Edible

  • Trees, Shrubs and Woody Vines

  • Photo of smooth sumac.
    Sumacs
    Rhus spp.
    Sumacs are shrubs or small trees that often form colonies from their creeping, branched roots. The foliage usually turns brilliant shades of red in early autumn. The clusters of berrylike fruits are red.
  • Illustration of wild plum leaves, flowers, fruits.
    Wild Plum
    Prunus americana
    A shrub or small tree with clusters of white flowers in the spring, and small, edible, red or yellow fruits in mid- to late summer, wild plum is a popular tree for landscaping.
  • Illustration of summer grape leaves, flowers, fruit
    Summer Grape
    Vitis aestivalis
    Summer grape is a vigorous, woody, wild grapevine climbing to a height of 35 feet. It grows mostly in the southern two-thirds of Missouri, often in drier situations than many other grape species.
  • Illustration of swamp chestnut oak leaf.
    Swamp Chestnut Oak (Basket Oak)
    Quercus michauxii
    Swamp chestnut oak grows in Missouri's Bootheel swamps. The leaves look something like those of true chestnut trees.
  • Illustration of white mulberry leaves and fruit
    White Mulberry
    Morus alba
    White mulberry was introduced from Asia for its berries and as fodder for an attempted silkworm industry. Birds have helped spread white mulberry so much that in many places it is more common than our native red mulberry.
  • Leaves of riverbank grape in a thick growth of the vines
    Wild Grapes
    Vitis species
    Eight species of grapes in the genus Vitis are native or naturalized in Missouri. All bear edible fruits. Like their relatives elsewhere, they have important connections to humans and to nature.
  • Illustration of winter grape leaves, flowers, fruit
    Winter Grape
    Vitis cinerea
    Winter grape is a wild grapevine that can climb up to 50 feet. It occurs in low woods and along streams, in thickets, and in fencerows. It’s common in the southern two-thirds of Missouri.

  • Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants

  • Photo of American ginseng plant with ripe berries
    American Ginseng
    Panax quinquefolius
    Wild and cultivated ginseng produce an annual crop in the United States and Canada valued in excess of $25 million, but overzealous collection is causing serious concern about the survival of American ginseng in the forest ecosystem.
  • Photo of lotus in pool at Duck Creek CA
    American Lotus
    Nelumbo lutea
    American lotus is an aquatic plant with circular leaves that are held above water. The large yellow flowers have an interesting showerhead-like disk at the center.
  • Photo of bastard toadflax plant with flowers
    Bastard Toadflax
    Comandra umbellata (formerly C. richardsiana)
    Bastard, or false toadflax is one of the hundreds of wildflowers that bejewel our native prairies. A perennial herb with yellowish-green foliage and smooth, upright stems, it grows and flowers under the hottest conditions.
  • Photo of Carolina false dandelion flowerhead.
    Carolina False Dandelion
    Pyrrhopappus carolinianus
    One of several native plants called dandelions, Carolina false dandelion is an annual with sulphur yellow flowers and puffy seedheads.
  • Photo of a chicory plant.
    Chicory
    Cichorium intybus
    In summer and fall, the pretty blue flowers of chicory decorate roadsides and other disturbed areas. This weedy member of the aster family was introduced from Europe long ago. Its roots have been used as a coffee substitute.
  • Cleft violet, Viola palmata, blooming plant viewed from above
    Cleft Violet (Three-Lobed Violet)
    Viola palmata (syn. V. triloba)
    The leaf blades of cleft violet are highly variable, and the plant produces differently shaped leaves as the season progresses. Midseason leaves have a broad central lobe flanked by additional lobes toward the base.
  • Common dandelion flower head viewed from above
    Common Dandelion
    Taraxacum officinale
    The common dandelion is a well-known common weed of lawns, roadsides, and other disturbed places. Originally from Europe, it occurs nearly worldwide.
  • Photo of common dayflower flower and buds.
    Common Dayflower
    Commelina communis
    The flowers of dayflower are truly blue, and they have only two conspicuous petals. A fast-growing, sprawling, but shallow-rooted weed, this introduced species commonly annoys gardeners.
  • Photo of common evening primrose, closeup of flowers.
    Common Evening Primrose
    Oenothera biennis
    True to its name, common evening primrose is the most common and widespread evening primrose in Missouri. It is most noticeable late in the season, when it reaches its greatest height and the flowers at the top are most visible.
  • Photo of common ground cherry flower
    Common Ground Cherry
    Physalis longifolia
    Common ground cherry is closely related to the tomatillo, which you’ve probably seen in the grocery store or had in a delicious salsa verde at a Mexican restaurant. The fruits of ground cherry are edible, too.
