Photo by Sandy Wolkenberg on iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0
Black walnut
Juglans nigra
- When
- Typically September – October — September, October. Earlier in the south, later in the north.
- Where it grows
- Old farmsteads, river bottoms, fence lines and city parks.
- How to know it
- Tennis-ball green husks lying under a tall tree with long compound leaves; the husk stains everything it touches brown.
- Look-alikes
- Butternut is a close relative, also edible, with football-shaped sticky husks.
- Harvest and use
- Husk outdoors with gloves, wash, cure a month, then crack. Deep, wine-like flavour, unlike any store walnut.
- Caution
- The husk juice permanently stains skin, clothes and driveways.
Found in these regions
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Also ready in September
FruitAugust – SeptemberBeach plum
Prunus maritima
Low sprawling shrub in the sand, with dusty purple plums about the size of a marble.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Tom Norton · CC BY 4.0
FruitAugust – SeptemberChokecherry
Prunus virginiana
Long drooping clusters of dark red-to-black cherries on a small tree with finely toothed oval leaves.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Tom Norton · CC BY 4.0
BerryAugust – SeptemberElderberries
Sambucus canadensis
Flat, heavy clusters of tiny purple-black berries on red-tinged stems, on a shrub with opposite compound leaves.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: David Anderson · CC BY 4.0
Educational information only. Never eat a wild plant or mushroom identified from a single photograph or description — confirm with a regional field guide or an experienced forager, and know the poisonous species in your area first.