My wife, Elaine, and I are enthusiastic pursuers of wild edibles throughout the year. These natural foods are healthy, tasty, and, well, free. What’s more, gathering nature’s bounty is a sublime way to enjoy the outdoors and reap the benefits of exercise. However, there’s a serious downside of wild foods: Some of them have look-alikes that aren’t flavorsome or, worse, they flaunt a harsh taste or are even poisonous. Learn to spot the differences between these plants and stay safe while foraging.
Summer Mushrooms: The Heavenly and the Hellish
Summer is prime time to forage for choice edible mushrooms, such as chicken of the woods and smooth chanterelles. Unfortunately, these two delicious mushrooms have a rogue look-alike: the infamous and poisonous jack-o’-lantern mushroom. Let’s take a closer look at these three fungi.
Chicken of the woods (Laetiporus sulphureus species complex) is our favorite mushroom, regardless of the time of year. Last summer, for example, our son Mark and I were on our way to gather blackberries when I espied a dead oak covered with chickens. For the next several minutes, I used a knife to sever some two dozen COWs – what mushroom enthusiasts call “chicken of the woods” for short – from the hardwood.
This bright-orange-and-yellow fan-shaped fungus can be as wide as a foot and can pale in color as it ages. Its wavy margins help with identifying it, as does its yellowish-white flesh. Besides oaks, I’ve encountered chicken of the woods thriving on dead or dying ashes as early as mid-May and as late as the first of November.
Remarkably, after I’d stacked the COWs like pizza boxes and was toting them back to my truck, I encountered a patch of smooth chanterelles (Cantharellus lateritius). Their yellowish-orange or light-yellow caps can grow 4 to 5 inches wide, but most of the ones I’ve come across have been about half that width. These wavy caps’ shape usually range from flatter with a slight depression in the middle to irregularly funnel-shaped. A chanterelle’s 2-to-3-inch stalks can be the same color as the caps or creamy white. The fruity-smelling flesh can be white or have a slightly yellow tint. Come summer, look for this species growing under oaks (but not on them).
The white flesh of chicken of the woods and smooth chanterelles differ from the flesh of the jack-o’-lantern (Omphalotus olearius), which is usually orange or yellow and flaunts a nauseatingly sweet smell. What’s more, jacks always grow on broadleaf trees or over dead, buried wood, a distinct difference from smooth chanterelles. Jack-o’-lantern caps can measure as much as 8 inches across and feature a bright-orange hue. The margins can be turned over or wavy as the fungus ages. It also tends to grow in clumps.
Types of Edible Puffball Mushrooms
Two of our favorite puffballs to eat are the gem-studded puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum) and the pear-shaped puffball (L. pyriforme), the former found in summer and the latter come autumn. Last summer, I found my first gem-studded in mid-July when I was walking along an old logging road. Four of them were growing on the side of the tote road, one of which had become darker and was emitting spores from its top.
Actually, encountering a spore-producing individual is an excellent way to learn you’ve indeed encountered puffballs. To confirm the other three were still edible, I cut them in half and noted the solid, creamy-white flesh. If a severed puffball of any species has a hint of brown or green inside, it’s not fit for the kitchen, as spores have begun to form. Gem-studded puffballs are typically 1 to 2 inches across, and tiny spine-like projections mark the exterior.
While gem-studded puffballs grow on the ground, the pear-shaped variety appears on dead or dying wood. By far, the majority I’ve gathered came from dead ashes, oaks, and even a few pines. Also known as the “stump puffball” because of its penchant for appearing on, of course, stumps, this fungus does indeed have a pear shape, although these “pears” are only about an inch wide.
Pear-shaped puffballs often grow in large clumps. On a number of occasions, I’ve gathered several dozen at a time, although I had to discard several of them because they were producing spores. Of all the smaller puffball species I’ve encountered, the pear-shaped features the most appealing taste, a pleasant earthy flavor.