  • Photo of common reed plants in large colony
    Common Reed
    Phragmites australis australis
    Common reed is both native and exotic, but it’s the exotic subspecies that has become an invasive problem. Taking over wetlands with its dense stands, it changes the plant and animal communities and even the way the water flows.
  • Sunflowers at Columbia Bottom Conservation Area
    Common Sunflower
    Helianthus annuus
    Whether you see the wild form or any of the many cultivated varieties, this poster child of the sunflower family cultivates its own sunny impression. Common sunflower is also the state flower of Kansas.
  • Common violet, closeup of flower
    Common Violet
    Viola sororia
    The common violet can be violet, white, or white with violet mottling or spots. One of 17 species or violets in Missouri, it occurs statewide in a variety of habitats. Note its heart-shaped or rounded, scalloped leaves, and (usually) the presence of hairs on stems and/or foliage.
  • Photo of corn salad plant flower clusters showing arrangement of buds.
    Corn Salad
    Valerianella radiata
    At first glance, you might overlook corn salad, except for the large colonies it often forms. The young leaves can be eaten as a salad green, hence the name.
  • Photo of eastern prickly pear plant with flowers
    Eastern Prickly Pear
    Opuntia humifusa (formerly O. compressa)
    Cacti make us think of the desert southwest, but there is at least one species native to Missouri. This prickly pear grows in glades, sand prairies, rocky open hillsides, and other dry, sun-soaked areas.
  • Photo of English plantain flowers
    English Plantain
    Plantago lanceolata
    Like the common dandelion, English plantain should be familiar to every Missourian. This perennial herb occurs in fields, lawns, roadsides, and other disturbed habitats.
  • Photo of the upper portions of two Jerusalem artichoke plants.
    Jerusalem Artichoke (Sunflower Artichoke)
    Helianthus tuberosus
    Jerusalem artichoke deserves a better common name. This tall native sunflower has edible tubers and great crop potential, but it has never been very big commercially. Fortunately, we can enjoy it for free in nature.
  • Image of Johnny-jump-up.
    Johnny-Jump-Up (Field Pansy)
    Viola bicolor
    Johnny-jump-up is a flat-faced violet whose small flowers are a washed-out blue or violet with a very light yellow or white center. Look for it in fields, meadows, glades, rights-of-way, disturbed sites, and possibly your front lawn.
  • Lamb's quarters plant growing in bare, disturbed soil
    Lamb's quarters (Pigweed)
    Chenopodium album
    Lamb’s quarters won’t win any beauty contests for its flowers, but it merits an award for being both a common garden weed as well as a nutritious leafy green valued around the world.
  • Photo of mayapple colony looking like numerous green umbrellas on forest floor
    Mayapple
    Podophyllum peltatum
    Mayapple is a common spring wildflower that makes its biggest impression with its leaves, which resemble umbrellas arising from a single stalk. It often grows in colonies.
  • Missouri violet blooming along Katy Trail near Easley, Missouri
    Missouri Violet
    Viola missouriensis (syn. V. sororia var. missouriensis)
    Missouri violet is one of five Missouri stemless violets with purple or blue flowers and unlobed leaves. It is distinguished by its triangular or heart-shaped leaves that are longer than wide and are coarsely toothed only on the basal two-thirds.
  • Photo of orange day lily flower
    Orange Day Lily
    Hemerocallis fulva
    Native to Europe and Asia, orange day lily was widely planted by early settlers and has become widely naturalized in North America. The seeds don't mature in Missouri, so all the plants here are spread by root divisions.
  • Pale or cream violet, Viola striata, closeup of flower
    Pale Violet (Cream Violet)
    Viola striata
    Pale violet, or cream violet, is Missouri’s only white-flowering violet that produces true aboveground stems. It is scattered to common in the Ozarks, Ozark border, and Bootheel lowlands and uncommon or absent elsewhere in the state.
  • Photo of blooming passionflower
    Passion Flower
    Passiflora incarnata
    The bizarre, complicated flowers attract attention! The fruits are edible. Passion flower is a nonwoody vine that climbs via tendrils on trees or other structures. It is native to the southeastern United States, including southern Missouri.
  • Photo of a Queen Anne's lace flower cluster, seen from the top
    Queen Anne’s Lace (Wild Carrot)
    Daucus carota
    Queen Anne’s lace is many things to many people — roadside wildflower, noxious introduced weed, wild edible, medicinal herb, delightful cut flower. In Missouri, it blooms May through October.
  • Red, or purple, clover flower head vied from the side
    Red Clover (Purple Clover)
    Trifolium pratense
    Red clover, or purple clover, is the familiar large, pinkish-purple clover that grows in lawns, pastures, and roadsides statewide. A Eurasian native, it was introduced to North America by the middle 1600s.
  • Arrowhead plant showing leaves and flowers
    Arrowheads
    Sagittaria spp.
