Photo by Public domain (iNaturalist) on iNaturalist · CC0 (public domain)
Wild grapes
Vitis riparia
This one has a dangerous look-alike
Canada moonseed is the danger: it has no tendrils, its 'grapes' contain a single flat crescent seed, and it is toxic. Grapes have several teardrop seeds.
- When
- Typically September – October — September, October. Earlier in the south, later in the north.
- Where it grows
- Riverbanks, fence lines and forest edges, climbing high into trees.
- How to know it
- Woody vine with shreddy bark and forked tendrils opposite the leaves; small purple-black grapes with seeds.
- Harvest and use
- Very tart — jelly, juice, verjuice. The young leaves are the ones for dolmades.
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
NutSeptember – OctoberBlack walnut
Juglans nigra
Tennis-ball green husks lying under a tall tree with long compound leaves; the husk stains everything it touches brown.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Sandy Wolkenberg · 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
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.