Online Identification of Berry Plant Species

If you're looking for the online identification of berry plant species, there is a lot you should know about identifying wild berries before you go eating anything you're not familiar with. Keep reading to get more information on berry varieties and if they are edible or not.

What kind of berries are these?

First and foremost, here's a word of caution: do not ingest any berries that you do not know 100 percent what they are and what they do. There are many berries in the wild that are poisonous and can cause serious damage, or even death. It's a good idea to take a class from a professional botanist or herbalist who can train you in the science of plant and berry identification.

If you're looking online to find out what kind of berries you have got, you're going to have a hard time unless the berries are right there with you, sitting next to your computer. You can always print out pages that talk about how to identify berries, but online printed photos are going to be hard to make out unless you have a very nice printer and the photos in question are of high enough quality to print without severe degradation. This is important because when identifying berries, you need to make sure that you know what you've got before eating them. A grainy black and white printout will not very easily help you figure out how to identify a plant or berry species.

When it comes to identifying plants, there cannot be enough said about the importance of having a good field guide with you. Field guides are books that contain all sorts of useful information about plants, from exact photos to detailed text descriptions of what a variety will look like, smell like, feel like and even taste like. If you're interested in learning more about plant identification, you should really consider getting a good field guide that you can keep with you whenever you're out berry picking.

Find out if these berries are edible.

If you want a hard copy guide to take with you while you explore the outdoors, there are many field guides you can buy that will help you to identify berries on the fly. Here are a few that you might enjoy:

• Wild Fruits and Berries in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan
• A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants: Eastern and Central North America
• Wild Berries of the West
• Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Rockies

When picking a field guide, make sure that it covers the area in which you'll be gathering berries. A guide to the Midwest won't do you much good if you're in Alaska!

If you want to know more about the online identification of berry plant species, the Internet is a great place to find all sorts of useful information. Here are some helpful links that will assist you in researching berry varieties:

• If you are having a hard time finding out the species of a particular kind of plant or berry, online forums can be a great place to ask questions. Homestead Garden has a great forum where gardeners answer your questions. The University of British Columbia also has a great plant forum where people of all experience levels can ask questions.
• Many backpackers like to learn about berry identification so that they can sharpen their survival skills while on the trail. It's a good idea to know your edible berries for survival before you hit the road!
• Some areas, such as the Pacific Northwest, have very prolific berry plants that can be picked for many months out of the year. Check out this article from the Seattle Times about berry picking in Washington.

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