White-tailed Deer Food Habits and Preferences in the Cross Timbers

Common Names: Deer vetch, Deer pea vetch,
Pursh’s deer vetch
Scientific Name: Lotus purshianus
Deer vetch is an erect plant to 3 feet. Leaves with
3 leaflets or reduced to one on the upper part of the
stem. Flowers are solitaire in the leaf axils with white,
rosy or lavender-pink petals. Deer vetch grows in
sandy soils in the Cross Timbers and Prairies Region.
Seasons of Use: Spring, Summer, Fall
Forage Class: Forb
Bloom: May to July (Annual)
Common Names: Eryngo, Levenworth’s eryngo
Scientific Name: Eryngium leavenworthii
Eryngo is a tall erect, prickly plant with single or
multiple stems or branches. Leaves are 1 to 2 inches
long, purplish, and deeply cut with 3 to 5 spiny lobes
and tips. Flowers are distinct with 1 to 1 1/4 inch
bright reddish-purple heads set in spiny bracts and
composed of numerous small flowers. This is an
attractive late summer and early fall plant in the Cross
Timbers and Prairies Region and grows in clayey
fields and prairies.
Seasons of Use: Summer, Fall
Forage Class: Forb
Bloom: July to October (Annual)
Common Names: Evax, Rabbit tobacco
Scientific Name: Evax sp.
Evax are very small erect plants with white
to gray wool-like pubescence on the leaves.
Flowers are clustered in the leaf axils and
without ray flowers. Evax grows on sandy
open woods, prairies and fields throughout
the Cross Timbers and Prairies Region.
Season of Use: Winter
Forage Class: Forb
Bloom: April to June (Perennial)
50 APPENDIX B: NATIVE FOOD PLANTS - FORBS