Common Non-Edible Plants

Common Non-Edible Plants

by Green Deane

Not Edible

While some 93% of plants are not edible this page was created to show some of the more common non- edible plants I am asked about often or have been sent to me to identify. They are listedin botanical alphabetical order. Visit the Green Deane Forum to help get plants identified.

NOT EDIBLE: Argemonemexicana, the Mexican Poppy, can be yellow or white. Used extensively in herbal applications but not edible. Locally a very limited season, usually winter. /
NOT EDIBLE. The Harlequin Glorybower, ClerodendrumTrichotomum, has a very showy calyx. A native of Asia, Clerodendrum means fate tree, referencing questionable medical uses, and trichotomum which means three trunks, which it apparently has often. /
NOT EDIBLE: Crotalaria spectabilis, the rattlebox because of the sound the seeds make in a dry pod. Quite toxic for man and beast. The entire genus is toxic, from little rabbitbells to the rattleboxes. /
NOT EDIBLE. Cynanchumlaeve is also called the Honeyvine. I receive a lot of emails from folks who want to know if this is edible milkweed vine. It is not. The sap can irritate and damage eyes and mucus membranes and if consumed can stop your heart. To read about the edible milk vine, click here. /
NOT EDIBLE. Fatouavillosa, the mulberry weed, an import on nursery plants, was first noticed in Louisiana in 1964. It is controlled by mulching. It can cause mild itching. Also called the Hairy Crabweed. /
Not Edible: Earth Smoke, or Ground Smoke, Fumaria officinalis. The native of Europe found in most of North America has many medicinal uses beyond the scope of this site. The flowers yield a yellow dye good for coloring wool. /
NOT EDIBLE. Often confused with either a Commelina or a Tradescantia is the Gibasisgeniculata, also called the Tahitian Bridal Veil though it is a native of Central America. To read about the Tradescantiasclick here. /
NOT EDIBLE: There are many toxic plants and one that causes nearly instant blisters even blindness is Giant Hog Weed, Heracleummantegazzianum.Highly invasive it can produce 20,000 seeds per plant.Furocoumarins in the sap can cause a skin reaction called phyto-photodermatitis. This causes the skin to be very sensitive to ultraviolet light. It causes swelling and blistering and can lead to permanent scarring. Contact with the eyes can cause temporary or permanent blindness /
NOT EDIBLE: Ligustrumlucidum, the Waxy or Glossy Privet. While there are not human trials to support this.In vitro studies have shown that the fruits of Ligustrumlucidum have antitumor, immunostimulatory, antioxidative, antiviral, antimutagenic, hepatoprotective, and antidiabeticproperties. /
NOT EDIBLE.Lupinusdiffusus, endangered, also called Oak Ridge Lupine, Spreading Lupine, or Skyblue Lupine, grows in dry areas. /
NOT EDIBLE:Wavyleaf Basket Grass, or Oplismenushirtellus ssp. undulatifolius. This is aa common ground cover locally usually found in shady areas. Originally from Asia it is found throughout the south. Folks are always wondering what it is. Now you know. /
NOT EDIBLE: Phoradendronserotinum, Mistletoe. While Mistletoe has been used in some herbal medications it is generally considered toxic. /
NOT EDIBLE: Ricinuscommunis, the Castor Bean, is not a bean but it is one of the deadliest plant escaped from cultivation. While there are many species with palmate leaves it has eight radiating leaflets with small teeth. the Castor Bean grows soft-spine fruits with mottled seeds from which the source of the poison ricin. One milligram of ricin can kill and adult. If death has not occurred in 3-5 days, the victim usually recovers. /
NOT EDIBLE: Salvia cocinnea, the Scarlet Sage. It has several whorls of red flowers that form an interrupted flower spike on a square stem. It’s a showy southern native that has a sage-like aroma and is found in the hot sands of the South. Even a small amount of the blossomed consumed can make you quite ill. The blossom is red for a reason. Leave it alone. /
NOT EDIBLE. Butterweed, Senecioglabellus, can from a distance resemble wild mustard or wild radish. On close inspection it does not look like them. The blossoms are not a yellow cross and the leaves are not sandpappery. It is also laced with pyrrolizidine which is an alkaloid that can damage your liver. To read more click here. /
NOT EDIBLE: Solanum viarum, Solanum ciliatum, Solanum carolinense, all called Tropical Soda Apple or Horse Nettle, the first two turn red when ripe, the latter yellow. They usually start out with mottle green fruit. Some are toxic when green, others more toxic when ripe. Edibility is doubtful, botanical references vague, identification difficult. Best avoided. Of the three ripe S. ciliatum, now called Solanum capsicoides, might not kill you. /

