Plants
Plants are a good source of food, as the forest contains many plants, and you do not need to expend a lot of energy to collect them.
Some common edible plants:
Some common edible plants:
- Beaked hazelnut: a short tree with fuzzy, elliptical leaves that have a heart-shaped base and a pointed tip; its round nuts are edible
- Bearberry
- Blackberry: shrub with prickly, toothed leaves; its dark purple berries are edible; watch out for thorns when collecting
- Blueberry: shrub with waxy, elliptical leaves; its round, dark blue berries are edible
- Dandelion: yellow flower with long, jagged leaves that grow directly out of the ground; its roots and leaves are edible
- Daylily: flower with long, bluish-green, lance-shaped leaves; its flowers are edible
- Raspberry: shrub with toothed leaves; its red berries are edible
- Salal: a shrub with thick, leathery, oval, finely-toothed leaves; its round, purple berries are edible, and its leaves can be chewed as a hunger suppressant
- Saskatoon berry (western serviceberry): a shrub with small, thin, oval leaves with a toothed edge; its round, purplish-black, edible berries ripen in the summer
- Stinging nettle: tall, green plant with toothed, heart-shaped leaves; its leaves, stems, and roots are edible; be careful of the sharp, tiny, stinging hairs that can cause a itching or burning sensation; never eat this plant raw
- Strawberry: ground plant with thin, toothed leaves; its bright red fruit are edible
- Thimbleberry: a shrub with large, 5-pointed leaves; its edible red berries are dome-shaped
However, when collecting plants, you must beware of poisonous ones. Many edible plants have toxic look-alikes, so do not eat a plant unless you are absolutely sure that it is safe. As a general rule, avoid plants with milky sap, white berries, an almond-like scent, or parsley-like leaves.
Some common toxic plants:
Some common toxic plants:
- Baneberry: shrub with toothed leaves and red or white berries on thin stalks
- Buttercup: yellow flower with broad, pentagon- or heart-shaped leaves
- Death cama: flower with long, grass-like leaves in groups of three
- Foxglove: plant with long, finely-haired leaves and tall spikes of bell-shaped flowers
- Pacific poison oak
- Silky lupine: plant with palm-shaped leaves and small lavender flowers on spikes
- Water hemlock: tall shrub with notched leaves and stalks topped with clusters of tiny white flowers
- Western Labrador tea