Puffballs Versus Poisonous Posers
As is often the case with edible fungi, some poisonous posers look a little like small puffballs. So, how can you tell the difference? First, and most importantly, if a mushroom doesn’t have solid-white flesh, it’s either not a puffball or it’s a puffball that’s now producing spores.
My mushroom mentor, Jeff Huffman of Roanoke, Virginia, offers some more tips for gathering puffballs and identifying the look-alikes. Choose mature specimens, he advises, and use basic mushroom-identification methods to determine the species, such as examining the substrate (the type of habitat and range where a mushroom typically grows), color, and inside and outside appearance. Cut the mushroom egg in half and note how it looks; if you see gills, stipe (stalk), and the formation of a typical mushroom shape inside, it’s not a puffball. In this case, it could be a mushroom from the large genus Amanita, which contains inedible and toxic mushrooms.
Additionally, Jeff says, observe mushrooms that are at various stages of development. That way, you can more confidently identify puffballs. For example, young Amanitas may not have developed their mushroom shape and gills inside the egg. So, people may confuse them with edible puffballs if all they observe are the young ones, since edible puffballs and Amanita eggs are both white on the inside.
How else can we enjoy puffballs but remain safe? My basic rule is to never consume a mushroom new to me until I have an expert identify it. Then, I only take a few small bites the initial time I eat it, because even edible mushrooms can sometimes cause people to experience stomach distress. Finally, consider joining local mushroom clubs and purchasing books. My favorite is the National Audubon Society Field Guide to Mushrooms.
Fall Nuts: The Flavorsome and the Foul
Three of the most common hickory trees are the shagbark, the mockernut, and the bitternut. The shagbark (Carya ovata) is one of the easiest trees in the forest to identify, with its rough, light-gray, shaggy bark that looks to be peeling off in curved strips. Other traits include the tree’s narrow crown (canopy) and approximately 2-inch-tall green husks that turn brown when the light-brown inner nut and its nutmeat are ready to eat. I rank the black walnut (Juglans nigra) and the shagbark as possessing the most fetching autumn nutmeats, especially when added to homemade persimmon bread and pawpaw bread.
The mockernut (C. tomentosa) boasts excellent nutmeat as well. This hardwood features gray, slightly furrowed bark and seven or nine pinnately compound leaflets. The husk is usually a little less than 2 inches long and often has a split in the middle. As is true with the shagbark hickory, Elaine has employed the mockernut’s nut in various breads and cookies.
No forager is going to want to use the bitternut hickory nut (C. cordiformis) in any recipe. While I was writing this story, my friend Brady Price, who teaches at the same high school I do, brought me a hickory nut (sans husk) to identify. Thinking it came from a mockernut tree, as the globes of the two species are about the same size, I cracked the nut open, and Brady and I sampled the nutmeat – and then we quickly spit it out and tried to wash the foul taste from our mouths. In short, the bitternut isn’t poisonous, but it comes by its name honestly. Bitternut trees sport broad crowns, gray bark, and 7 to 9 compound pinnate leaflets. But the best way to identify this hardwood is by its bright-yellow buds at the end of slender twigs.
Fine Fall Fruits and Their Look-Alikes
Wild edible fall fruits flourish in many woodlots, but their look-alikes also exist at this time of year. Interestingly, summer grapes and Virginia creepers have twined their way up the same hardwood on our southwest Virginia land, and it’s easy to spot their differences.
Summer grapes (Vitis aestivalis) feature blueish-black globes about 1/4 inch wide. They begin to ripen in early September, and we gather them about a week later when they’re still a little tart – a characteristic we like when turning them into jelly. Also, leaving those grapes on the vines longer than that risks losing them to numerous species of wildlife. Other identification markers of these grapes include the 5-inch-or-so oval leaves, which are a dull green on the upper side and pale green on the lower with a slightly “hairy” feel.
