katemacquarrie22

What comes to mind when you think about wild foods: bitter greens, sweet berries, meaty mushrooms? Spicy may not be at the top of your wild tastes list, but PEI does have some delightfully peppery plants, including this one: Horseweed (Erigeron canadensis). Horseweed is among the Island’s native ruderal species: plants that naturally prefer disturbed habitats. Before European settlement, this member of the Aster Family would have grown mainly along our sandy and rocky shores and in grassy...

It’s Mushroom Monday, and this week we have one of PEI’s most notorious species. Despite its reputation, this mushroom is beautiful, ecologically important, and perfectly harmless if you don’t eat it. Meet a Destroying Angel (Amanita cf. amerivirosa). ‘Destroying Angel’ isn’t a single species, but the name applied to a group of all-white, very toxic mushrooms in the genus Amanita. Research has confirmed three separate species in our region so far, with A. amerivirosa being the most common...

I love getting questions about the wild side of PEI and so was thrilled to get this photo from Megan Jones. She found this clump of bright red insects in some old straw near her barn and was curious about their identification and whether they could be invasive. These are the lovely – and native – nymphs of the White-margined Burrowing Bug (Sehirus cinctus). Let’s take a look! You could be forgiven for thinking these are Lady Beetles at first glance, given their similar red-and-black...