Found near New Orleans · September
What people actually find here
239 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.
Acorns45 records within 40 km this month
Elderberries34 records within 40 km this month
Purslane22 records within 40 km this month
Broadleaf plantain2 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
turkey-tail
Trametes versicolor
9 records nearby
flowerpot parasol
Leucocoprinus birnbaumii
8 records nearby
Hairy Hexagonia
Hexagonia hydnoides
5 records nearby
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Plants
White beggarticks
Bidens alba
113 records nearby
Saltmarsh mallow
Kosteletzkya pentacarpos
76 records nearby
Chinese Tallow
Triadica sebifera
69 records nearby
·
Photographs and records from iNaturalist, used under their open licences and credited to their photographers.
Your woods
What's growing around New Orleans
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.
- oak
- willow
- maple
- hackberry
- sycamore
- elm
- mulberry
- hickory
Know these first
What can hurt you around New Orleans in September
4 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 kill1 record nearby
Small parasols (Lepiota)
Lepiota (the whole genus)
- Mistaken for
- Shaggy parasol and true parasol mushroom, which are larger relatives worth eating.
- How to tell
- The dangerous ones are small — a cap under about 8 cm — with brown scales on a pale ground and a ring. Size is the whole distinction, and it is not a comfortable one, so the safe rule is to leave every small scaly parasol alone.
- What it does
- Several small Lepiota species carry amatoxins and have killed adults. There is no benefit that justifies the risk.
- Hospital25 records nearby
Poison ivy
Toxicodendron radicans
- Mistaken for
- Boxelder seedlings, Virginia creeper, and raspberry canes — it grows through everything worth picking.
- How to tell
- Three leaflets, the middle one on a longer stalk, and a hairy aerial rootlet on the climbing vine. Virginia creeper has five.
- What it does
- Urushiol causes a blistering rash for weeks. Burning it is far worse — the smoke carries it into the lungs.
- Hospital12 records nearby
Next
What to start watching for
Coming into season in the next month or two near New Orleans, Louisiana. Seasons shift a week or two with the weather, so treat these as things to keep an eye on rather than dates.
