Wild Foodies of Philly FIELD GUIDE!
WILD FRUIT
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Fruit Harvest Calendar
WILD FRUIT – PLANTS
/ WILD STRAWBERRY
Barren Strawberry: fuzzy plant, not vine, yellow flower, no berry
GROUND CHERRY / CHINESE LANTERN / WILD TOMATO
(nightshade family)
Caution: Don’t eat if they are bitter /
BLACK NIGHTSHADE(nightshade family) ripe berries, cook leafs
CRANBERRY – SMALL / BOG / SWAMP
See “High Bush Cranberry” above in
“Fruit – Shrubs & Vines” /
PARTRIDGE BERRY
CREEPING SNOWBERRY / MOXIE PLUM
Do not confuse with Common Snowberry - /
WINTER GREEN
MAYAPPLECAUTION: Do not eat the fruit until it is ripe.
CAUTION: Do not eat the fruit until it is ripe. /
PRICKLY PEAR / INDIAN FIG
POKEBERRY– Caution: I’ve never tried pokeberry wine or jam, but read that berries must be cooked, & I would remove seeds at end of process, although not always recommended in cooking recipes.
/
FALSE SOLOMON’S SEAL / FALSE SPIKENARD Smilacina racemose - fruit
<Toxic look-alike -
WILD FRUIT –VINES
GRAPE/ PORCELINE BERRY – related to grape, tastes funny to me, wouldn’t recommend
GREENBRIER / SMILAX – edible shoots, tips, & berries, cook roots. used to make sarsaparilla,many varieties, SEE >
roots may also be used in soups or stews. The young shoots can be eaten raw or cooked and are said to taste like asparagus, and the berries can be eaten both raw and cooked.
/ CARRION / SMILAX– no thorns as with Greenbrier, edibleshoots, tips, & berries. Cook roots. Used to make root beer,sarsaparilla
HARDY KIWI – sap, fruit grows lushly on a vine
/
MAYPOP / PURPLE PASSIONFLOWER
HONEYSUCKLE, MOUNTAIN FLY
BRAMBLES /Rubus Species
/
RASPBERRY
/ BLACK RASPBERRY– related to raspberry
BLACKBERRY
/
DEWBERRY– related to blackberry
WINEBERRY
WILD FRUIT – BUSHES
BLUEBERRY – HIGH BUSH
/ BLUEBERRY – LOW BUSH
BARBERRY – AMERICAN, ALLEGHENY
/ BARBERRY- EUROPEAN
CHOKEBERRY – RED / ARONIA
/ CHOKEBERRY-BLACK / ARONIA
CRANBERRY– HIGH BUSH
AUTUMN BERRY / AUTUMN OLIVE
/
SILVER BERRY / RUSSIAN OLIVE– fruit more oblong, leaf more silvery
SILVER THORN
PLUM - BEACH
/ PLUM –WILD, AMERICAN
VIBURNUM – BLACK HAW
issues)
/
VIBURNUM – NANNYBERRY
GOOSEBERRY
/ CURRANT
ROSE HIP - ALSO SEE >
– native to U.S.
/ ROSA ROGUSA – big rose hips, size of cherry tomatoes
ELDERBERRY
/ STAGHORN SUMAC
HUCKLEBERRY
/ BEAUTYBERRY
SPICE BUSH
/ LEMON - CHINESE BITTER ORANGE / TRIFOLIATE ORANGE
YEW BERRY – Caution: Must remove toxic seed before eating fruit
WILD FRUIT – TREES
WILD APPLE - SEE >/ CRAB APPLE
MULBERRY– Red & Black, native / White, Asian import for silk trade
/ PAPER MULBERRY
PAWPAW
/ PERSIMMON
JUNEBERRY / SERVICEBERRY (many varieties)
/ JUNEBERRY – RED
KOUSA DOGWOOD
/ CALLERY PEAR– native of Bradford / fruit edible when brown
APRICOT (escaped cultivation)
/ PEACH & NECTARINE (escaped cultivation)
AMERICAN HACKBERRY
/ ROWAN – AMERICAN ASH
HAWTHORN- 4 major types
/
QUINCE - Cydonia oblonga
MEDLAR
/
JUNIPER BERRY – actually a cone, not a real berry
WILD CHERRY TREES /
PIN CHERRY
/ BLACK / RUM CHERRY– leaves are more narrow than choke cherry
CHOKE CHERRY
/
CORNELIAN CHERRY