Wild Edible Plants of Nova Scotia

This guide covers a number of edible plants in Nova Scotia, Canada including the Halifax area and the Cape Breton Highlands and Kejimkujik 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. arrowhead
2. asparagus
3. bedstraw (aka cleavers)
4. bistort
5. bittercress
6. bracken
7. bugleweed
8. bulrush
9. burdock
10. canada lily
11. catnip
12. cattail
13. chickweed
14. chicory
15. chufa
16. clover
17. cocklebur
18. coltsfoot
19. common orache
20. common sweet clover
21. cow-lily
22. dandelion
23. dock
24. false solomon's-seal
25. fireweed
26. fleabane
27. fragrant water-lily
28. ginseng
29. goldenrod
30. greenbrier
31. ground ivy
32. groundnut (aka potato bean)
33. high mallow
34. hyssop
35. indian pipe (aka ghost plant)
36. jerusalem artichoke
37. knotweed
38. lamb's quarter (aka pigweed)
39. marsh-marigold
40. mountain sorrel
41. musk mallow
42. mustard
43. northern water plantain
44. oxeye daisy
45. pearly everlasting
46. peppergrass
47. pickerel weed
48. pickleweed (aka glasswort, sea asparagus)
49. pigweed
50. pineapple-weed
51. plantain
52. quickweed
53. roseroot
54. salsify (aka goatsbeard, oyster plant)
55. sea milkwort (aka sea milkweed)
56. seaside sandplant (aka sea sandwort, beach greens)
57. self heal
58. sheep sorrel
59. shepherd's-purse
60. silverweed (aka cinquefoil)
61. sow thistle
62. speedwell (aka brooklime, gypsyweed)
63. stinging nettle
64. stonecrop
65. stork's-bill
66. strawberry-blite
67. swamp hedge-nettle (aka marsh woundwort)
68. sweet gale (aka bog myrtl)
69. sweetflag
70. thistle
71. violet
72. watercress
73. wild mint
74. wild rose
75. woodsorrel
76. yellow clintonia
77. yellowcress