Found near Boston · September
What people actually find here
400 species have been recorded within about 40 km of here in September, from verified public observations. These are the ones we have written up, ordered by how often they turn up.
Acorns433 records within 40 km this month
Staghorn sumac368 records within 40 km this month
Dangerous look-alikeYarrow120 records within 40 km this month
Rose hips120 records within 40 km this month
Purslane95 records within 40 km this month
Wintergreen (teaberry)93 records within 40 km this month
Black walnut82 records within 40 km this month
Also out there, that we haven't written up yet
Recorded near you this month. We have no identification guidance for these, so treat them as a list of things to go and learn — from a regional key or someone who knows them — not as a list of things to pick.
Fungi
birch polypore
Fomitopsis betulina
324 records nearby
Painted Suillus
Suillus spraguei
250 records nearby
Your woods
What's growing around Boston
The commonest trees recorded nearby, most often seen first. Most of the good mushrooms are tied to a particular tree, so this is the first thing to know about a wood.
- pine
- maple
- oak
- beech
- cherry
- poplar and aspen
- black locust
- chestnut
Know these first
What can hurt you around Boston in September
12 species on our hazard list have been recorded near here this month, 4 of which can kill a healthy adult. Learn these before you learn anything you intend to eat.
- Can kill186 records nearby
Lily of the valley
Convallaria majalis
- Mistaken for
- Ramps and wild garlic — it comes up in the same woods at the same time, with the same shape of leaf.
- How to tell
- Crush a leaf. Ramps smell unmistakably of onion and garlic; lily of the valley smells green and of nothing else. If it does not smell of onion, it is not a ramp. Ramps also have a reddish-purple stalk base.
- What it does
- Cardiac glycosides that disturb the heart's rhythm. Every part is toxic, including the water cut flowers have stood in.
- Can kill51 records nearby
White baneberry
Actaea pachypoda
- Mistaken for
- Nothing edible, but the berries are conspicuous and children pick them.
- How to tell
- Porcelain-white berries each with a single black dot, on thick red stalks — the common name is doll's eyes.
- What it does
- Cardiac sedative: a few berries cause severe symptoms in a child.
- Can kill12 records nearby
Eastern destroying angel
Next
What to start watching for
Coming into season in the next month or two near Boston, Massachusetts. Seasons shift a week or two with the weather, so treat these as things to keep an eye on rather than dates.
