about 2/3 as wide as they are long, and come to a point at the end, with two smaller, shallower points parallel to one another, mid-way through the leaf. When the leaves are small, they don't have the two secondary points, and are more of a teardrop or triangle shape. 

The flower buds have calyxes with a distinctive, elongated crown shape, surrounding the pointed bud within. After the flower blooms, the crown will encircle its base. 

The plant's common name, turk's cap, comes from the shape of the flowers, which someone, sometime decided looked rather like a Turkish fez. While 16th century fezes were taller than more recent ones, the name is still a stretch. The bloom really doesn't look much like a fez at all, but it is very unusual. 

The flower never seems to bloom, with it's five petals remaining always in a rather tight swirl. The stigma emerges from the center, rising high above the petals, topped with red. The unusual shape is a delight for hummingbirds, whose long beaks can easily dip into the deep well of the flower. Bees will crawl their whole bodies inside, or access pollen along the stigma. 

Native varieties of Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii are red, but cultivars may be white, pink or yellow. Some cultivars do not bear these larger fruit. 

Starting out green, then white, the ripe fruit is red, small, marble sized or slightly larger, up to about 3/4 of an inch across. It's shaped more like a tomato--wider than it is tall--than an apple, though it's firm to the squeeze. The bottom has a star or swirl shape, evocative of the shape of the bloom. The calyx is large and pulled back by the time of fruiting. 

Inside, the fruit is pithy, and has many large, edible seeds. The taste is like watermelon rind (the white part), somewhat like cucumber, and with a hint of green apple tartness. Just a reminder that not all cultivars will bear fruit of a size worth eating.

Ecological importance and sustainable harvesting

During the summer, Turk's cap are a favorite food of hummingbirds; butterflies will also visit, though there are other flowers which better attract them. 

During mild years, Turk's cap blooms through November and well into December in North Texas, making it one of the most important late-season food sources for pollinators. Though, it's important to note that some cultivars stop blooming earlier. 

Evevery stand I have found in November or later is absolutely swarming with bees, nearly every flower has a honey bee bottom sticking out, and the importance of this flower in extending the honey-making season can't be overstated. 

The fruit is popular with small animals and some birds, and it too is an important late-season food source. 

If you've planted Turk's cap on your own property, or have access to large planted stands in parks, you can probably harvest a significant number of flowers, and several handfuls of fruit. But if you find it in the wild, be very careful with over-harvesting, especially of the fruit. And remember, its illegal to pick wildflowers on public land in Texas. 

A stand of Turk's cap at a park in Downtown Dallas. Turk's cap is very popular in public areas, because of it's ease of growth and usefulness as a ground cover.

Growing your own

If you have some land available, Turk's cap is a wonderful native plant to consider. It supposedly grows equally well from partial sun to full shade, and can even do well in full sun. It's tall and grows thickly, and could be perfect for hiding any eyesore areas. It's tangled growth makes it more appealing for naturally inspired gardens and semi-wild areas.

During the winter, Turk's cap will die back down to the ground, but it is a perennial throughout its range, and will return next year. Still, if you're using it decoratively, consider what the bare space will look like as well.

Turks cap will spread vigorously, if you want to controll it, you will have to trim off the branches that run horizontal to the ground, looking for new places to root. This potential for runners to root supposedly makes Turk's cap very easy to grow from cuttings. I intend to try cuttings as well as seeds come spring.

Its hard to find out from online sellers if thier plants are the kinds that bear fruit of an edible size, so if  you specifically want to grow Turk's cap for fruit, you are best finding the plant you want in the wild (or in someone else's garden) and taking either seeds or cuttings to start your own garden from. Turk's cap is supposed to be very easy to grow from both. 

Eating and using Turk's cap

Pretty much all the above-ground parts of Turk's cap can be eaten, besides the woody stem: leaves, flower buds, flowers and fruit. It's possible the root can be as well, but I have no report of it. 

Leaves

The leaves are large and can be used as one would grape leaves, though they are very perishable and should be eaten shortly after picking. I've nibbled on a few and found them uninspired, but I'm not a huge fan of grape leaves either. 

Flower buds

The flower buds can be pickled, boiled or sautéed, they are mild, a very neutral tasting green, with a mild sweetness, sort of like young green beans. Unlike dandelion or sow thistle buds, they have no bitterness and so lack complexity when pickled.

Bear in mind, every bud you pick is a flower that can't bloom and a fruit that can't ripen. Harvest only where abundant, leaving plenty for the pollinators and birds.

Flowers 

I'd heard the flowers were most often used in a tea, and so that's how I tried them. I was excited when I removed the pestle to find rhe blossom was full of sticky nectar, and that 5 blooms made a cup of super dark red tea. 

Sadly, despite its vivid color, the tea had little flavor.  

The petals that had soaked in the hot water were incredibly muscenelingus, much more so even than okra. I would like to try further experimentation with Turk's cap as a thickening agent.

Also, I suspect the unique shape holds culinary value. I would love to try the blooms stuffed with cheese and lightly fried, as one would with squash flowers. 

More experiments on the way, when I have a stand of my own. 

Fruit

The fruit is rather dry and pithy inside, despite this it is juiced and made into a jelly by some. I think a better use would be in baked goods, or perhaps mashed into a fruit leather. Again, I've not had access to many for experiments. 

Unfortunately, I've not found enough Turk's cap in pristine land that I can harvest from to really experiment with it, though I'm hoping that will change as I plan to grow my own in the coming season.