Wild Plant Foraging Tasty or Toxic?
Donna Lotzer
Poison Education Coordinator
UWHC Poison Education Center
Madison, WI
2012
Before You Decide to
“Live Off the Land”…
• It’s not like you see on TV
– Dual Survival, Survivorman, Man vs. Wild
– Do you notice the disclaimers?
• Be prepared – know your environment
– Are you in your backyard garden?
– Headed to an exotic locale?
• Act like the locals when traveling
– But remember their diet is NOT comparable in most
situations
…Become a Food Prep Expert
• What parts of the
plant are edible?
– Mayapple RIPE fruit
• Is cooking required
to detoxify plants?
– Nettles
– Elderberries
• What about seasonal
variations?
– Burdock
Do “Shrooms” Count
as Plants?
• Some are delicious
– Morels, puffballs
• Some can be fatal
– Amanita virosa
• Guidebooks are NOT
reliable for mushrooms
– Never assume wild
‘shrooms are edible raw
– Toxic varieties are in your
yard or woods…
What is “Wildcrafting”?
• Wildcrafting is a term for the age-old practice
of collecting plant materials in their natural
habitat for food, medicine, and craft.
• www.wildcrafting.net can connect you
– Allows for mapping to share locations for edible plants
– Submit pictures for possible ID
• Reasons for wildcrafting
– Gather plants to prepare as medicines or food
– Harvest plants to sell to others
– www.7song.com has an herbalist approach
A “Go-To” Guy for Foraging
• http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/
He even has an app for that on his
webpage (!)
• http://foragingpictures.com has
pics of edible and other plants and
mushrooms
• http://www.motherearthnews.com/
also has good information by
searching under “foraging”
WikiHow or What the Heck
• Suggests steps to
survive off the land
• Caveat: “If you are
near death…”
– Lots of confidence (!)
– May not survive the
testing steps 
– Remember you can go
weeks with just water
if needed
• Decide what plant
part is to be tested
• Test for dermal
effects
– Which has nothing to
do with being edible!?!
• Test on lips, tongue,
then swallow a bit
– If you are OK 8 hrs
later perhaps you are
safe
Best and Worst Choices for
“Edible Arrangements”
Often due to mistaken ID
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Aggregate berries
Chamomile, Dandelion
Gardenia, Garlic mustard
Jasmine, Lilac, Mayapple
Nasturtium, Nettles
Radish, Rose
Squash blossom, Sumac
Violet, Water cress
Wild carrot, garlic, leeks
(roots)
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Berries (all colors) – most
Bulbs (daffodil, tulip)
Castor beans
Hemlock, esp. roots
Horse chestnut
Jimson weed
Mushrooms
Foraging Fatalities
• Two people “living off the land” found dead in a
forest
– Opted for a vegan lifestyle
– Turns out they ate oleander leaves which are very toxic
to the heart (contains digoxin)
• Mistaken identity – hemlock vs. wild carrot or
parsnip
– Easy to confuse, especially in spring
– Seizures and death possible in minutes to hours, and no
antidote
• Apricot pits and cyanide
– Very toxic in small numbers, especially in children
Foraging Misadventures
• Jimsonweed stew
– Six people hospitalized with hallucinations and other
symptoms
– Leaves picked from plants growing in the yard (!)
• Tomatoes and potatoes
– Leaves, sprouts, vines poisonous while tuber/fruit
are edible
• Easter lily toxic – fatal in cats
– Even though safe for humans, plants in Lily family are
toxic to the kidneys in cats and can kill them
Foodborne botulism
• Asparagus, mushrooms, chili, ketchup, beef
stew, beans, (along with fish, beaver tail &
whale blubber {Alaska})
– Not exactly foraging but can come from harvesting/collection in
a contaminated environment
• Due to improper processing
– Must follow strict storage/canning/processing guides
• No signs that food is bad when eaten
– Look, taste, smell all normal
• Prep/preventive steps critical
Where Does Your Poison
Center Come Into the Picture?
• Help to ID plants (or
mushrooms)
• Help to determine if
plants are toxic
• Not so helpful with
recipes (!)
• Available 24/7/365 to
handle questions or
exposures
Poison Center
1-800-222-1222
Tips for Foragers
• Educate yourself
– Get a GOOD guidebook to help ID plants
– Being “pretty sure” isn’t good enough
• Learn from an expert
– Take classes or forage with an experienced
person
• Know the environment where you are
foraging
– Avoid areas likely to have contamination with
pesticides, and soil that may be contaminated
with pollutants
• Be sure foraging is legal
– National and state parks often do not allow
harvest of plants or mushrooms for
environmental reasons
– I broke the law unknowingly in Alaska by
picking morels in a national forest 
Sources for Edibles, Recipes
• Going online is great
– Be sure source is
reliable
– This site also has links
to toxic plants
• County ag. extension
• Historical cookbooks
– I have some recipes
from a 1940’s cookbook
that are delicious