When you're out in the wilderness, it's a good idea to know what you can and cannot eat, especially if you find yourself stranded without provisions. There are a good number of wild fruits and berries that are poisonous and deadly if you ingest them. To learn how to identify edible berries and nuts, please check out the tips on this page.
Introduction
- Being able to identify edible plants is absolutely critical if you want to survive when stranded in the wilderness. People often make the mistake of confusing one plant type for another, and in ingesting the fruits of that plant they accidentally poison themselves. There are methods you can use to identify a plant's edibility. Read on to learn more.
Step 1: What to Avoid
- You can tell right away what plants to avoid eating based on the following characteristics:
- Milk-like sap
- Pods containing seeds or beans
- Bitter, soapy taste
- Thorns, spikes, spines or fine hair along the stem
- Leaves that look like dill, carrot, parsnip or parsley
- An almond scent
- Pink, purple or black spurs
- Three-leaved growth
Step 2: Berry Identification
- Unfortunately, sometimes you will wind up in the woods unprepared. Maybe you got stranded on a hike, or animals got into your pack and devoured your food supply. Don't panic! Depending on the time of year, you may be able to find a few edible berries right there in front of you.
- It's important that you stick to eating what you know is edible. If you find a berry that does not resemble the types of berries you are familiar with, do not eat it. Familiar berries that grow in the wild include:
Step 3: Nuts in the Wild
- There are a lot of misconceptions about nuts, so learning about them is the first step to foraging for them in the wild. The following is a list of nuts you may eat in the wilderness. It is a good idea to study visual images of these nuts before you embark on a hike or camping trip just to make sure you know what you're putting in your mouth.
- Acorns
- Chestnuts
- Black walnuts
- Beechnuts
- Chinquapin
- Butternuts
- Hickory nuts
- Pecans
- Pine nuts
Conclusion
Learning about what you can and cannot put into your mouth before you embark on a wilderness trip is the safest bet, but sometimes you just don't have time to study that extensively. When in doubt, stick with the basics and only eat fruits and nuts you know and recognize. Many of your favorite nuts and fruits are available in the wild, but may be slightly smaller in size than the ones commercially grown and sold in super markets. Be careful, and do not eat anything unfamiliar.
