Austin Cactus 
& Succulent Society

ACSS August Meeting

  • 15 Aug 2019
  • 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM
  • Austin Area Garden Center at Zilker Botanical Garden

Registration

7:00 pm - Refreshments and Conversation

7:30 pm - Program: Prehispanic Uses of Cacti and Succulent Plants Among Mexican Indigenous Groups by Liliana Cracraft

Liliana Cracraft is from Monterrey, México and moved to Houston in 1982. She has a great interest and pride in her Mexican heritage. She has been an active member of the Houston Cactus and Succulent Society since 1991. Her interest in cacti and succulents, combined with her involvement in health care, extends to her membership to the Texas Cactus Council, an organization based in Kingsville that promotes the use of the prickly pear cactus (nopales) as a source of food, especially for diabetics.

She taught a popular “Cooking with Cactus” class for a number of years, and regularly lectures on many topics including the important roles that cacti have played in the lives of Mexican people, the History of Tequila & Mezcal, Prehispanic Mexican Food, Aztec Medicine, Folk Medicine, and the traditional Mexican dishes for Christmas and Lent.

Liliana’s activities have been featured on several publications such as Healthweek (Dallas), The Amateur Digest (Canada), Texas Medical Center News (Houston), and the Houston Chronicle. She has appeared on KTMD Channel 48 “Buenos Días Houston,” KTRK Channel 13 “Viva Houston,” and KXLN Channel 45 “Hola Houston.” She has given presentations at the Institute of Hispanic Culture, the Tejano Association for Historical Preservation, Shell Oil’s Hispanic Cultural Experience, Le Panier Cooking School, Houston Garden Center, Casa Ramírez Folk Art Gallery, University of Houston-Center for Mexican-American Studies, the Houston Garden Federation, and many gardening clubs around Houston and Galveston.

She completed her masters and doctoral degrees in public health at the University of Texas Health Science Center Houston, where she worked at the Medical School as a microbiology researcher, educator, and infection control for 35 years.


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