I’ve had some great foraging experiences in the past couple weeks — just quickly, below are some pawpaws from the east coast. In some places they are endangered or threatened, although in others they are considered “common” — these were from Maryland, where they are apparently not uncommon.
The PawPaw, aka Asimina triloba:
Best enjoyed on a freshly made waffle (HOW?!?! By the magic of my wonderful hosts, whom I’ll gladly cite if they wish.)
Great trivia about these — they were a fav. dessert of George Washington, the leaves contain a natural pesticide, and they were likely originally propagated by North American megafauna before those were all eaten by humans. Now we eat pawpaws and are likely their primary propagators.
Then, outside Portland Oregon, I (in collaboration with other Public Lab staff) found several large Leccinum Manzanitae (or variants of), which are great when roasted in slices:
…and Boletus Mirabilis, which I did not have an opportunity to actually eat:
All among an array of other interesting discoveries. At bottom are some Bitter Hedgehog mushrooms, which are beautiful if inedible.
