Friday, August 26, 2011

Knowing Which Plants to Avoid Eating


In a survival situation plants are most likely going to be the most common source of food. Therefore it is important to know which plants to avoid eating as many are poisonous (such as the Cherry Laurel, pictured above) and dangerous to ingest. Here are some general guidelines when it comes to identifying plants that should be avoided.

  • Avoid old or wilted leaves - The leaves of some plants (raspberry, blackberry, peach, plum, cherry) devolop deadly toxins when they wilt so stick to fresh green leaves.
  • Avoid plants with barbs on stems or leaves - Even tiny barbs can irritate the mouth and digestive tract.
  • Avoid fruit which is divided into five segments unless you know it is safe - Nature has a way with patterns and many five segment fruits are harmful to ingest.
  • Avoid Red plants unless again, you know they are safe - Another pattern you see is that most red plants are dangerous to eat.
  • Avoid plants with milky sap - there are a few safe ones such as the dandelion (every part of a dandelion can be eaten EXCEPT for the stem which of course, contains white milky sap) but for the most part steer clear.

32 comments:

  1. Alexander Supertramp should have read this!

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  2. Hm, I suddenly feel hungry for old, red, five-parted plants with milky saps and barbs on their stem :D

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  3. This is a very important skill. If food prices get to high because of peak oil, we'll all need to start brushing up on these skills

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  4. i do a lot of camping, and this knowledge is very useful, for when the food finishes i know what i should eat/not eat. thanks for the info!

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  5. dang i didn't know there were patterns to dangerous plants. how interesting

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  6. good to know, I'll do my best not to wander into the forest ever.

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  7. into the wild was a true story

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  8. looking around m backyard, i'm looking at a lot of poisonous plants!

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  9. good stuff man i'll keep reading

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  10. Didn't know the part about the five segments, learned something new

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  11. Now this is seriously good info. I had a friend that got lost for 48 hours on a hiking trip that he only planned on and packed for 4 hours. He found some berries and ate them... luckily he didn't get sick.

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  12. Hmmm, so which plants i could safely eat?

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  13. it's good to know this
    nice post
    :D

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  14. Whenever I'm in the woods I like to chew on Birch leaves. Kind of weird, but just a habit. Also for Pennsylvania/Maryland people, triangular shaped leaf, we call it Mile a Minute, is editable. Good to know.

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  15. You can eat dandelions?! It's amazing anyone ever starves to death....

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  16. If pizza grew on a tree, this would be so much easier. ;D
    Following and supporting, mate! :)

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  17. This is good to know if you ever go out into the wild for a longer period of time. You can also make soup out of nettles, by the way.

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  18. Now, if only I had access to this blog in the woods! :)

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  19. Thanks for the information! Was really helpful! Keep up the great blog work!

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  20. very handy stuff actually, awesome post dude

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  21. You could be the next Bear Grylls :p

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  22. I heard that boiling the stem though makes it safe to eat.

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  23. Thanks for the tips! :D That's one less cause of death to worry about.

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  24. Definitely something worth knowing.

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  25. Nice tips, could save your life some time.

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  26. Seriously helpful info. I'm learning here.

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  27. Nice to know. I've always had these weird red berries growing outside and I never knew what the heck they were.

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  28. five segment red fruits- got it! :)

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