How to Forage in the Wild and Identify Edible Plants

Foraging is the process of searching for and obtaining food sources or medicinal plants in the wilderness. People on long camping or wilderness expeditions may depend on foraging for extra food or survival when they are adventuring out in the natural world. In this case, identifying edible plants is a potentially life-saving skill.

Some common food sources you can forage for are cattails, acorns and stinging nettles (if boiled), tubers, rosehips, weeds, yarrow, and plantain. Before you forage, you want to make sure that you know how to properly do so, because eating the wrong kinds of plants can be toxic.

Humans can only go three days without water, but about 30 days without food. So while foraging shouldn’t be your first priority in a survival situation, it can help you find some extra calories if things become dire. Here are a few tips for beginners on what to look for when foraging for food in the wild.

1. 1. Look for the right berries. Berries are a good source of carbohydrates, fiber, and vitamins. Aggregate berries (those with tightly packed clusters, like raspberries and mulberries), are 99 percent edible worldwide. Blue, black, and purple berries are around 90 percent edible (though you should consider an edibility test). Orange and red berries are about 50 percent edible, so definitely use an edibility test. Green, white, and yellow berries are about 10 percent edible and should be avoided.
2. 2. Catch some insects. Insects contain seven times more protein than ground beef, and they’re much easier to catch than small game. Some safe-to-consume insects include earthworms, mealworms, ants (boil first; avoid fire ants), crickets, and grasshoppers (remove the legs and wings first).
3. 3. Find edible greens. There are many wild plants that are safe for consumption. Aside from the obvious fruits and vegetables, there are plenty of edible weeds such as chickweed, dandelion, clover, chicory, cattail, and wild mustard. Wild onions are also sometimes available, though they can be tricky to identify. However, if it looks like an onion and tastes like an onion, it’s an onion.
4. 4. Stay away from busy roads or treated land. Some vegetation can be tainted by car exhaust, oil, lead, or other substances that make their way into the surrounding brush. As a forager, you should stay far away from areas that have been exposed to too many man-made elements, or have been coated in herbicides or pesticides.
5. 5. Get familiar with common poisonous plants. While distinguishing between edible mushrooms and toxic mushrooms or berries can be tricky, there are some basic, toxic plants that everyone should be able to recognize such as holly berries and poison hemlock. You should also be able to recognize other toxic plants, such as poison oak, poison ivy, and poison sumac. These plants all contain a chemical called urushiol, which is an oil that can cause contact dermatitis and be hard to remove from your skin (hence the prolonged rashes when exposed to these plants).

There are many different characteristics of dangerous plants that can make them easily identifiable, even without a field guide. Here are a few traits

1. 1. Milky sap: Milky or latex sap is a substance that oozes out of a plant’s branches or stems if cracked or broken. It can cause skin irritation or other strong allergic reactions.
2. 2. Fine hairs and spines: Fine hairs and spines are usually an indicator that a plant has a defense mechanism to ward off predators. Most of these hairs will cause some sort of stinging or burning sensation when you touch them with bare skin.
3. 3. Umbrella-shaped flower clusters: Most plants with umbrella-clumping flowers have high toxicity and should be avoided.
4. 4. Waxy leaves: Also known as the cuticle, “wax” on leaves is a protective layer that helps plants retain water, but can sometimes indicate that a certain type of greenery is a toxic plant and not safe to eat.
5. 5. Mushrooms: Certain mushrooms may be edible—like morel mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, or chanterelle mushrooms—but you should exercise caution when you find these fungi growing on trees or the ground. Don’t eat any mushrooms that you cannot identify with complete certainty, because they can be toxic.

Freshly foraged food can help you when you’ve run out of food supplies, but you should know exactly what is safe to consume. For that, you can perform an edibility test. Here is a quick breakdown of the edibility test for plants you find in the wild.

1. 1. Look for the most common poisonous traits. Rule out mushrooms and plants with milky sap, fine hairs, spines, umbrella-shaped flower clusters, or waxy leaves.
2. 2. Do a skin test. Take the piece of the plant you want to eat and rub it on your inner forearm or outer lip. Wait 15 minutes.
3. 3. Do a taste test. If there’s no reaction during the previous step, taste that same part of the plant and wait another five minutes.
4. 4. Do a bigger taste test. If you don’t taste any bitterness, soapy flavor, or feel any numbness, take a teaspoon of that same part of the plant and chew for five minutes, spitting out extra saliva regularly. Swallow, then wait eight hours.
5. 5. Eat a small amount. If you’re still not experiencing any digestive issues, eat one tablespoon of that same part of the plant and wait another eight hours. If you still have no symptoms, you can consider that part of the plant edible in the manner in which it was prepared.
6. 6. Take precautions. Whether you’re practicing sustainable foraging or trying to rough it in nature, use common sense and your best judgment when searching for edible wild plants. Some edible species of plants have toxic look-alikes, or may have edible berries but poisonous stems and bark (such as elderberries). Additionally, not all parts of the plant are edible simply because one part is. Test parts separately before consuming the whole plant, and whenever possible, always do plenty of thorough research when taking a chance out in the wild.

Certain outdoor activities carry an elevated risk of serious injury. Wilderness scenarios require extensive survival gear, including but not limited to food, water, maps, protective clothing, and first aid, along with mental and physical fortitude. This article is for educational and informational purposes, and is not a substitute for hard skills and expertise.

Prepare for any outdoor journey by grabbing a MasterClass Annual Membership and committing Jessie Krebs’s wilderness survival course to memory. As a former United States Air Force Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape instructor, Jessie can teach you everything you need to know about packing for a trip (neon is the new black), purifying water, foraging (crickets: the other white meat), starting a fire, and signaling for help (forget SOS).