Wild Edible Plants of Alberta

This guide covers a number of edible plants in Alberta, Canada including the Edmonton and Calgary areas and the Jasper, Banff, Waterton Lakes, Elk Island and Waterton Buffalo National Parks. Do not collect where prohibited.

This guide focuses on wild edible plants that that are relatively easy to identify and have no deadly poisonous look-alikes.

All plant parts described as being edible raw are also edible (and often more palatable) when cooked.

1. agoseris
2. arrow-leaved balsamroot
3. arrowhead
4. asparagus
5. beargrass
6. bedstraw (aka cleavers)
7. bistort
8. bittercress
9. bitterroot
10. bracken
11. bugleweed
12. bulrush
13. burdock
14. camas (aka blue camas)
15. catnip
16. cattail
17. chickweed
18. chicory
19. clover
20. cocklebur
21. coltsfoot
22. common orache
23. common sweet clover
24. cow-lily
25. dandelion
26. devils club
27. dock
28. elephanthead lousewort
29. false solomon's-seal
30. fireweed
31. fleabane
32. garden orache
33. goldenrod
34. ground ivy
35. high mallow
36. indian pipe (aka ghost plant)
37. jerusalem artichoke
38. knotweed
39. lamb's quarter (aka pigweed)
40. mariposa-lily
41. marsh-marigold
42. mountain sorrel
43. musk mallow
44. mustard
45. northern water plantain
46. oxeye daisy
47. pearly everlasting
48. pickleweed (aka glasswort, sea asparagus)
49. pigweed
50. pineapple-weed
51. plantain
52. prairie turnip (aka breadroot)
53. prickly-pear cactus
54. queen's cup
55. quickweed
56. roseroot
57. salsify (aka goatsbeard, oyster plant)
58. sea milkwort (aka sea milkweed)
59. self heal
60. sheep sorrel
61. shepherd's-purse
62. silver orache
63. silverweed (aka cinquefoil)
64. sow thistle
65. speedwell (aka brooklime, gypsyweed)
66. stinging nettle
67. stonecrop
68. stork's-bill
69. strawberry-blite
70. sunflower
71. swamp hedge-nettle (aka marsh woundwort)
72. sweet gale (aka bog myrtl)
73. sweetflag
74. thistle
75. violet
76. watercress
77. wild bergamot (aka horsemint)
78. wild licorice
79. wild mint
80. wild rose
81. wood lily
82. woodsorrel
83. yellow glacier-lily (aka snow-lily)
84. yellowcress