Poisonous berries are quite common in gardens. Find out which plants including bushes and vines have toxic berries. Some people are surprised to learn that not all poisonous berries are red! Photos are included for easy identification.
This is an excerpt from the book, Good Berry Bad Berry by Helen Yoest. It is a handy guide for finding and identifying the most common wild berries of North America. For edible berries, see How to transplant raspberries and How to grow strawberries.
How to Forage Safely
If you’re into hiking, camping, or gardening, you probably notice berries at various times of year and wonder if they are actually edible (and safe) or poisonous and to be avoided. With so much interest in foraging for food these days, a guide book like this one is really helpful for making safe (and delicious) choices.
If you grew up as a free-range kid like I did, foraging for fruit was a way to get quick snacks while playing outside all day without having to come home. I have no idea how we knew which berries were safe and which ones to avoid but that’s probably because we fixated on the abundance of wild blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries. I thought nothing of climbing through terrible brambles with tangled, thorny vines that would leave huge bloody scratches on my legs and arms (and clothes—sorry, mom!), just to reach the biggest berries, so ripe and gushing with sweetness.
We would devour them by the handful until energy was restored and we could resume our day of play.
Today we know there’s many more wild edible berries than those common few. And, once you can distinguish the poisonous ones from the good ones, there’s lots of new tastes to try. Food foraging is all fun and games until someone gets poisoned. Not worth it unless you are informed.
Good Berry Bad Berry lists plants in 3 main categories
1. Bad berries (deadly and toxic)
2. Good berries Bad Idea (not toxic but horrible tasting)
3. Good berries (edible)
The book also has some recipes using aronias, beautyberries, mulberries, and gojis.
The format is very handy: it’s just 6×7″ and easy to include in your pack on a hike.
Here’s a sample page from the book showing the key information for each berry:
7 Popular Garden Plants with Poisonous Berries
Many plants have medicinal qualities which can be toxic to humans or pets and many of them grow in our gardens without ever causing a problem. You have to decide for yourself whether they may actually pose a problem for you or your beloveds.
Nature’s built-in warning system is that harmful plants and berries have repulsive tastes. I’m not sure if there’s exceptions to this, but overall, if it takes like poison, it is.
Some plants have poisonous berries that are only harmful when impossibly large amounts are ingested. Others, like Virginia creeper, are much more damaging even in small doses and can be fatal if eaten.
Here’s some common plants with poisonous berries.
1. Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus)
The flowers, fruits, and seeds are poisonous to humans, cats, and dogs if ingested.
Oriental Bittersweet [image credit: iStock]
2. Common Honeysuckle (Lonicera poericlymenum)
Berries are poisonous if ingested.
Common Honeysuckle [image credit: iStock]
3. Pokeweed (Phytolacca Americana)
Berries, seeds, and root are poisonous if ingested raw.
Pokeweed [image credit: Bill Johnson]
4. Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum biflorum)
Berries are poisonous. Would require large quantities to be toxic. No reported cases.
Solomon’s Seal [image credit: Bill Johnson]
5. Spotted Laurel (Aucuba japonica ‘Variegata’)
Berries are poisonous if ingested.
Spotted Laurel [image credit: iStock]
6. Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)
Berries are poisonous. Highly toxic. May be fatal if eaten.
Virginia Creeper [image credit: Holly Rosborough]
7. Winterberry Holly (Llex verticillata)
Berries are poisonous if ingested.
Winterberry Holly [image credit: Helen Yoest]
There’s lots more information in the book, covering 40 common wild berries in North America. The layout of the book makes it really easy to find the information you want. I think I’m well on my way to fulfilling my childhood goal of becoming a berry-ologist!
Garden safely and enjoy!
~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛
