Black raspberries, along with raspberries and blackberries, are among the berries that grow on brambles in the Northeast. Also called blackcaps, black raspberries are the most shade tolerant…

At the height of May’s morel season, I approach a standing dead elm, its loosened gray bark peeling back like partially husked corn. My morel eyes are a point of pride, and somehow it…

Shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) trees are a familiar sight along rural roads and field edges over much of the Northeast. They are recognizable year-round by their telltale bark, with pieces…

Juneberry – also called serviceberry or shadbush – is an unassuming native fruit in the genus Amelanchier with many common names. Members of the genus grow throughout most of North…

Burdock (Arctium spp.) produces the annoying round burs that get stuck to your socks in the fall. (The fellow who invented Velcro™, George de Mestral from Switzerland, got the idea from…

(If You Know How and Where to Look) Groundnut (Apios americana), an herbaceous, perennial member of the pea family (Fabaceae), is native to most of the eastern United States and adjacent areas…

Despite decades of experience eating wild plants, I was slow to start foraging for fungi. There are many poisonous species. So many species look similar to each other. And, while almost all…

Here’s a botanical riddle: What has fruits that look like a juneberry, flowers that look like a blackberry, leaves that look like an apple, and a name that sounds like a cherry? Answer:…

One of my favorite foraging memories is the first time that my wife and I made violet jelly. We’d gathered several cups of violet flowers from a suburban yard. Our recipe called for…