Look-alikes Kill
Never eat a wild plant or mushroom on one photo or app. U.S. Poison Control: 1-800-222-1222.
Safety & Ethics →Seasonal Foraging Guide
Wild greens, berries, fruit, nuts and mushrooms month by month — where they grow, how to use them, and the look-alikes to watch for.
Foraging Tracker
Log what you find and when, and build your own calendar for your land.
Open the Tracker →Best foraging near you right now
What’s in season this month and actually being found within about 50 miles of you.
Your location is rounded to about 7 miles and never saved on our site.
Sightings from iNaturalist research-grade observations. Photos © their photographers via iNaturalist, used under Creative Commons licenses.
Season calendar
Typical seasons for the eastern and central United States. Farther south things come in earlier; farther north and higher up, later.
What to look for
Mushrooms · March–May
Morel mushrooms
Morchella
Where: Woods edges, around dying elms, ash and old apple orchards, once the soil warms to about 50°F.
Look-alikes & cautions: False morels are poisonous. A true morel is completely hollow from tip to stem when sliced lengthwise, and the cap is attached at the bottom. Always cook — never eat raw.
Use: Sauté, fry or dry
Greens & shoots · March–May
Ramps (wild leeks)
Allium tricoccum
Where: Rich, moist hardwood forests in the East and Midwest.
Look-alikes & cautions: Lily of the valley and false hellebore are poisonous look-alikes — a crushed ramp leaf smells strongly of onion and garlic. Take one leaf per plant and leave the bulb; ramps grow back very slowly.
Use: Fresh, pickled, frozen or dried
Greens & shoots · March–May
Wild onion & wild garlic
Allium canadense
Where: Lawns, fields and open woods in early spring.
Look-alikes & cautions: Death camas looks similar and is deadly but has no onion smell. If it doesn’t smell like onion, don’t eat it.
Use: Use like chives or garlic
Greens & shoots · March–October
Dandelion
Taraxacum
Where: Lawns, fields and roadsides — pick where nothing has been sprayed.
Look-alikes & cautions: True dandelion has one flower on a hollow, leafless stem and toothed, hairless leaves. Look-alikes such as cat’s-ear and chicory are also edible.
Use: Young greens, flowers and roots
Greens & shoots · March–June
Stinging nettle
Urtica dioica
Where: Moist, rich soil along streams and woods edges.
Look-alikes & cautions: Wear gloves. Cooking, blanching or drying removes the sting. Pick the top 4–6 leaves before the plant flowers.
Use: Cooked greens, soup and tea
Greens & shoots · March–May, September–November
Chickweed
Stellaria media
Where: Lawns and garden beds in cool weather.
Look-alikes & cautions: Scarlet pimpernel (toxic) looks similar but has orange-red flowers and square stems. Chickweed has white star flowers and a single line of hairs along the stem.
Use: Fresh in salads
Greens & shoots · March–May
Wild violets
Viola sororia
Where: Lawns, shady yards and open woods.
Look-alikes & cautions: Common blue violet leaves and flowers are edible. African violets (houseplants) are not true violets and are not eaten.
Use: Salads, syrup, jelly and tea
Other · February–March
Maple sap
Acer saccharum
Where: Sugar, black and red maples at least 10 inches across.
Look-alikes & cautions: Tap when days are above freezing and nights below. About 40 gallons of sugar maple sap boil down to 1 gallon of syrup.
Use: Syrup
Learn With Others
The best way to learn wild foods is alongside someone who knows them. Ask for identification help in the Foraging group — post clear photos of every part of the plant or mushroom — and never eat anything on an online ID alone.