Found near Thunder Bay · 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.
Dangerous look-alikeYarrow82 records within 40 km this month
Acorns38 records within 40 km this month
Broadleaf plantain28 records within 40 km this month
Dangerous look-alikeJuniper berries22 records within 40 km this month
Chokecherry13 records within 40 km this month
Dandelion10 records within 40 km this month
Rose hips9 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
Shaggy Mane
Coprinus comatus
77 records nearby
Orange Jelly Spot
Dacrymyces chrysospermus
49 records nearby
Your woods
What's growing around Thunder Bay
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.
- maple
- cedar
- poplar and aspen
- pine
- birch
- fir
- spruce
- larch
Know these first
What can hurt you around Thunder Bay in September
8 species on our hazard list have been recorded near here this month, 5 of which can kill a healthy adult. Learn these before you learn anything you intend to eat.
- Can kill18 records nearby
Red baneberry
Actaea rubra
- Mistaken for
- Red currants and other woodland berries.
- How to tell
- Glossy red berries in a tight cluster on a stout stalk, above compound toothed leaves. No currant-like flower remnant at the tip.
- What it does
- As white baneberry: severe cardiac effects from a small number of berries.
- Can kill11 records nearby
Canada yew
Taxus canadensis
- Mistaken for
- Its red arils look like berries and taste sweet; conifer foragers also take spruce and fir tips nearby.
- How to tell
- Flat dark needles in two rows, and fleshy red cups open at the end with a hard seed showing. Spruce and fir tips come from cones and bear no fruit.
- What it does
- The needles and seed are cardiotoxic and there is no effective antidote; the fleshy cup itself is not, which is exactly what makes it dangerous.
- Can kill7 records nearby
Monkshood
Aconitum (the whole genus)
Next
What to start watching for
Coming into season in the next month or two near Thunder Bay, Ontario. Seasons shift a week or two with the weather, so treat these as things to keep an eye on rather than dates.
