Part XII

Lookalikes

32 named mix-ups — tea leaves, white umbels, autumn cups, and two plants that share a common name. A comparison is not a forage license.

Foxglove and comfrey as a botanical teaching diptych

Foxglove for comfrey in a kettle is the worst garden story in this folio. Poison hemlock for parsley is the worst roadside one. If a plant is not in flower and you cannot name it, it is not tea, salad, or a wild carrot.

Pairs involving Deadly nightshade.

Deadly mix-upForage

Nightshade for blueberry

Shiny black berries in a hedge are not Vaccinium. Atropa is a tropane. A handful has ended walks.

Blueberry is a low ericaceous shrub; the berry has a five-point crown and many small seeds. Deadly nightshade is a sprawling solanum relative with a persistent calyx and a single berry like a black cherry. If it is not a heath, it is not a blueberry.