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Turkey Tail Tea
Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor) is a beautiful, ecologically important fungus that has gained modern-day fame for medicinal uses that...
katemacquarrie22
Oct 15, 20232 min read
1,434 views
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Kousa Dogwood
Welcome back to Ask a Naturalist: your own personal ‘Google’ for information on all things wild on PEI! I love getting photos of plants...
katemacquarrie22
Oct 13, 20232 min read
4,687 views
1 comment


Hen of the Woods
As a botanist, I don’t know my mushrooms well (fungi are more closely related to animals than they are to plants). But I am working to...
katemacquarrie22
Oct 8, 20232 min read
281 views
0 comments


Elderberry Recipes
Elderberries are one of my favourite wild foods: abundant, easy to harvest, versatile, delicious, and beneficial! You can read more...
katemacquarrie22
Sep 13, 20232 min read
409 views
0 comments


Common Elderberry
If I had to choose my favourite wild food, I think it would be Common Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis). This plant is abundant, easy to...
katemacquarrie22
Sep 13, 20232 min read
575 views
0 comments


Wild Blackberries
Late summer is peak harvest season on PEI – not only for crops and gardens, but also for wild foods. It’s a banner year for our Island’s...
katemacquarrie22
Sep 10, 20233 min read
181 views
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Ghost Pipe
A beautiful ghostly-white creature is popping up in forests around PEI right now. You could be forgiven for thinking it’s a fungus, but...
katemacquarrie22
Aug 2, 20232 min read
2,753 views
5 comments


St. John's Wort
PEI has a wealth of medicinal wild plants. One of the most well-studied is Common St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum, Photo 1). St....
katemacquarrie22
Jul 30, 20232 min read
93 views
1 comment


Fireweed vs. Loosestrife
It’s great to see people becoming increasingly aware of PEI’s invasive species. Unfortunately, I’m seeing more and more cases of people...
katemacquarrie22
Jul 23, 20232 min read
898 views
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Wood Sorrel
If you’ve been working in your garden lately, you’ve likely seen this shamrock-like plant. Did you know it is edible and delicious? This...
katemacquarrie22
Jul 9, 20232 min read
1,656 views
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Wood Sorrel Recipes
The Wood Sorrels are among my favourite wild greens (Photo 1). You can read more about them in the Wood Sorrel post in the Plant (and...
katemacquarrie22
Jul 9, 20232 min read
321 views
0 comments


Burdock Roots
I enjoy tasks that let me to two things at once. With today’s plant I’m not only foraging for a delicious wild root, but also getting rid...
katemacquarrie22
Jun 28, 20232 min read
353 views
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Burdock Root Recipes
All parts of Burdock (Arctium minus) are edible, but in my opinion the roots are the best part. In some areas they are grown commercially...
katemacquarrie22
Jun 28, 20232 min read
768 views
1 comment


Pheasant Back Mushrooms
While on some work-related training in downtown Charlottetown recently, I took advantage of my lunch break to take a nice walk. It’s...
katemacquarrie22
Jun 18, 20232 min read
56 views
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Using Pheasant Back Mushrooms
Pheasant Back (aka Dryad’s Saddle, Polyporus squamosus, Photo 1) is a beautiful and distinctive fungus. You can read more about where...
katemacquarrie22
Jun 18, 20232 min read
36 views
0 comments


Winter Cress
I’ve been getting lots of questions about this showy yellow plant, flowering now across PEI. This is Winter Cress (aka Yellow Rocket...
katemacquarrie22
Jun 14, 20232 min read
54 views
0 comments


Nasty (and Nice) Nettles
We usually associate stingers with insects and venom with snakes. But there is a plant on PEI that has both and is far nastier than any...
katemacquarrie22
Jun 7, 20233 min read
61 views
1 comment


Early Spring Greens: Spruce Tips
It’s conifer tip season on PEI! The soft, bright green, new growth on members of the Pine Family (Pinaceae) is both edible and packed...
katemacquarrie22
May 31, 20232 min read
382 views
0 comments


Early Spring Fungi: Elusive Morels!
True Morels (Morchella spp.) are choice edible mushrooms that are notoriously elusive here on the Island. Local reports of Morels often...
katemacquarrie22
May 28, 20232 min read
371 views
1 comment


Edible Cat-tail vs. Toxic Iris: Know the Difference!
PEI has so many wild spring foods! Over the past month, we’ve looked at Dandelion, Dock, Evening Primrose, Fiddleheads, and Watercress....
katemacquarrie22
May 24, 20232 min read
1,103 views
0 comments
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