What could epitomize a quaint summer day better than berry-picking in the country? For those Midwesterners who participate in such foraging, however, do take caution—or you may not be able to taste a berry again. Use the guide below to keep you and you friends, students, children, grandchildren, etc. safe.
Poisonous Berries (click to expand)
+Bittersweet (American and Round-leaf)
Left: American Bittersweet Right: Round-leaf Bittersweet
Latin Names: Celastrus scandens and Celastrus orbiculatus
Habitat: Partially shaded or sunny woodland edges, fields, and thickets
Identifying Features: Woody, twining vine with minutely toothy, glossy leaves that turn yellow in the fall; five-petaled white or green-yellow flowers; yellow-orange to red fruit
Distinctions:
Fruiting Season: Late summer through fall
Toxicity: Moderate
Side Effects from Consumption: Gastrointestinal distress, vomiting, weakness
Status: American Bittersweet is native, while Roundleaf Bittersweet is a noxious prohibited invasive
+Bittersweet Nightshade
Latin Name: Solanum dulcamara
Look-alike(s): Highbush cranberry
Habitat: Creeks, wetlands, field edges, roadsides, shaded woods
Identifying Features: Bright, star-shaped purple flowers; glossy red egg-shaped berries; cordate leaves
Fruiting Season: Fall
Toxicity: Moderately high
Side Effects from Consumption: Decreased heart rate, muscle weakness, diarrhea, paralysis, vomiting, extreme thirst, dilated pupils, loss of sensation, difficulty breathing
Status: Invasive
+Canada Moonseed
Latin Name: Menispermum canadense
Look-alike(s): Wild Cucumber, Riverbank Grape
Habitat: Moist woods, thickets, streambanks
Identifying Features: Quite viny; blue-black berries with white tinge; small, greenish-white flowers; single, crescent-shaped seed
Fruiting Season: September-October
Toxicity: High
Side Effects from Consumption: Abdominal distress, diarrhea, vomiting, convulsions, kidney failure
Status: Native
+Canada Yew
Latin Name: Taxus canadensis
Look-alike(s): None
Habitat: Well-drained, base-rich soils; often found on steep, shady slopes, near bogs, and/or in forests (also a common ornamental plant)
Identifying Features: Mid-sized shrub reaching 6 feet; flat, fir-like needles; rotund, fleshy, bright red “aril” (seed covering) with an open end
Fruiting Season: Late August into fall
Toxicity: Very High
Side Effects from Consumption: Confusion, muscular tremors, seizures, respiratory issues, irregular heart rate, coldness, cardiac arrest, death
Status: Native
+Common Buckthorn
Latin Name: Rhamnus cathartica
Look-alike(s): Prunus species (see Invasives guide)
Habitat: Dry to moist settings in full shade to full sun; natural woods, fence rows, old fields, and degraded sites
Identifying Features: Opposite, egg-shaped, dark green leaves with deep veins curved towards the tip; shiny, purple-black berries on short stalks; the tips of twigs form small, scaly two-pronged buds that look like deer hooves
Fruiting Season: Late summer through early fall
Toxicity: Moderate
Side Effects from Consumption: Nausea, vomiting, increased salivation, weakness, bowel bleeding, liver damage
Status: Invasive
+European Lily-of-the-Valley
Latin Name: Convallaria majalis
Look-alike(s): Wild Leeks and Bluebead
Habitat: Deciduous woods, floodplains, disturbed areas with moist soil; partial shade to full shade
Identifying Features: Small, cherry-red drooping berries (6 to 12 mm), large leaves with multiple faint veins
Fruiting Season: Mid-summer through fall
Toxicity: High
Side Effects from Consumption: Blurred vision, irregular heartbeat, diarrhea, gastrointestinal distress, nausea, vomiting, excessive urination, confusion, fainting, weakness; cardiac arrest; death
Status: Invasive
+Hairy Nightshade
