List of Edible Plants

What Edible Plants Are & Why Safety Matters Most 

Edibles are a diverse category that includes all plants we can safely eat. However, edibility does not always refer to the entire plant. For example, we can consume roots and tubers (carrot and potato), leaves (lettuce, spinach), stems (celery, asparagus), fruits and seeds (apples, strawberries), and even flowers (broccoli, cauliflower). 

However, even if one part of the plant is edible, it doesn’t mean that the other parts are non-toxic. That applies even to the most common edible plants.  For example, tomato fruits are harmless, while stems, leaves, and green fruits contain alkaloids. Green potatoes and potato sprouts contain high levels of glycoalkaloids. 

Cooking also matters. For example, raw and undercooked kidney beans contain too much phytohaemagglutinin, which can cause vomiting and diarrhea. Boiling, however, destroys those toxins. So, edible plants are a legitimate category, but it’s important to remember that this classification comes with its own limitations. 

The Diversity of Edibles: Wider Than Expected

The full list of edible plants includes roughly 30,000+ species. They all can be divided into two main categories: cultivated and wild. 

Cultivated edible plants include multiple subcategories. These are vegetables (leafy, stem, root, and bulb), grains and legumes (e.g., wheat, rice, corn, and beans), fruits and fleshy crops (e.g., apples, berries, sunflower seeds), and herbs (e.g., basil, thyme, rosemary). 

Wild edibles also include some key types. These are leafy greens (e.g., dandelion, lamb's quarters, purslane), wild fruits and berries (e.g., mulberries, hawthorn berries, rose hips), nuts (acorns, chestnuts, hazelnuts), roots and tubers (e.g., wild carrot, chicory root, cattail rhizomes). 

The Key to Safe & Accurate Identification 

Safety should always be your top priority. It might seem that identifying edibles is relatively simple, but there are many edible and toxic look-alikes. For example, wild carrot looks similar to poison hemlock. Death camas may resemble wild onion. 

So, just knowing common and wild edible plants' names isn’t enough. You need to identify each species carefully,  be fully informed about edible and toxic parts, look-alikes, and potential risks. All this information is available on the list of edible plants above.