Urban areas might seem at first to be poor in foraging opportunities, but they actually provide a lot of advantages over rural areas if you know where to look. This is not a complete list of edibles I have found in the Atlanta area, this is a list of what I think is worth your time.

Plants

Trees and Bushes

Mulberry White mulberry is a fast-growing tree which was planted in the United States to feed silkworms. The industry never took off, but the invasive trees are now everywhere. Red mulberries are a related native species. White and red mulberry are both common and have similar looking edible fruit. While mulberries are not the most flavorful wild fruit, their sheer abundance makes them worth looking for. The leaves have the interesting characteristic of having three different shapes on one tree, a trait this tree has in common with sassafras, which is also an edible and known for its root beer scented roots. Look for fruit which looks like a long blackberry hanging from trees in June. You don’t even need to look up to find these trees, as they will have large amounts of crushed berries underfoot. Fruit, Leaves

American Persimmon These little orange fruits are the only thing on this list that is harvested in winter. Though they are mostly seed, the small amount of edible flesh is sugary sweet- but only when overripe and mushy. A green persimmon is profoundly astringent. The easiest way to find these trees is to look for medium-sized trees that have small orange fruits clinging to them once all the deciduous trees have lost their leaves. There is nothing you will confuse this fruit with. Fruit, Flower

Serviceberry Serviceberries are an underrated edible which I would describe as a blueberry mixed with almond flavoring. The common serviceberry is the only one I have encountered, but other species do exist, and all are edible. It grows on a short tree with showy white flowers in spring and purple berries in early summer. The fruit is similar looking to a blueberry, but it grows on a long, droopy stem in a way blueberries do not. They also ripen earlier in the year than blueberries. Fruit, Flowers

Pawpaw This is a wonderful fruit that is best obtained through foraging. It has been compared to a banana because that is most people’s idea of what a custardy fruit tastes like, but it is so much more. There are multiple species of pawpaw, but the common pawpaw is the easiest to find and has the best fruit. Begin your search in April for short trees with brown triangular flowers that have a rotten fruit smell. Come back in August to harvest the fruits that fall on the ground- but be quick because the wildlife likes them too. Eat fruits that are soft and smell fragrant. Fruit, Flowers

Blueberry These are, in my opinion, the best fruit to start your foraging journey with. Everyone already loves blueberries, and you know what it looks like. It also has no toxic lookalikes as far as I know, though the serviceberry mentioned earlier does look similar. It can be difficult to know exactly what species of blueberry you are picking, as the genus Vaccinium has a wide variety of cultivated and wild species you can encounter. Mayberry, and Sparkleberry are not cultivated and have small berries. Highbush blueberries have large berries. Look for ripe blueberries in the warmest summer months, and locate the bushes in fall based on their bright orangey-red foliage. Fruit, Flowers

Northern Spicebush This unassuming shrub has beautiful red berries in August that are said to taste like orange zest and allspice. The berry I ate was quite mild, but maybe another bush will have a stronger flavor. It can be scouted out in spring when it is covered in clusters of small yellow flowers. Do not confuse this with the various species of holly that also have red berries in fall. Fruit, Flower

Pecan Pecans are best enjoyed by finding them on the ground, cracking open with a rock and picking out the nutmeat right under the tree. If you harvest a lot and bring them home, you will find processing them to be a chore, and the nuts will taste about the same as storebought. I would invest in something more specialized than a brick if you plan to crack a lot of these. Around October the pecans should be falling off the tree and the outer husk should be drying and peeling off the shell. Pick them off the ground and do not consume the ones with holes in the shell. If the husk is still green it is not ripe. Ripe Nut, Unripe Nut

Vines

Blackberry Blackberries are not always vines. Many species of plant in the genus Rubus are blackberries, and the rest are other choice edibles like raspberry and cloudberry. A specific type of blackberry, the Southern Dewberry, has been my favorite species to forage. It is abundant and has juicy fruits. It trails along the ground and can be scouted out in March — look for white flowers and red brambles. It is ready to harvest in May. Other blackberries to look out for are the pennsylvania blackberry and common dewberry. Like blueberries, it is not necessary to identify the species as long as you are confident it is a blackberry, as they are all edible. Watch out for the thorns. Fruit, Flower

Purple Passionflower This is a close relative of the familiar purple and orange passion fruit. Look for its wacky purple flowers throughout summer and its fruit in late summer and early autumn. It is a vine that I usually find low to the ground with three-pronged leaves. The flowers have an odd smell that I find mildly unpleasant, but they are delightfully covered in bumblebees and orange butterflies. I found a lot of unripe fruit in August, and I took them home to ripen because the vine they were growing on had been chopped down. Some of them ripened. They are ripe when crinkly and yellow-green. Fruit, Flower

Muscadine These are grapes with a thick skin and seeds, and eating them is an experience unlike supermarket grapes. They are very flavorful with a sour skin that most spit out and a sweet interior. Be warned, I have experienced mild throat itching after eating a lot of them. They are abundant in forests, and the vines can get quite large and can be located year round with their heart-shaped leaves. Do not touch furry vines, these are poison ivy. Muscadine vines are not furry, and are a warm brown as opposed to kudzu’s cool brown. The flowers are barely noticeable. The wild ones are purple when ripe, though I have found some cultivars that are green when ripe. Eat them when they are soft. Harvest these in August and September. Fruit, Vine

Other

Common Lambsquarters The edible leaves of this plant remind me of spinach, and it is easy to find pretty much anywhere on earth that is hospitable to large populations of humans. The tops will look like they were dusted with white powder, which can be washed off but doesn’t bother me. It can be harvested in all the warm months of the year. It is considered a weed, but is closely related to quinoa and also has edible seeds along with its leaves. I have not tried harvesting and processing the seeds, so I can’t say if it’s as good as quinoa. Leaves, Seeds

Mayapple BE CAUTIOUS WITH THIS PLANT. EVERYTHING EXCEPT FOR THE FULLY RIPE FRUIT IS TOXIC. These large umbrella leaves stick straight out of the ground and are low down, with easy-to-miss white flowers which will be visible in May. The fruits will not be edible until June or July. Only the soft, yellow, fragrant ripe fruits should be consumed. The taste is wonderful, and I consider them worth the risk, as it is obvious when they are ripe. Unripe fruit is hard and green. Some people recommend removing all the seeds before consuming. I did not do this and suffered no ill effects. The linked photo of the fruit is my personal observation of one that is not ready to eat. It is too green. Fruit, Flower