Latin Name: Solanum physalifolium
Look-alike(s): Large False Ground Cherry and Black Nightshade
Habitat: Sunny, disturbed fields, roadsides, and waste areas with sandy soil
Identifying Features: 1-3 feet high; snow-white, five-petaled flower with protruding yellow column of stamens; entire plant very sticky and hairy; leaves triangular with pointed apex; round, greenish-brown fruit with a large calyx enveloping nearly half of it
Fruiting Season: Fall
Toxicity: Moderate
Side Effects from Consumption: Headache, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation
Status: Invasive
+Jack-in-the-Pulpit
Latin Name: Arisaema triphyllum
Look-alike(s): Crow-dipper (Pinellia ternata)
Habitat: Shaded, moist, humus-rich woodlands in low areas
Identifying Features: 1 to 3-foot tall plant with blood-red, upright cluster of berries beneath a hood-like sheath, the “spathe”, which folds over the upright green inflorescence (the “spadix”)
Fruiting Season: Late summer through fall
Toxicity: Moderate
Side Effects from Consumption: Blisters, swelling, and burning of the mouth, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, increased salivation
Status: Native
Photo Credit: Olivia Hebblewhite
+Poison Sumac
Latin Name: Toxicodendron vernix
Look-alike(s): Smooth Sumac and Staghorn Sumac
Habitat: Partial shade or sun; streambanks, swamps, bogs, lakeshores, and moist thickets with clay soil
Identifying Features: Shrub 6-15 feet high; small, smooth, yellow-white berries drooping in clusters; oval-elliptic nearly opposite pinnate leaves in groups of 7-13 leaflets
Fruiting Season: Fall through winter
Toxicity: High
Side Effects from Consumption: Nausea, vomiting, mouth or throat rash, severe respiratory issues
Status: Native
+Red Baneberry
Latin Name: Actaea rubra
Look-alike(s): White Baneberry
Habitat: Shaded coniferous, deciduous, or mixed forests with moist soil
Identifying Features: Bright red berries (occasionally white) with a black dot; slender green berry stalks; bushes 3-5 feet tall; deeply lobed and coarsely toothed leaves with hairy underside; small white flowers
Fruiting Season: August through fall
Toxicity: Moderately high
Side Effects from Consumption: Burning in throat and mouth, dizziness, gastrointestinal distress, headaches, diarrhea, delirium
Status: Native
+Snowberry
Latin Name: Symphoricarpos albus
Look-alike(s): None
Habitat: Open forests, sunny clearings, riverbanks, bluffs, and swampy thickets with moderately dry to moist clay soil
Identifying Features: Smooth, dark green leaves; pinkish-purple flowers; plump bright white berries
Fruiting Season: August-September
Toxicity: Low to moderate
Side Effects from Consumption: Vomiting, dizziness, lethargy
Status: Native
+Virginia Creeper
Latin Name: Parthenocissus quinquefolia
Look-alike(s): Riverbank Grape and Poison Ivy
Habitat: Old forests, clearings, fence rows, stream banks, and bluffs with moist, acidic soil
Identifying Features: Trailing, woody vine; five palmately compound, toothy leaflets; small, firm purplish-black berries on red-pink stems
Fruiting Season: August-October
Toxicity: Moderately high
Side Effects from Consumption: Mouth and throat rash and/or swelling; increased salivation; nausea or vomiting; kidney damage
Status: Native
+White Baneberry
Latin Name: Actaea pachypoda
Look-alike(s): Red Baneberry
Habitat: Shaded, rich woodlands of loamy soil
Identifying Features: White berries (occasionally red) with black dots; coarsely toothed leaves with hairless underside; thick green to pinkish-red berry stalks on low-growing bushes
Fruiting Season: August through fall
Toxicity: Moderately high
Side Effects from Consumption: Burning in throat and mouth, dizziness, gastrointestinal distress, headaches, diarrhea, delirium
