Found near Memphis · September
What people actually find here
323 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.
Pawpaw30 records within 40 km this month
Acorns18 records within 40 km this month
Elderberries12 records within 40 km this month
Purslane7 records within 40 km this month
Dandelion3 records within 40 km this month
Oyster mushroom1 record within 40 km this month
Here, look on the poplar and aspen and beech and maple.
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
Ringless Honey Mushroom
Desarmillaria caespitosa
56 records nearby
turkey-tail
Trametes versicolor
38 records nearby
Your woods
What's growing around Memphis
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.
- sycamore
- tulip tree
- oak
- maple
- poplar and aspen
- walnut
- ironwood
- beech
Know these first
What can hurt you around Memphis in September
5 species on our hazard list have been recorded near here this month, 1 of which can kill a healthy adult. Learn these before you learn anything you intend to eat.
- Can kill7 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.
- Hospital60 records nearby
Pokeweed
Phytolacca americana
- Mistaken for
- Its shoots are a traditional southern green, and the berries look like elderberries.
- How to tell
- Thick magenta stem and berries in a drooping raceme, each with a flattened top. Elderberries sit in a flat-topped cluster on green stems.
- What it does
- Roots, seeds and mature plant are toxic; the young shoots are eaten only after several changes of boiling water, and people are hospitalised every year for skipping that.
- Hospital19 records nearby
Poison ivy
Toxicodendron radicans
Next
What to start watching for
Coming into season in the next month or two near Memphis, Tennessee. Seasons shift a week or two with the weather, so treat these as things to keep an eye on rather than dates.
