2 Corinthians 11:13,14

13For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.…

I remember sitting in church as a child and hearing many times that "for everything God has, Satan has a counterfeit."

That lesson was made clear to me when I began to get interested in foraging.  Being able to go out into the wild and pick your own food has many benefits.  Many of your wild plants are highly nutritious, more so than what you will find at your local supermarket. Plus you are getting fresh air and exercise, as well as learning more about the world around you.  But foraging also has its downfall. Many of the plants have a poisonous look-alike, which could prove deadly to the untrained eye. So before you forage, make sure you have studied well. I have put together a small chart showing some of the more common plants to forage, as well as their poisonous look-alikes. Just for fun, I have also included a few that have no poison look-alikes but are highly nutritious.

Edible	Poisonous Look-Alike
Purslane- Purslane contains more Omega-3 fatty acids than any other leafy vegetable. It is also high in antioxidants like vitamins A, C and E, and essential minerals like iron, magnesium, calcium and potassium. You can easily distinguish Petty Spurge by its milky sap, seen when you break the stem.	Hairy stemmed spurge Hairy-stemmed spurge is distinguished by a milky sap, which can be seen if you squeeze the stem. This milky sap is toxic so be careful not to confuse the two plants.  That it is hairy is a big clue that it is NOT purslane
Queen Annes' Lace The best way to distinguish the two is to smell the root of the plant since Queen Anne's Lace root smells like carrots. Queen Anne’s Lace has a hairy, completely green stem. Poison Hemlock is smooth, no hair,  and has purple or black spots, or streaks on the stem.	Poison Hemlock, Water Hemlock Similar to Queen Anne's Lace, Poison Hemlock has large white flowers. One major difference is that the Queen Anne's Lace flowers occur much tighter together. Also, Queen Anne's Lace flowers often have a solitary purple flower in the center.  Water hemlock also has some lookalikes, but it is very easily identifiable by the roots and the spindly appearance of the plant as well as the long skinny jags of leaves it produces. (Bur and wild chervil are two varieties of plants that may not be dangerous in the slightest, but they are also close in appearance to the dangerous hemlock.  Typically they do not have the purple and reddish streaks or spotting in the stems. Hairs on the stem to leaf joint may give the plant away as a non-hemlock; the plant tends to be a smaller size in total, and the leaves tend to be a bit less shiny and not quite as bright in coloration, though that does not mean you are safe if these characteristics are present.)
Cattail Cattails are also a good source of vitamins A, B, C phosphorous, and potassium. Pollen from cattails can be used in lieu of flour.  a dangerous look-alike called the Iris, which sometimes grows in the same swampy areas. Know the difference before you eat anything. A rule of thumb is to look for the distinctive cigar-shaped head. The iris don’t have those. If you see a patch of what appears to be cattails, but there are no cigar heads, the plants may be irises.	Wild Iris  Know the difference before you eat anything. A rule of thumb is to look for the distinctive cigar-shaped head. The iris don’t have those. If you see a patch of what appears to be cattails, but there are no cigar heads, the plants may be irises. Only the Cattail has the brown seed spike.  All members of the Iris family are poisonous. Another look-alike which is not poisonous, but whose leaves look more like cattail than iris is the Sweet Flag (Acorus calamus). Sweet Flag has a very pleasant spicy, sweet aroma when the leaves are bruised. It also does not possess the brown seed head. Neither the irises nor cattail has the sweet, spicy aroma.
Broadhead Arrowhead (Sagittaria Latifolia) Names: Indian potato, wapato, duck potato Wapato will flower during mid-summer with a three-petaled white flower. It typically grows 1-4 feet tall with arrow-shaped leaves that are 4-12 inches long and 2-6 inches wide. The tubers of this plant and it's poisonous cousin look nothing alike.	Poisonous look-alikes: Arrow arum (Peltandra Virginica) Arum leaf is vein-less nor does it blossom the same way as the Wapato. This plant is very toxic. High levels of calcium oxylate If eaten it feels like needles are in your mouth and going down your stomach. Causes vomiting, sweat, increased heart rate, and diarrhea
Fox Grapes, Wild Grapes A grape vine is a climbing, woody perennial, best recognized by its alternate simple leaves that are lobed and toothed, and by its purple, seeded berries that grow in bunches. Grapevine leaves taste like grapes.) The wild grape vine is truly a vining plant; this means it has no solid, upright trunk.   Grape vines grow thicker and higher than most other native vines.  Wild grapes grow in pyramidal, hanging bunches and are blackish, dark blue or purple.	Virginia Creeper, Moonseed Be wary of confusing wild grape vines with the Virginia Creeper vine (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), which has poisonous fruits resembling grapes in size and color. The difference is that the Virginia creeper, unlike the grape, has palmately (spread out like fingers from the palm of your hand) compound leaves, each with five leaflets. The branches holding the purple fruit clusters are conspicuously red. Another look-alike is Moonseed (Menispermum canadense L.), which has leaves that can be very similar to grape leaves, although the lobes tend to be noticeably rounded, usually not as sharp as with grape leaves and the stems are attached to the leaf margin, instead of at the edge of the leaf as with grapes. To make matters more difficult, the moonseed has small fruits that resemble grapes. However, one look at the single flat, crescent moon shaped seed and you'll know you're not dealing with a grape.