Rion September 8, 2015 at 11:38

We grow two varieties of Jasmine, for fragrance alone, Confederate Jasmine, and Carolina Jasmine – I once decided to taste the buds, and while the yellow didn’t taste horrible, it did not have the mouth-popping flavor that I got when I tried our heirloom roses (those make great rose-petal ice cream!) so I called it a no-go, and the white, which smells almost intoxicatingly sweet, like a confectionery shop on a warm day, as soon as I bit into the flower, my tongue went numb.

So no, I’d say steer clear of jasmine flowers in general – it turns out “jasmine rice” is flavored/fragranced with something else entirely. *shrugs*.

David September 22, 2015 at 13:09

Hi, Jasmine rice is named after the luster of the grains, which is said to be like the sheen on a jasmine flower. It has nothing to do with the flavor.

Carl March 25, 2016 at 09:07

Carolina jasmine, gelsemiumsempervirens, can be fatal. This one has yellow flowers. Trachelospermumjasminoides, called Confederate Jasmine is a member of the Oleander family. Has white flowers.

Raymond White June 20, 2015 at 10:38

The flowers of your Giant Hogweed look a lot like Wild Carrot or even Yarrow. How do you tell them apart?

Jeremy Chatley January 1, 2016 at 16:40

It doesn’t matter if you can tell the difference, they are both bad, but i believe the flower for wild carrots always has 1 black dot in the middle but the other plant doesn’t

Priscilla Swaney May 23, 2015 at 02:08

Castor Bean plant: Every time I read about the castor bean I remember my mom ordering the seeds for this plant. We lived in upstate South Carolina. This would have been in the late 1950’s, they grew as tall as our house. Now I wonder if they were actually castor beans because none of us got sick or died. I remember picking the seed pods which had the soft sticky points on the pods. Is there another plant that could have been confused with what my mom ordered?

Don November 15, 2015 at 18:26

The ricin is pretty much confined to the outer skin of the very hard seed, and is water-soluble. The oil was used in ancient times as an emollient, and today as a biodiesel, in anti-fungal creams… and the oil is widely processed and used as a cheaper substitute for cocoa butter in candy. The seeds are drilled and used as beads, sling-shot ammo by kids, etc. and are generally not considered to be a contact hazard. But why have something around that is potentially so deadly? And attractive to kids…

tina April 26, 2015 at 17:59

I have been told long ago that if in the wild or lost in the wilderness you can tell if certain plants berries etc are edible or not by observing the birds and other wildlife. In other words, if they consume it you can too……true or false

Green Deane April 26, 2015 at 18:35

ABSOLUTELY FALSE. Whoever told you that did not know what they were talking about. Deer can eat poison ivy, squirrels can eat strychnine, chickens can eat arsenic, turtles can eat mushrooms that would kill us. Humans can eat avocados and most other living things can’t.

Mlvarnell February 14, 2016 at 08:14

There are turtles, eastern box turtle is one, that eats poisonous mushrooms. It nearly wiped out an entire tribe of native American Indians. This has been said before, ‘If you cannot positively identify something, do not touch it, do not eat any part of it.’ Unless you want to join millions of dead folks who have done the same thing in the past, learn or die!

karita March 7, 2015 at 20:05

The hog weed, we call it Pushki (or wild celery) where I’m from (Alaska) and the local’s love to eat it. You have to be careful when picking it and boil it before eating but it is a popular dish there. It’s not uncommon to see little children with scars around there mouths or on their hands from where they tried to eat it without adult supervision. Perhaps not worth the risk most places but on the Aleutians where there are less edible greens to eat it makes sense.

Why might a plant that is not poisonous, and that tastes good, still be classified as “inedible?” One doesn’t usually run across this with berries and fruits, pretty much all of which are classified as either edible or poisonous, regardless of what they taste like. But with foliage, this is quite a different matter. Case in point: There is a native Texas species, now sold as an ornamental throughout the US, called Gauraindheimeri, or “Whirling Butterfly” for its beautiful white or (in a new cultivar) pink blossoms. It is a useful insectiary, but it also has long thin leaves that have a bland but slightly nutty and pleasant taste that would make an excellent salad green, just thick enough to have a bit of a bite, like heavier leaved spinach.