Status: Native
+Winged Burning Bush
Latin Name: Euonymus alatus
Look-alike(s): None
Habitat: Disturbed soil, woodland edges, thickets, degraded fields, gardens with partial sun or shade
Identifying Features: Dense mat of roots; opposite, toothed, ovular leaves green to burgundy; young branches have “wings” of brownish cork nubs; ripe fruit capsule splits to reveal 1 to 4 wrinkly bright red arils
Fruiting Season: Summer through fall
Toxicity: Moderate
Side Effects from Consumption: Abdominal pain, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, convulsions, chills
Status: Invasive
Toxic Until Cooked
+Elderberry
Latin Name: Sambucus canadensis
Look-alike(s): Virginia Creeper, Pokeweed, Devil’s Walking Stick
Habitat: Sunny, damp areas: streams, marshes, floodplains, hedge rows, wet meadows
Identifying Features: Creamy white petals, compound narrow, elliptic leaves with finely serrated edges, and drooping, dark purple berries less than 1/4-inch in diameter on pinkish stems
Fruiting Season: Late summer and early fall
Toxicity: Low; cook to abolish toxicity
Taste: Floral, fruity, lovely in teas
Side Effects from Consumption: Stomach pain
Status: Native
+Guelder-rose
Latin Name: Vibernum opulus
Look-alike(s): Highbush Cranberry
Habitat: Partial shade to sun; moist areas, often of disturbed soil; riverbanks, fens, old hedgerows, woodland edges
Identifying Features: Opposite, three-lobed leaves with a prominent channel down the leaf stem, veins that curve towards the leaf tips, and coarsely toothed edges; leaves also have a wrinkled surface and lightly hairy underside; globular, glossy red berries hang in bunches; 2 to 8 small, oval-shaped, concave glands sit at the junction of the leaf stalk
Fruiting Season: Summer through autumn
Toxicity: Low; cook to abolish toxicity
Taste: Flat and unappealing; not recommended
Side Effects from Consumption: Vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain
Status: Invasive
Present in Rice County: American and Round-leaf Bittersweet, Bittersweet Nightshade, Canada Moonseed, Common Buckthorn, European Lily-of-the-Valley, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Poison Sumac, Red Baneberry, Snowberry, Virginia Creeper, Winged Burning Bush
Author: Olivia Hebblewhite
+Photo Credits
American Bittersweet: driley
Roundleaf Bittersweet: fermented
Bittersweet Nightshade: chaug
Canada Moonseed: Nadiatalent (Wiki)
Canada Yew: mcsnoopy
Common Buckthorn: dyerbay
European Lily-of-the-Valley: natalya_vilyaeva
Hairy Nightshade: junior_bartram, sus scrofa
Jack-in-the-Pulpit: Olivia Hebblewhite
Poison Sumac: kursic, smilklosi
Red Baneberry: echocreek
Snowberry: andrewsfalconer
Virginia Creeper: danna & curious tangles
White Baneberry: chdphoto
Winged Burning Bush: caseymetcalfe
Elderberry: mattdemmon, jadewarner
Guelder-rose: Olivia Hebblewhite
+Sources
Adamant, Ashley. 2021. “Poisonous Berries ~ a Forager’s Guide.” Practical Self Reliance, March 12. https://practicalselfreliance.com/poisonous-berries/.
Adcox, Susan, and Kim Painter. 2024. “Virginia Creeper.” WebMD, November 4. https://www.webmd.com/first-aid/virginia-creeper.
Adirondacks Forever Wild. n.d.-a. “Wildflowers of the Adirondacks: Red Baneberry.” Adirondacks Forever Wild. Accessed October 21, 2025. https://wildadirondacks.org/adirondack-wildflowers-red-baneberry-actaea-rubra.html.
———. n.d.-b. “Wildflowers of the Adirondacks: White Baneberry.” Adirondacks Forever Wild. Accessed October 21, 2025. https://wildadirondacks.org/adirondack-wildflowers-white-baneberry-actaea-pachypoda.html.
Alberta Invasive Species Council. 2014. “Common Buckthorn.” Alberta Invasive Species Council, January. https://webdocs.edmonton.ca/web/weed_identification/fact_sheets/FS-CommonBuckthorn.pdf.
