Idenitifcation

Canada thistle: Pp to 2m tall. Shiny green leaves with spiny edges. and white hairs on the underside. Clusters of up to five flowers. You can tell Canada thistle from all similar species by its smooth main stem and small flowers.

Marsh Thistle: Up to 3m tall. Stems grow erect, rarely branching and covered in small spines. Spends its first year as a rosette, where leaves are narrow, spiny with dark purple edges.

Edible Parts

Both: Young leaves and shoots can be eaten raw or cooked. Thorns must be removed before eating.

Canada Thistle (pictured): The entire plant is edible. Roots taste of lettuce. Stems are best eaten before flowers appear, otherwise they are stringy and hollow.Peeled flowers are edible and similar to artichokes, but generally considered "not worth the effort."

Cautions

All thistles are edible, but ensure that you do not harvest native thistle species, which look similar.

Look Alikes

Most thistles in the genus Cirsium

Cooking

A green soup base can be made from blanched leaves.

Idenitifcation

Stems smooth, erect, thick (to 10mm in diameter), almost woody, sometimes purplish, up to 4m high, arising from long, firm, extensively creeping rhizomes. Leaf sheaths smooth and hairless with often purple margins. Inflorescence at first purplish, becoming tawny and nearly dark brown at maturity, 12-40cm long with ascending branches and forming a thick, densely branched, silky panicle,

Edible Parts

Entire plant is edible. Roots are high in sugar, edible raw or cooked. Young shoots can be eaten raw, cooked, or pickled.

Cautions

None

Look Alikes

Fairly distinct due to its great height and unique infloresence. It is a good plant for new foragers.

Cooking

Roots can be used like potatoes, but are best before the plant flowers. Young shoots make a nice vegetable and can be used like bamboo. Seeds can be collected at the end of summer.

Idenitifcation

Eurasian watermilfoil has slender stems up to 2.5 m (8.2 ft) long. The plant is a perennial that grows under the water surface and has feather-like green leaves that circle the stem in groups of four or five. Eurasian watermilfoil blooms in late July and early August and has orange/red flowers that are 4–6 mm long. Flowers are produced in the leaf axils on a spike that can be 5–20 cm long, held vertically above the water surface.

Edible Parts

Roots can be eaten raw or cooked.

Cautions

Aquatic plants growing in polluted water sources should never be consumed. After heavy rains, waterways are likely to have increased E. coli levels.

Look Alikes

Parrot feather

Cooking

The root is sweet and crunchy.

Idenitifcation

Found flowering in shallow waters but not deeper sites, 0.3-1.2m tall. 20-50 purple to pink flowers grow in a round cluster that resembles an umbrella on round, erect stem.

Edible Parts

Tuber is high in starch. Seeds are also edible but no specific uses are known.

Cautions

None

Look Alikes

Hardstem bulrush

Giant bur-reed

Sweet flag

Lake sedge

Cooking

Tuber can be cooked like any root vegetable. It should be peeled and the rootlets removed before consumption.

Idenitifcation

In their second year, plants grow from 30–100 cm (rarely to 130 cm) tall. The leaves are stalked, triangular to heart-shaped, 10–15 cm long and 5–9 cm wide, with a coarsely toothed margin (like a saw’s edge). Flowers are small and white with 4 petals arranged in a cross-like shape. The fruit is a pod containing 2 rows of shiny black seeds

Edible Parts

Leaves are best eaten young, as they can get bitter in the summer heat. Roots are spicy, comparable to horseradish. They are best harvested either before or after the plant flowers. Flowers are edible as well, and go nicely in salads.

Cautions

None known (if properly identified).

Look Alikes

Fringecup [!] (shoots only)

Piggy-back Plant (shoots only)

Ground Ivy (shoots only)

Hairy Bittercress

Cooking

Greens can be made into a pesto or a chimichurri.

Shoots can be roasted.

Roots can be used as a horseradish substitute.

Idenitifcation

Knotweeds have attractive plumes of small, white to green flowers in the spring. Leaves are heart/triangular-shaped, 8-10cm W x 15cm L, and grow in a zigzag pattern in along the plant’s arching stems. Stems grow tall, straight and densely. They are hollow and green, sometimes with reddish-brown speckles growing 1–5m in height. Stems may persist through the winter as bare, grey- or straw-colored hollow stalks.

