Wintergreen (teaberry)
Gaultheria procumbens
- When
- Typically September – April — September, October, November, December, January, February, March, April. Earlier in the south, later in the north.
- Where it grows
- Acidic soil under pine and oak, often with blueberry.
- How to know it
- Ankle-high evergreen with thick glossy oval leaves and a bright red berry; crush a leaf and it smells exactly of wintergreen.
- Look-alikes
- Partridgeberry is a harmless lookalike with paired leaves and two dimples on the fruit; the wintergreen smell settles it.
- Harvest and use
- Berries persist under snow — a winter trail nibble. Leaves make tea.
- Caution
- Wintergreen oil is toxic in quantity; leaf tea in normal amounts is fine.
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.