    Arrowheads are aquatic plants with erect, usually arrow-shaped leaves and distinctive three-petaled flowers. They are often called duck potatoes because ducks, geese, and swans relish the tuberlike rootstocks.
  • Photo of black mustard flower cluster
    Black Mustard
    Brassica nigra
    Next time you breeze past weedy black mustard on the highway or spot it in a fallow field, think of how important this and other mustards are to the world economy – and to your dinner table.
  • Photo of Ohio horsemint inflorescence
    Ohio Horsemint
    Blephilia ciliata
    Square, unbranching stems, opposite leaves, two-lipped flowers, and a mild minty fragrance are clues Ohio horsemint is in the mint family. Tight, rounded flower clusters are stacked atop one another at the stem tips.
  • Photo of beefsteak plant showing upper leaves and flower cluster
    Beefsteak Plant
    Perilla frutescens
    Introduced as an ornamental, beefsteak plant is native to Asia. It is common in moist or dry wooded bottomlands, open valley pastures, and along trails, railroads, and roadsides. It spreads invasively in our state.
  • Photo of Bradbury beebalm plant with pale flowers
    Bradbury Beebalm
    Monarda bradburiana (sometimes M. russeliana)
    Also called horsemint and wild bergamot, Bradbury beebalm is a showy, fragrant plant that is a favorite of native plant gardeners. It’s also a favorite of Missouri’s butterflies!
  • Photo of a bull thistle flowerhead.
    Bull Thistle
    Cirsium vulgare
    Bull thistle is a weedy introduction from Europe, found statewide. To tell it from our other thistles, note its stems with spiny-margined wings, and its leaves with the upper surface strongly roughened with stiff, spiny bristles.
  • Bur cucumber flowers and foliage
    Bur Cucumber
    Sicyos angulatus
    Bur cucumber is a nonwoody, native, annual vine common in low, moist soils. It can spread across an area 20 feet wide, covering the ground and nearby shrubs. Note its lobed, gourd-family leaves, curly green tendrils, clusters of prickly, green, oval fruits, and 5-lobed, cream-colored flowers.
  • Photo of several cattail flowering stalks
    Cattails
    Typha spp.
    Missouri’s cattails are all tall wetland plants with narrow, upright leaves emerging from a thick base, and a central stalk bearing a brown, sausage-shaped flower spike.
  • Common chickweed plant in bloom
    Common Chickweed
    Stellaria media
    Common chickweed, native to Europe, has been introduced nearly worldwide and is a familiar garden weed in Missouri. It forms spreading mats on the ground and has small flowers with 5 petals, each deeply lobed making it look like 10.
  • Common purslane plant growing on bare, dry soil
    Common Purslane
    Portulaca oleracea
    Purslane can be an aggressive pest in gardens and is one of the worst agricultural weeds in the world. Meanwhile, it’s also a favorite wild vegetable served cooked or raw, and many people cultivate it.
  • Photo of dittany flowers
    Dittany
    Cunila origanoides
    Sometimes called wild oregano, dittany, like true oregano, is a member of the mint family and can be used as a culinary herb and in teas. Look for it on dry, wooded slopes in Ozark counties.
  • Photo of Florida lettuce flower closeup with syrphid fly
    Florida Lettuce (Woodland Lettuce)
    Lactuca floridana
    A true lettuce that can be eaten as a cooked or salad green, Florida lettuce has lavender to purplish blue flowers and grows statewide.
  • Photo of garlic mustard plant with flowers
    Garlic Mustard
    Alliaria petiolata
    Because each plant disperses a large number of seeds, garlic mustard can outcompete native vegetation for light, moisture, nutrients, soil, and space as it quickly colonizes an area.
  • Photo of ground plum, top of plant, showing flowers and several leaves.
    Ground Plum (Milk Vetch)
    Astragalus crassicarpus (formerly A. mexicanus)
    Ground plum is a legume that bears plumlike, edible fruits. Its short, spikelike clusters of pea flowers can be white, cream, yellow, pink, or violet.
  • Photo of henbit plants with flowers
    Henbit
    Lamium amplexicaule
    In early spring, henbit carpets entire fields with the pinkish-purple of its small flowers. This nonnative mint spreads abundantly but causes few problems. It has shallow roots and fades before crops begin to grow.
  • Photo of a huge mass of kudzu vines covering trees and ground
    Kudzu
    Pueraria montana
    Of the many invasive nonnative plants that were originally introduced to stop soil erosion and improve soils, kudzu is one of the worst. This “vine that ate the South” is often the first plant that comes to mind when we think of “invasive plants.”
  • Pickerel weed colony in bloom with water in background
    Pickerel Weed
    Pontederia cordata
    The handsome violet-blue flower spikes of pickerel weed stand out vividly at the edges of ponds. One of our few blue-flowering pond plants, pickerel weed is easy to identify by its color alone.