Wild Grape Poisonous Look Alike
Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) is also in the grape family and sports palm-like compound leaves with distinct five-toothed leaflets. Its fall color can be a flashy red or a more subdued yellow. The berries have a much lighter-blue hue than that of summer grapes, which is important, as creeper berries are toxic to humans. However, numerous species of songbirds and mammals consume those berries to no ill effects. Stay away from those creeper vines as well, because they irritate the skin.
Northern spicebush (Lindera benzoin) and flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) also have several features that can cause confusion. Both are primarily understory flora, although dogwoods can grow about twice as tall as spicebush, which is more of a shrub and often tops out at 6 to 12 feet high. Each also has small, oval, scarlet-red drupes that wildlife consumes. Although, from my experience, creatures scarf up dogwood berries as soon as they ripen in early fall, whereas spicebush drupes often linger on their twigs well into winter.
Humans can consume spicebush berries, and they have a pleasant peppery taste. When ground up, they add pizzazz to pumpkin pies and other baked goods. The 6-inch-long and 2-1/2-inch-wide shiny leaves are dark green, oval-shaped, and grow in an alternate pattern. They can be ground and steeped to make a tea. However, the dogwood berries have a foul taste and rival a bitternut hickory on the bitterness scale. Dogwood leaves (which are oval and about 5 inches long and about half that wide) aren’t edible, but they’re a dazzler come autumn with their blazing colors.
From midsummer to late summer and well into autumn, nature offers up a cornucopia of scrumptious mushrooms and fruits. Just make sure you know what you can gather – and what you shouldn’t.
3 Problematic Fall Fruits
It’s just as important to know how to identify the plants that aren’t edible as well as the ones that are. The horse nettle, pokeweed, and common elderberry are also part of the late-summer and autumn landscape and all produce berries – all of which have issues.
Horse nettle (Solanum carolinense) is a member of the nightshade family and develops a yellow fruit that looks like a small tomato, which is poisonous. Indeed, every part of this plant is toxic, and the 4-inch-or-so alternate, pinnate leaves even flaunt thorny edges.
Pokeweed (Phytolacca decandra) is part of rural folklore, as the young spring shoots were often prepared as poke sallet, a spring tonic. The truth is, however, that every part of this plant is toxic, although creatures from bears to blue jays consume the purple fruits, which grow like grapes on purplish-red stems.
The common elderberry (Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis) also produces fruits, and though wildlife seek them out, they’re poisonous to humans when eaten raw. The most mediocre-tasting jelly Elaine has ever made came from elderberries – though, in fairness to this plant, other folks have experienced success with these tiny purplish-black berries, turning them into wine, jelly, and other desserts, as well as syrup for for an immune system boost. The elderberry is a shrub-like understory tree; the berries grow in upright clusters, and the lance-shaped, compound leaves are anywhere from 4 to 12 inches long. Other than the cooked ripe berries and cooked flowers, all parts of this plant are poisonous to humans.
A Note on Toxicity
Throughout this article, we refer to different plants as “edible” or as “toxic” or “poisonous.” We want to remind readers to always use caution when foraging, but not to fear foraging so much that you don’t give it a try. Many of the plants identified in this article as toxic aren’t necessarily deadly. Likewise, some edible plants mentioned should still be consumed cautiously to start. In short, edibility and toxicity are more like a spectrum when it comes to foraged foods: Some are choice edibles, some are toxic and cause nausea and vomiting, while a smaller collection are truly deadly to humans. Never consume a plant you don’t know, verify what you’ve collected with experts, and consume cautiously to start, even when something is identified as a safe edible. However, don’t be discouraged to forage; a host of amazing plants exist for us to responsibly enjoy, and only through learning and cautiously exploring will you become a more confident forager. We also recommend reading a few books on foraging, such as Sam Thayer’s Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants of Eastern and Central North America by Samuel Thayer and The Forager’s Guide to Wild Foods by Nicole Apelian, both of which can be found at our Mother Earth News Store. – Mother
Bruce and Elaine Ingram are the authors of Living the Locavore Lifestyle, a book about hunting, fishing, and gathering food (with recipes). Contact them at BruceIngramOutdoors@Gmail.com.
