A Thorny Subject
![photos of agarita berry, mequite tree, sotol plant, cactus](../images/dinner/spikeycollage.jpg)
![photograph of red fruits on prickly pear cactus pads](../images/dinner/cactustuna2-sm.jpg)
![drawing of woman digging a spikey plant](../images/dinner/digging-sm.jpg)
Indians knew that getting food from some plants took lots of skill. Some of the best foods were from spiky, prickly, or thorny plants. For instance, mesquite pods have to be picked from trees with wicked thorns. Blackberries grow on long thorny vines. And prickly pear cactuswell, it's very prickly! But the pads and fruits, called tunas, can be delicious.
![photograph man tending agave fields](../images/dinner/agavetoday-sm.jpg)
![photograph sotol plant](../images/dinner/lech2-sm.jpg)
Some of the most unexpected food sources are fibrous plants with big bulbs or roots such as sotol, lechuguilla, yucca, and agave. Tackling these plants meant dodging knife-like leaves with sharp pointed tips, a sometimes painful chore. Spanish explorers traveling across the Texas Plains tangled with these menacing plants. It's no wonder that one variety of these plants is now called Spanish Dagger!
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