Viola pedata – Birdfoot Violet
Birdfoot violet (Viola pedata) is a native perennial with edible leaves and flowers. It is named due to its leaves resembling a bird’s foot. Birdfoot violet can be found in open woodlands with rocky and acidic soil. It can be identified by its large purple flowers and unique foliage. Leaves and flowers can be […]
Galium triflorum – Fragrant bedstraw
Fragrant bedstraw (Galium triflorum) is a native perennial that can be used as a vanilla substitute. The plant is named due to its historical use as a stuffing for mattresses. It can be found as a ground cover in moist, shaded woodlands. Fragrant bedstraw has leaves that grow in whorls of six. The leaves have […]
Polygonatum biflorum – Solomon’s Seal
Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum biflorum) is a native perennial in the Asparagus family. It produces edible shoots in the spring. Solomon’s seal can be found in woodland areas that receive partial to full shade. The plant consists of one main stalk with alternate leaves. Flowers which become dark purple berries hang down along the stem. […]
Viola pubescens – Downy Yellow Violet
The Downy Yellow Violet (Viola pubescens) is a native, edible perennial. The plant can be found in woodlands and meadows that receive partial sun to partial shade. The downy yellow violet can be identified by its hairy, heart-shaped leaves and its small yellow flowers with purple veins. This violet has a hairy stem, which […]
Osmundastrum cinnamomeum – Cinnamon Fern
The cinnamon fern (Osmundastrum cinnamomeum) is a native perennial that is potentially toxic and carcinogenic. The cinnamon fern can be found in shaded woodlands with moist, rich soil. This is a large fern that can reach up to 6 feet in height in optimal conditions. The fern produces fiddleheads in the spring that are […]
Viola blanda – Sweet White Violet
Sweet white violet (Viola blanda) is an edible, native perennial. It can be found in moist woodlands. The sweet white violet can be identified by its heart-shaped leaves and small, white flowers with purple veins on the lowest petal. The sweet white violet differs from the also edible common blue violet (Viola sororia) by […]
Convallaria majalis – Lily of the Valley
Lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis) is a deadly toxic look alike to edible ramps (Allium tricoccum). Lily of the valley is a non-native perennial that can be found in woodland areas. The plant has 2-3 leaves that curl around a central stem, unlike ramps whose leaves attach separately to an underground bulb. Lily of […]
Lamium purpureum – Purple dead nettle
Purple Dead nettle (Lamium purpureum) is a non-native herb in the mint family. It has both edible and medicinal uses. Purple dead nettle grows in sunny areas as a ground cover. The plant can be identified by its square stem and opposite fuzzy leaves that are purplish at the top of the plant. Small, pinkish […]
Galium odoratum – Sweet Woodruff
Sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum) is a non-native perennial that grows as a ground cover in partial to full shade. It reaches 6-12 inches in height. Sweet woodruff can be identified by its leaves that grow in whorls of 6-9 on a square stem. Small white flowers with four petals grow in clusters at the top […]
Veratrum viride – Indian poke
Indian poke/False hellebore (Veratrum viride) is a native plant that is extremely toxic. It could be confused for ramps in the spring. This perennial plant can be found in swamps and moist meadows. The plant produces ribbed leaves that grow in a whorled pattern. Small yellow-green flowers appear in early summer. The entire plant […]
Forsythia spp. – Forsythia
Forsythia (Forsythia spp.) is a commonly planted shrub that is native to Eastern Asia. It can be found in lawns and occasionally on forest edges, escaping cultivation. Forsythia can be identified by its yellow tubular flowers with four petals. The flowers appear before the narrow leaves develop. The flowers are edible raw but are […]
Equisetum arvense – Common horsetail
Common Horsetail (Equisetum arvense) is a native plant that is a relative of the fern. Common horsetail is a descendent of a group of plants that grew to be the size of trees 350 million years ago. It grows two separate stems. In early spring, the brown reproductive stem emerges to disperse spores. Then, the […]
Yucca filamentosa – Common Yucca
Common yucca, also known as Adam’s needle (Yucca filamentosa), is native to southeastern North America, but can be found wild in CT in sandy soils. The plant has a basal rosette of sword-shaped leaves. It produces clusters of white flowers from spring to summer. Flowers become green fruits that ripen to brown in the fall. […]
Phyllotopsis nidulans – Mock Oyster
The mock oyster (Phyllotopsis nidulans) is an inedible mushroom that could be confused for edible oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus spp.). It can be found growing on decaying hardwoods and conifers from fall-spring. The mock oyster can be identified by its fuzzy, fan-shaped orange cap. The cap color fades with age. Gills are orange. The mushroom […]
Daedaleopsis confragosa – Thin-walled maze polypore
Thin-walled maze polypore (Daedaleopsis confragosa) is a parasitic and saprobic polypore that can be used to make natural dyes. It can be found growing singularly or in groups on dead and dying hardwoods, particularly willows and birch. It fruits June-December but can persist on wood year-round. Thin-walled maze polypore, also known as the blushing bracket, […]
Inonotus obliquus – Chaga
Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) is a medicinal mycelial mass that can be found growing on birch trees. Chaga is a parasite that infects scarred birch trees and will kill the tree within 80 years. It can be found growing in colder regions throughout the world. It is thought to be best harvested in the winter when […]
Maublancomyces korfii – Snow False Morel
Maublancomyces korfii (Snow false morel) is a look alike to true morels (Morchella spp.). Both true and false morels fruit in the spring. The snow false morel can be found growing under hardwoods. It is saprobic and potentially also mycorrhizal. Some false morel mushrooms have the toxin gyromitrin, which becomes monomethyl hydrazine (MMH) when […]
Solidago sempervirens – Seaside goldenrod
Seaside goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens) is a native perennial that can be found along the coast. It prefers full sun and sandy soils. Seaside goldenrod has waxy, somewhat succulent leaves. It produces yellow flowers in a pyramid shape from August-October. Seaside goldenrod produces larger flowers than other goldenrod species. Flowers are edible. They have a floral […]
Phragmites australis – Common reed
Common reed (Phragmites australis) is an edible perennial wetland grass. There is a native and non-native variety. Common reed is often found growing in dense clumps at the edge of water. The plant can be identified by its grayish-green lanceolate leaves. It produces dark purple flower spikes in late summer, which fade to brown in […]
Celastrus orbiculatus – Oriental bittersweet
Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) is an invasive and toxic vine. It can be found climbing up autumn olive shrubs and confuse people for autumn olive berries. The plant was brought to the U.S. for ornamental use but has escaped cultivation and chokes out native plants. Oriental bittersweet is a perennial vine with alternate toothed leaves. […]