list

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Acer saccharum

Sugar maple

Type: tree

Use: Boil down sap to make maple syrup. Rich in minerals such as calcium, potassium, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, and iron.

Allium tricoccum

Wild Leek, Ramp

Type: herbaceous perennial

Use: The leaves and bulbs are both edible raw or cooked. These taste like a mixture between garlic and onion. A real gourmet treat.

Aralia racemosa

American spikenard

Type: herbaceous perennial

Use: The berries are edible raw or cooked. These have a sweet and citrusy taste.

Amelanchier canadensis

Serviceberry

Type: shrub

Use: Edible fruit. The berries are good raw, tasting a little like blueberries although sometimes a little on the dry side. They are also great used as a replacement for any other berries in baked goods.

Aronia melanocarpa, Aronia prunifolia

Chokeberries

Type: shrub

Use: Edible fruit. The berries are are astringent tasting when raw but delicious when cooked, baked, or added to purees. A great source of antioxidants.

Carya ovata

Shagbark hickory

Type: tree

Use: The shagbark hickory nut is buttery and sweet, although the flavor is improved through toasting or roasting. Use as you would any other tree nut.

Ceanothus americanus

New Jersey Tea

Type: shrub

Use: Collect leaves when the plant is in full boom. Dry them throughly in the shade and then steep like a black tea.  It does not have caffeine.

Claytonia virginica

Springbeauty

Type: herbaceous perennial

Use: The entire plant is edible, root to blossoms. The roots are not tasty unless cooked and can be used like (very small) new potatoes. All the parts above the ground can be eaten raw or cooked.

Comptonia peregrina

Sweet fern

Type: shrub

Use: The young fruits can be eaten fresh. The catkins (flowers) can infuse alcohol with a unique flavor. In late spring, the leaves are tender and edible. Although there are recipes for sweet fern tea, it is described as "palatable".

Fragaria virginiana

Wild Strawberry

Type: herbaceous perennial

Use: Consume like the domesticated strawberry we all know. These are smaller and tastier but don't last long after picked. So eat them up!

Lindera benzoin

Northern spicebush

Type: shrub:

Use: Berries can be eaten fresh but improve in flavor when dehydrated. Dried and ground berries can be used as a spice with a unique flavor described as floral and peppery, a little like allspice.

Matteuccia struthiopteris

Ostrich fern

Type: fern

Use: Must be cooked to be edible. The flavor is similar to asparagus. Pick the unfurled part of the fern (crozier) before they fully unroll. Be sure the curl is tight. About 1" of the stem with the crozier can be eaten as well.

Morella caroliniensis

Small bayberry

Type: shrub

Use: Dried leaves can be used as a substitute for bayleaf for cooking soups and stews.
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Nyssa sylvatica

Blackgum

Type: tree:

Use: Fruit is edible raw or cooked. A bit sour, but great in preserves.

Opuntia humifusa

Eastern Prickly Pear

Type: cactus

Use: The ripe fruit is edible raw or in jelly. Tender young leaf pads can be cut up and used similar to: string beans, or like okra to thicken soups, or raw in salads.  Spines (glochids) need to be removed first! Read more to the right...

Prunus maritima

Beach plum

Type: shrub

Use: Eat fresh like other plums, although the taste is very variable from plant to plant. The fruit is spectacular in jellies and jams. But you'll have to beat the birds to the fruit first.

Pycnanthemum muticum

Clustered mountain mint

Type: herbaceous perennial

Use: Use as a culinary mint substitute. Mojitos?!

Quercus alba

White Oak

Type: tree

Use: The most edible acorns for us humans. The acorn can be ground into meal and used as a flour and is rich in protein and fat. The tannins should be removed from the acorns first. See "learn more" to the right...

Rubus odoratus

Flowering raspberry

Type: shrub

Use: A delicious raspberry, cousin to the raspberries we find at the supermarket. A little drier and slightly less sweet but according to one Blue Stem owner...the best raspberry ever.

Sambucus canadensis/nigra

American black elderberry

Type: shrub

Use: The cooked fruit is edible and can be used in pancakes, baked goods, and jam. Well know for elderberry syrup, recipe to the right.

Vaccinium angustifollium and corymbosum

Lowbush and highbush blueberry

Type: shrub

Use: Just your average super delicious blueberry!

Viburnum lantanoides and nudum v cassinoides

Hobblebush and wild raisin

Type: shrub

Use: The fruit is edible and tastes a like a raisin or date. Both species' fruit have large flat seeds inside, so plan to remove those. Great in a jam or as a sauce where you can sieve out the seeds.

Viola pedata

Bird's Foot violet

Type: herbaceous perennial 

Use: Young leaves and flowers are edible - raw or cooked. Lovely in a salad or used to decorate a cake.