If I had to design vegetation for a movie set on an alien planet, I’d take inspiration from this PEI plant: the odd-looking Rough Cocklebur ( Xanthium strumarium ).    Cocklebur gets its name from spine-covered fruit (burs) that look a bit like Burdocks but have two distinctive beaks at the end (inset photo). Like Burdock ( Arctium minus ), Cocklebur’s Velcro-like fruits are distributed by hitch-hiking on animals, including humans. Those burs also float, allowing them to be r

Welcome back to Mushroom Monday, your weekly look at some of PEI’s fascinating fungi. I taste-tested today’s species for the first time this year, and it’s now among my favourite edible wild mushrooms. Meet the Olive Shaggy Parasol ( Chlorophyllum olivieri ). Shaggy Parasols are large, eye-catching mushrooms that can be found in grassy, open areas as well as in forests (especially under Spruce). Field guides often list them as lookalikes for edible Shaggy Manes, but they’re n

Welcome back to Mushroom Monday, your weekly look at some of PEI’s fascinating fungi. It’s often helpful to use more than just sight when identifying mushrooms, and today’s species has a very distinctive smell. Meet Sweetbread Mushroom (aka The Miller, Clitopilus prunulus ).   I confess that I generally don’t pay much attention to small mushrooms with white caps and gills. I’m sure they’re perfectly lovely, but I tend to assume they exceed my limited identification skills. Af

You may think of summer as peak season for PEI’s wild berries, but a few tasty treats are at their best this time of year. One of my fall favourites is Wild Lily-of-the-Valley (aka Canada Mayflower, Maianthemum canadense).   Wild Lily-of-the-Valley is NOT the same as the popular garden plant of the same name. The sweet-smelling European Lily-of-the-Valley ( Convallaria majalis ) contains toxic cardiac glycosides that can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and irregular heart

Welcome back to Mushroom Monday, your weekly look at some of PEI’s fascinating fungi. This week we have the interesting, toxic, and...

Most people have never seen PEI’s rarest native tree in person, and some have never even heard of it. Meet the beautiful Ironwood (...

Some PEI plants are revered while others are reviled, but today’s plant is both. Meet Common Milkweed ( Asclepias syriaca ).   Our Island...

Have you ever run into an acquaintance you haven’t seen in a long, long time? The person looks unfamiliar at first, then something dawns,...

The Mint Family ( Lamiaceae ) is well represented on PEI, with about 25 species known in the wild (along with a few hybrids and...

This time of year, beautiful wildflowers are blooming in all of PEI’s habitats. Many people miss out on seeing those that thrive in bogs,...

PEI has showy wild plants that outshine any domestic blooms I can think of. One flowering now is the lovely Blue-flag Iris ( Iris...

Today’s PEI plant is one that many of you will be familiar with. This time of year, the scent of its flowers and sound of bees buzzing...

On PEI, it’s common to mistake any tall, white, roadside flower for Queen Anne’s Lace (aka Wild Carrot). But there are at least eight...

There are several plants not yet known to grow wild on PEI that I suspect are here somewhere. Although those in the photo have been...

When I think ‘spring mushrooms’, Morels and False Morels are the first that come to mind. We have both here on PEI and – despite the...

Fall is a great time to collect some of PEI’s aromatic wild leaves, perfect for spicing up food and drink during the cold winter months....

PEI’s gardens and farm fields may be winding down for the year, but there’s still lots of fresh wild food in the landscape. It’s the...

Welcome back to Mushroom Monday, your weekly look at some of PEI’s easy-to-identify fungi. Today’s mushroom is large, showy, common, and...

PEI’s landscape is full of wild fruits right now, but not all are edible. Let’s look at two of the species I’ve been getting a lot of...

Welcome back to Mushroom Monday, your weekly look at some of PEI’s easy-to-identify fungi. Today it’s not one species, but a group: the...