Three thick green shrubs stand sentry along my backyard fence. Squat and unassuming, each is about four feet tall, its branches dense with small, scalloped leaves. Seemingly impervious to heat, ...

The yaupon holly considered by many as a weed in the South is actually an energizing tea that's been around for centuries. It's a rarity to start my morning with anything other than a steaming cup of ...

During the drought of 2011, sisters Abianne Falla and JennaDee Detro watched as one-hundred-year-old oak trees died on their family’s ranch, in Cat Spring. On neighboring ranches, entire herds of ...

I buy local and support small, independent businesses when possible, even when I travel. Unfortunately, my tea addiction hasn’t allowed that, at least until recently. In a small cafe in St. Augustine, ...

For years, I have loved native yaupon holly. The dark green shrub-tree with red berries in winter grows naturally all over the side of an old secondary dune along my driveway. I planted even more ...

A former Volusia County beach cop who forages for his crop through woods and his partners have turned leaves once used by Native Americans in medicine and ceremonies into a big business for ...

Three Austinites are producing Texas-grown tea — and, in the process, helping Bastrop residents and the pine forest there recover from the devastating 2011 wildfires. Their Lost Pines Yaupon Tea, now ...

Yaupon, North America's only native caffeinated plant, is gaining attention as a potential major crop in Florida. Rising tariffs on tea and coffee imports have created a unique opportunity for ...

NEW SMYRNA BEACH — Bryon White fought his way through palmettos and brush, pointing out poison ivy as he hiked through a patch of woods with a golf course as its neighbor. The former beach safety ...