Borke, Jesse, David C. Dugdale, and Brenda Conaway. 2023a. “Jack-in-the-Pulpit Poisoning.” Mount Sinai, The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, November. https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/poison/jack-in-the-pulpit-poisoning.
———. 2023b. “Lily of the Valley.” Mount Sinai, The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, November. https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/poison/lily-of-the-valley.
Chayka, Katy. 2025. “Minnesota Wildflowers.” Katy Chayka. https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/.
Favorite, Jammie. 2008. “Snowberry.” With Lincoln M. Moore. USDA NRCS, April. https://plants.usda.gov/documentlibrary/factsheet/pdf/fs_syal.pdf.
Flower-McCraw, Sarah. 2017. “A Quick and Juicy Guide to Berries of the Northwest.” The Whole U, University of Washington, June 28. http://thewholeu.uw.edu:443/2017/06/28/a-quick-and-juicy-guide-to-berries-of-the-northwest/.
Four Season Foraging. 2025. “Top Five Poisonous Plants to Be Aware Of (in the Upper Midwest).” March 19. https://www.fourseasonforaging.com/blog/2025/3/18/top-five-poisonous-plants.
Gildersleeve, Rhonda, Anders Gurda, Peg Reedy, and Mark Renz. 2013. “Toxic Plants in Midwest Pastures and Forages.” The University of Wisconsin-Extension, Cooperative Extension. https://walworth.extension.wisc.edu/files/2014/03/A4019_ToxicPlantsWisconsinPasturesForages.pdf.
“Guide to Poisonous Plants – College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences – Colorado State University.” n.d. Accessed October 21, 2025. https://poisonousplants.cvmbs.colostate.edu/plant/90.
“Hairy Nightshade | Weed Identification Guide for Ontario Crops | Ontario.Ca.” 2023. January 16. http://www.ontario.ca/document/weed-identification-guide-ontario-crops/hairy-nightshade.
Healthline. 2020. “10 Tasty Wild Berries to Try (and 8 Poisonous Ones to Avoid).” October 14. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/wild-berries.
“Identify Poisonous Berries in the Fall with Pictures! | Almanac. Com.” 2025. September 18. https://www.almanac.com/poisonous-berries-fall.
Integrated Pest Management. n.d. “Hairy Nightshade.” Accessed October 21, 2025. https://www.canr.msu.edu/resources/hairy_nightshade.
“Jack-in-the-Pulpit – Arisaema | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox.” n.d. Accessed October 21, 2025. https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/arisaema/common-name/jack-in-the-pulpit/.
Jul 18, and 2019 | Print. n.d. “Weed of The Month – Virginia Creeper.” Home & Garden Information Center. Accessed October 21, 2025. https://hgic.clemson.edu/weed-of-the-month-virginia-creeper/.
North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox. n.d. “Euonymus Alatus ‘Compactus.’” NC State Extension. Accessed October 21, 2025. https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/euonymus-alatus-compactus/#:~:text=Poison%20Symptoms:,plant%20is%20edible%2C%20including%20seeds.
Oxbow Farm & Conservation Center. 2020. “Bittersweet Nightshade.” Oxbow Farm & Conservation Center, November 13. https://www.oxbow.org/conservation/resources/noxious-weeds/bittersweet-nightshade/.
Pinsker, Miriam. 2008. “Pinellia Ternata.” The Scott Arboretum, September 24, 2008. https://www.scottarboretum.org/pinellia-ternata/.
Trewatha, Pamela Borden. n.d. “Hairy Nightshade – Plant Identification.” Missouri State- Darr School of Agriculture, Missouri State University. Accessed October 29, 2025. https://Ag.MissouriState.edu/PBTrewatha/hairy-nightshade.htm.
Wisconsin Horticulture. 2025. “Baneberry, Actaea Spp.” University of Wisconsin-Madison. https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/baneberry-actaea-spp/.
Woodland Trust. n.d. “Guelder Rose (Viburnum Opulus).” Woodland Trust. Accessed November 7, 2025. https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/british-trees/a-z-of-british-trees/guelder-rose/.
You must be logged in to post a comment.