Some questions I have about wild edibles.

[backpacker3]

So I've been working on learning how to identify edible plants recently. For now I'm focusing on ones found in North America and I know all the easy stuff acorns, black walnuts, hickory nuts, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, mulberries. The basic ones to start with, I know more than just those but I don't think I need to list all the easy stuff.

Anyway I heard that all aggregate berries in North America are safe to eat though does anyone know if that is true?

I don't have much of a problem with nuts and berries but I want to learn more about edible plants in particular I can identify some like dandelions and cattails but I'd like to learn more about the common edible ones and ones to avoid. Any good places to start?

[Rick]

To my knowledge that is true but how would you know if a fruit is aggregate or multiple by looking at it? While something like blackberry or raspberry is easy to identify as an aggregate, strawberry certainly isn't. I would suggest a much better rule of thumb is to learn the individual fruits and not rely on adages or rules of thumb when it comes to eating something. You need to positively know it or don't put it in your mouth.

I would suggest a book on edible and poisonous plants. There are many available and any bookstore carries them as does Amazon. We also have a list of books you can look at

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...al+book+thread

as well as an excellent definitions thread that YCC put together.

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...nitions-Thread

I would also suggest you take the time to draw the various plants. It doesn't matter whether you are an artist or not. Taking the time to draw a plant means you really study the plant from all sides. It's a much better teacher than just looking at it or looking at pictures in a book. You'll also want to mark the plant so you can find it and visit it in all four seasons and learn what it looks like all through the year.

Hope that helps.

[backpacker3]

I've got some books and I looked at the thread you posted a little too. That's a good point on the berries too.

[Cho]

first post
just got back from Glacier national park....lots of ripe berries

tasted most


some sour ...like service berries some sweet like thimble berries

then i found a whole hike with snow berries.....never saw them before.....tasted like celery....tried to find out if they were safe to eat or not.....and found the confusing mantra of no they are toxic ....and a rare site that said thy were common in the primitive diet.....cooked may be better


they tasted good

ive been reading Samuel Thayer's book of eating wilds....and other then a few items [which must be identified ]....taste good probably safe.....cooking helps

what are other's experience with snow berries

of coarse i would't eat any unknown berry or plant in bulk unless i absolutely identified it as safe

[hunter63]

Hunter63, saying Hey and Welcome.

There is an intro section....
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...-Introductions

[TrueNord]

Google has always been my go to source for finding out if a plant is edible or not. It has never failed me :P

[Rick]

If it's on the internet it must be true. Published authors make mistakes in books on edibles so I don't think I'd trust John Q Public as to whether something is edible or not. But that's just me.

[TrueNord]

I agree. Books can often have outdated and false information so should always be taken with a grain of salt. That's why I like to use the internet and look up scholarly articles or scientific documents and gather as many resources you can from the internet, make comparisons, and then find similarities int he information. The more similarities there are between sources the safer it is to trust them. What's great about the internet is you can often find the most recently updated studies and information on wild plants even before they hit the books; if you are looking in the right places such as University horticulture studies or scientific records often uploaded the day they studies are done.

The Ohio State University for example has a huge horticulture department and has a whole online library with well documented identification and nutritional value of plants that grow in the mid-west. I'm sure there are other universities that do the same for other regions of the US.

Another thing I like about using online sources is if perhaps you forget a field book, you can always get instant information on a wild plant in the wild assuming you have a smartphone. I found this to be useful if I'm for example walking from work and just happen to stumble across a unique plant on the side of the road and want to ID it; of course I'm not going to have a field book on me.