Foraging and wild edible plants

What are some of the rules to ensure 'responsible foraging'?

• Seek permission from the landowner

• Only collect from plentiful populations

• Any plants you find in the wild are fine to pick and take home to eat.

• Know what you’re picking, it could be rare and protected

• Always pick fruit from the top of the plant

All ........... plants are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981).

• wild

• edible

• flowered

• British

Dandelions are .....

• an edible plant

• a poisonous plant

Rhubarb is very tasty in cakes and sweet treats, but we cannot eat the whole plant. Why?

• The stem is too hard and chewy to taste nice

• The leaves contain a poison called oxalic acid

• You cannot dig the roots up from the ground

• It is a rare and protected species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981)

Similar looking plants usually have the same qualities so it is fine to assume both are edible or both are poisonous.

• True - similar looking plants are from the same family and always have the same properties.

• False - similar looking plants can be completely different. You should always try to check two different sources to identify.

The universal edibility test should be used to identify edible plants .....

• whenever you need to identify a plant.

• in an emergency only.

• instead of using a book or online guide.

In the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) It is illegal to dig up or remove a plant (including algae, lichens and fungi) from the land on which it is growing without permission from the landowner or occupier.

• True

• False