Wild strawberry Wild strawberries produce one or more clusters of flowers. The wild strawberry flower, which is white, normally begins blooming in late spring or early summer and lasts about one to two months. These blooms are followed by the familiar red strawberries.	Indian Strawberry Indian strawberry is an almost exact replica of the wild strawberry.  Some say it’s harmless, but there are cases that show it has a dangerous poison, and at a minimum the ability to cause allergic reactions.  The only real way to tell the two apart is the wild strawberry has a white flower and sweet tasty fruit, whereas the Indian strawberry has a yellow flower and fruit with little to no flavor.
Eastern Hemlock Short dark green needles up to 2 inches long with two white bands beneath which are arranged in two opposite rows.  Needles are attached to twigs by slender stalks. They bear small pendant short-stalked seed-bearing cones that are up to one inch long and are either a light tan color if male or green if female.	American Yew While often mistaken for the Eastern Hemlock, the American Yew has longer needles and bright red fleshy pulp surrounding seeds.
Common Camas, Camas Lily, 20 inches long, 1/2 inch wide, narrow, grass-like, lance-shaped, emerging from the base.  Camas Lily flowers range from light to dark violet-blue, 6 elliptical petals each, 1 1/2 inches long, several blooming at a time in spike-like clusters borne on the ends of leafless stems that grow taller than the leaves. The six stamens have yellow anthers. Fruits: egg-shaped capsules, splitting into three parts to release many black, angled seeds.  Ovoid bulbs are about 1 inch by 2 inches	Death Camas, The Death Camas are flowering plants that are native throughout the United States and generally reach several feet in height. The flowers grow as panicles – a cluster of flowers – that can resemble those of onions (Allium). Making matters worse, both have bulbs, which is unfortunate because the Death Camas are highly poisonous.  One bulb, raw or cooked, can be fatal. Poisoning result from confusing these bulbs with those of edible species. In most cases, the bulbs are mistaken for onions. The bulbs of death camas are oval and covered with blackish scales.
Wild Onion, Wild Garlic all oniony scented wild onions/garlic are edible.  Wild Garlic produces hard-shell bulbs or cloves immediately adjacent to the original bulb and has an extremely potent garlic flavor. Wild Onion has hollow, mostly hairless, flat, grass-like flexible, leaves with a strong onion odor when broken. In spring, the erect, flowering stems will grow up to 12" tall from an edible egg-shaped 1-inch bulb with a brown fibrous outer coat. The flowers can be pink or white, 6-parted star-shaped, that usually bear white to reddish purple oval miniature bulbs that dry and fall to the ground to sprout the next growing season. The Wild Onion and Wild Garlic look very similar. One sure way to tell them apart is to remember that the leave of the Wild Onion are flat and solid, while the leaves of the Wild Garlic are round and hollow.	avoid all onion-like plants that lack onion odor. In many cases, the Death Camas is mistaken for wild onions or wild garlic.
Morels are very distinctive but novice hunters caught up in "Morel Fever" may mistake several other mushroom species for the golden prize of Morels. All false Morel species should be considered potentially deadly. Things to remember: 1. Only Morels will be completely hollow from the base of the stem to top of their conical head whereas false Morel mushrooms will have solid stems which pass through the caps and attach to the top inner surface of the hollow, cup-like cap.  2. The interior and exteriors of Morel stems have tiny bumps while false Morels will have cotton like fillings.  3. The indentations of true Morels take the form of pits and ridges forming complete enclosures whereas false Morels will have long, wavy ridges that don't circle back to make enclosed spaces.	For all the varieties of mushrooms, there are just as many horror stories associated with basic misclassifications leading to death or bad sickness. The all-encompassing little brown mushroom probably accounts for more issues to a mushroom seeker than any other mushroom class.  Unfortunately, with a vast majority of the little brown mushroom varieties, there are several which are deadly or dangerous amongst an ocean of safe ones. They are very difficult to identify, especially in the field. It’s a hard thing to ask a mushroom lover to do, but in the field, avoid these mushrooms when selecting what to consume, as it is just too risky to eat something you cannot be sure of.
Dandelion: 100 grams (just less than half a cup) of dandelion leaves provides 14,000 I.U. of vitamin A, 35mg of vitamin C and some B-complex vitamins as well. In addition, you get 309mg of calcium, 397mg potassium, 66mg phosphorus, and 3.1mg iron.	No Poison look-alikes
Stinging Nettles Nettles tastes a little like spinach, only more flavorful and more healthful. They are loaded with, vitamins A, B, and C, as well as minerals like calcium,  iodine, magnesium, potassium, phosphorous, silica, sulfur and zinc.   They have been used to treat conditions like arthritis and seasonal allergies for many years. Nettles also have more protein than most plants. Do not try to pick these without the use of garden gloves.  They live up to their name and will cause a painful rash!	No poison look-alikes

2 Timothy 2:15  

15Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.