The plant is not poisonous to human or animals (according to standard botanical plant databases) but is also listed as being “inedible” pretty much everywhere. I’ve been conducting the traditional edibility test on the plant, and have had not difficulties. So I’m thinking about including this one as a potential food source in my permaculture gardens as a multi-use plant.

Is there anything that I am missing that I should be considering? Why the “inedible” label? Does that just mean that no one in modern agriculture has thought of considering it as a food source? Or is there something else at work here? (By the way, the plant also has no traditional medicinal applications – I already considered that possibility…)

Green Deane March 6, 2015 at 13:10

As I wrote elsewherethere can be many reasons why a plant can be non-toxic but inedible. They can be woody, fibrous, tough, lousy taste, very bitter, horrible texture, or does not respond to various ways of cooking… things like that. And… it can take up stuff which makes the adult plant non-edible whereas young plants might be. Another possibility is that it has a chemical or two that over time can cause problems if eaten regularly but appears fine if you eat it rarely. Also the roots of Gauraparavifolia — Velvetweed — were stewed or roasted and eaten by the Navajo.

feralkevin February 9, 2015 at 09:54

In the book, Paradise Lost, the author describes a Crotalaria Longirostrata as an edible species. Do you know anything about that?

Green Deane February 9, 2015 at 16:56

Cornucopia II on page 103 says: The young shoots are steamed and served whole, the leaves and flowers having been stripped off and eaten separately for their pronounced snap-bean-like flavor. The leaves can be ground with garlic and brushed on bread or added sparingly to white sauce. When added to tamales that are made with butter instead of oil, the flavor combination is said to be unforgettable.

MD Fairchild January 18, 2015 at 11:28

Hi and thanks for all you do…I enjoyed your fine presentation at Fla herbal conference last year. While looking over the info on wax privet I decided to scan for some articles on the subject. I found 230 pages with appx 20 articles per page covering the broader genus, these are medical model studies not ag centric metrics. There seem to be several notable effects probably making this a good one for invasive capture / product developments? Enjoy

tblansett November 12, 2014 at 14:32

your picture of the NOT EDIBLE: Ligustrumlucidum, the Waxy or Glossy Privet. looks a lot like grapes, so my question would be, is there a very good way to tell the difference if you don’t know for sure. Cause I’m sorry but that picture you have looks exactly like the grapes my grandmother had when I was growing up and we ate them all the time with no problems

Green Deane November 12, 2014 at 20:25

Look at the seeds. Grape seeds are tear drop shaped.

Aileen Hampton April 1, 2016 at 03:08

The leaves are extremely different in shape, texture, and shininess. Grape vines also have tendrils; I doubt privet, as a shrub or tree, does.

Gary October 30, 2014 at 22:28

I found some blue berries with a dark red steam is this berry good to eat or bad

Green Deane November 1, 2014 at 08:33

They are probably Virginia Creeper berry which are toxic. Do NOT eat them.

Connie April 7, 2015 at 20:09

Virginia Creeper sap has calcium oxalate crystals in it. Crush the vines and it gets those horrid tiny crystals into your skin and you’re going to be covered in burning itching welts for weeks. Horrible horrible plants. And that’s not counting how they strangle other plants and trees.

bluebird September 2, 2015 at 18:27

Blue/black berries with dark red stems could also be Pokeweed…. also not edible. Another example of fruit that birds love that’s not good for people.

You didn’t mention if the plant you’re asking about is a vine or shrubby.

tonyasumner September 25, 2014 at 15:42

Is there a non-edible green bean. My daughter has recently moved to a new home and there are green bean looking plants growing on a fence in her back yard. I thought maybe they were purple hull peas but she said the dark ones are not purple but brown and dried with fuzzy beans inside. I could send a pic for identification if you need one. They definitely are not castor beans

Green Deane December 1, 2014 at 18:37

Yes, there are non-edible green beans. Do you have a picture?

Michael May 27, 2014 at 22:11

We obviously don’t know enough about plants.
Once I ate over 50 “Rattlebush” Beans, with no adverse effects, as a survival food. I gave them the cautionary poisonous plant test, and it passed. The beans tasted very good. Not even a mild tummy ache or anything. I do not recommend anyone eating them however, as different soils, seasons, age of plant, and unknown sub-species, can affect a plant’s toxicity. As a precaution, I don’t intend to eat any more.

Green Deane May 28, 2014 at 06:54

Plants can have chemicals that take some time to do their damage, the tassel flower is a good example. You can eat it with no apparent problem but if continue to eat it can kill you.