Edible Parts

The stem of japanese knotweed is similar to bamboo, juicy, tangy, and tastes like rhubarb. It can be eaten cooked or raw.

Cautions

Japanese knotweed can be confused with many species; ensure your ID is correct before consuming.

Knotweed is especially problematic, and is typically treated with harsh hebicides upon discovery. If you find a knotweed growth, ensure that the area is NOT being treated before consumption.

Look Alikes

Young woody shrubs and trees like dogwood and lilac are often confused with knotweed due to its leaf shape.

Cooking

Stems can be pickled or pureed and used in baking.

Idenitifcation

Oxeye daisy has single white flowers at the end of stems that contain 20-30 petals and a yellow center. Stems range from 20 to 80cm in height and have wavy leaves that clasp toward the stem.

Edible Parts

Flowers can be dried and used as tea, and flower buds can be eaten raw or pickled. Roots can be eaten raw in the spring. Leaves can be eaten raw or cooked, but their flavour is not well-loved.

Cautions

Oxeye daisy can cause allergic reactions in people with ragweed or pollen allergies.

Look Alikes

Shasta daisy

Other asters

Scentless chamomile (also invasive), not generally considered edible.

Cooking

Leaves and flower buds can be used in salads.

Flower buds can be pickled.

Flowers can be dried and used in tea.

Idenitifcation

Queen Anne’s lace grows up to 1 m in height and has an umbrella-shaped cluster of white flowers at the top of a hairy stem, usually blooming from May to October. Both the plant and its tap root have a carrot like smell.

Edible Parts

Roots can be used in soups and stews. Leaves can be used in salads, and flower clusters can be batter-fried.

Cautions

Queen Anne's Lace is closely related to poisonous plants. Take great care with identification, and DO NOT eat it unless you are certain you have IDed it properly

Look Alikes

Poison Hemlock [!]

Fool's Parsley [!]

Other wild carrots

Cooking

Flowers can be made into jelly or fried in batter.

Roots and leaves can be made into tea.

Idenitifcation

St. John’s-Wort grows from 0.3–1 m in height and has dark green leaves which show tiny transparent dots when held up to the light. Flowers are bright yellow, with 5 petals each, and grow in clusters at the top of branches. It turns a rusty red colour after finishing flowering late in the summer and autumn.

Edible Parts

Fresh flowers can be made into a tea, or infused into an oil or tincture

Cautions

St. John’s-wort contains a poison that can cause light-coloured farm animals that eat it to have skin burns or blisters when exposed to sunlight. It can also be a skin irritant in some humans.

St. John’s-wort may interact with drugs when consumed, and thus is not recommended for individuals taking medications.

St. John’s-wort may be unsafe to consume in large quantities.

Look Alikes

Tansy ragwort [!]

Other ragworts [!]

Cooking

Fresh flowers can be distilled in oil.

Dried flowers can be made into a tea.

Idenitifcation

Wild caraway was introduced to Canada as a spice crop but has escaped cultivation. It is a biennial plant that can quickly outgrow native plants. It can grow in light shade, survive light frost and extra moisture in the soil.

Edible Parts

Whole plant is edible, but the mature seeds at the end of the growing season can be collected and used just like carraway from the store.

Cautions

Be careful not to let seeds fall to the ground while harvesting as it will assist in the spread of the plant.

Look Alikes

Poison Hemlock [!]

Fool's Parsley [!]

Cooking

Seeds can be used just like cultivated caraway.

Identification

A single green stem, 2-5cm thick, up to 1.5m tall, and smooth with few hairs. Leaves are paired and compound, with mitten-shaped, sharply toothed leaflets. Yellowish-green flowers form clusters 10-20cm wide. Similar to Queen Anne's Lace, but yellow.

Edible Parts

Young leaves and stems are edible, and the root is starchy and edible. It is reportedly much better after the first frost in autumn.

Cautions

Wild parsnips contain a sap that causes contact dermatitis in many people.

Wild parsnip is in the hemlock family. Be careful with ID, especially before the plant develops its characteristic yellow flowers!

Look Alikes

Discernible from most similar species by its yellow flowers.

Angelica

RESEMBLES HEMLOCK WHEN YOUNG

Cooking

Wild parsnip roots can be eaten like cultivated parsnips; they are good baked or fried. Greens can be added to salads and soups.