Global Regional Plant Guides

Southeastern Coastal Plain & Freshwater Wetlands Plant Survival Guide

A comprehensive survival plant guide for Southeastern Coastal Plain & Freshwater Wetlands, covering useful woody materials, land foods, aquatic foods, traditional-use plants and poisonous look-alikes.

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Cover of Southeastern Coastal Plain & Freshwater Wetlands Plant Survival Guide

Continent: North America
USDA-equivalent zones: 8-10
Köppen climate: Cfa
Profiles: 20
Regional biome: Pine flatwoods, bottomland forest, marsh and swamp

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Useful plants · 5 Land edibles · 5 Aquatic edibles · 3 Traditional-use · 3 Poisonous look-alikes · 4

Useful plants

Wood, fibre, shelter and craft

Bald cypress

Taxodium distichum

Useful plants

Identify: Deciduous feathery needles on two-ranked branchlets; fibrous reddish bark; round woody cones; “knees” in flooded sites.
Habitat: Southeastern North American swamps, oxbows and floodplains.
Season: Wood year-round; foliage growing season.
Field use: Rot-resistant wood for poles, traps and containers; fibrous bark and dry branchlets aid tinder.
Caution: Swamps hide deep water, snakes and unstable knees. Old trees are protected in many places.
Look-alikes: Dawn redwood has opposite branchlets and is usually planted.

polescontainertindertrap

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Longleaf pine

Pinus palustris

Useful plants

Identify: Very long needles in bundles of three, large prickly cones and thick plated bark; seedlings pass through a grass stage.
Habitat: Southeastern North American sandhills, flatwoods and savannas.
Season: Year-round wood; seeds fall.
Field use: Resin-rich kindling, poles, pitchwood and durable fuel; needles make baskets and tinder.
Caution: Fire-maintained habitat and protected restoration sites require care. Resinous smoke and falling cones are hazards.
Look-alikes: Loblolly pine has shorter needles and thinner bark.

polesfueltinderbasketry

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River cane

Arundinaria gigantea

Useful plants

Identify: Native North American bamboo with hollow jointed culms, branch clusters at nodes and narrow leaves.
Habitat: Southeastern river terraces, canebrakes and moist forest edges.
Season: Culms year-round; shoots spring.
Field use: Excellent arrow shafts, blowgun and fish-spear material, baskets, shelter lattice and friction-fire spindles.
Caution: Canebrakes are rare and culturally important. Shoots are not recommended without local traditional knowledge.
Look-alikes: Common reed lacks woody branching and grows directly in marsh water.

arrow shaftspearbasketrybow drill spindleconstruction

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Willows

Salix spp.

Useful plants

Identify: Alternate narrow to oval leaves; flexible twigs; catkins; many species root along wet ground.
Habitat: Riverbanks, lake margins, floodplains, tundra valleys and moist forest.
Season: Twigs year-round; leaves and catkins in the growing season.
Field use: Flexible rods for baskets, fish traps, wattle, arrow shafts and repair splints. Dry punky willow and softer species can serve bow-drill hearth boards; denser pieces make spindles. Bark has documented salicylate-related traditional use.
Caution: Species identification is difficult. Do not self-dose bark with aspirin allergy, bleeding risk, kidney disease, pregnancy, or in children with viral illness.
Look-alikes: Alders have cone-like female catkins; some dogwoods have opposite leaves.

arrow shaftbow drill boardbasketrycordagemedicine

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Eastern redcedar / juniper

Juniperus virginiana

Useful plants

Stylized form diagram for Eastern redcedar / juniper

Identify: Scale-like or awl leaves; shreddy reddish bark; blue berry-like cones.
Habitat: Dry eastern North American fields, bluffs and open woodland.
Season: Year-round.
Field use: Aromatic durable wood for arrow shafts, pegs and small bows; fibrous bark is fine tinder.
Caution: Juniper oils and large amounts of berries are not safe medicine; smoke can irritate lungs.
Look-alikes: Redcedar is a juniper, not a true cedar.

bow woodarrow shafttinderpegs

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Land edibles

Terrestrial food species

Wild onions and garlic

Allium spp.

Land-based edible plants

Stylized form diagram for Wild onions and garlic

Identify: Narrow leaves or hollow stems; spherical flower heads; clear onion or garlic odor in leaf and bulb.
Habitat: Meadows, rocky slopes, open woodland and stream terraces.
Season: Spring through fall.
Field use: Leaves, flowers and bulbs of positively identified Allium are documented food and seasoning.
Caution: Every sampled part must smell of onion, but odor is not the only test. Avoid unknown bulbs.
Look-alikes: Death camas lacks onion odor and can be fatal.

food greenfood bulb

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Lambsquarters / goosefoot

Chenopodium album

Land-based edible plants

Stylized form diagram for Lambsquarters / goosefoot

Identify: Mealy blue-green triangular to diamond leaves; green clustered flowers; ridged stems.
Habitat: Disturbed soil, river deposits, fields and camp edges.
Season: Spring through fall.
Field use: Young leaves and seeds are documented food after correct identification and cooking.
Caution: High oxalate and nitrate levels can accumulate; avoid large amounts and contaminated ground.
Look-alikes: Black nightshade has star-shaped flowers and berries; goosefoot flowers stay green and clustered.

food greenfood seed

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Common purslane

Portulaca oleracea

Land-based edible plants

Stylized form diagram for Common purslane

Identify: Low reddish succulent stems; smooth fleshy leaves; tiny yellow flowers; clear sap.
Habitat: Disturbed warm ground, gardens, river deposits and camp edges worldwide.
Season: Warm growing season.
Field use: Young leaves and stems are documented food and water-rich greens.
Caution: High oxalate content; avoid large amounts with kidney disease and avoid contaminated ground.
Look-alikes: Spurges often exude milky sap and are unsafe.

food green

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Wild roses

Rosa spp.

Land-based edible plants

Identify: Prickly stems; compound toothed leaves; five-petaled flowers; red to orange hips.
Habitat: Open woods, thickets, prairie, dunes and mountain slopes.
Season: Hips late summer through winter.
Field use: Fleshy hip walls are documented food after the irritating hairs and seeds are removed; good for simmering or drying.
Caution: Internal hairs irritate skin and mouth. Avoid sprayed or moldy fruit.
Look-alikes: Hawthorn has simple lobed leaves and woody thorns.

food fruitcordage

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Broadleaf and ribwort plantains

Plantago major / P. lanceolata

Land-based edible plants

Stylized form diagram for Broadleaf and ribwort plantains

Identify: Basal rosette with strong parallel ribs; leafless spikes of tiny flowers and seeds.
Habitat: Trails, camps, meadows and disturbed soil.
Season: Spring through fall.
Field use: Young leaves and seeds are documented food; clean leaves have traditional external use on minor irritation.
Caution: Do not put dirty leaves on open wounds. Seeds swell with water and can obstruct if taken dry in quantity.
Look-alikes: Docks have netted veins; plantain ribs run from the base.

food greenmedicine

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Aquatic edibles

Water-margin food species

Cattails

Typha spp.

Water and wetland edible plants

Identify: Tall flat strap leaves; dense brown cylindrical female flower spike below a narrower male section.
Habitat: Marshes, pond edges, slow channels and wet ditches.
Season: Shoots spring; pollen early summer; rhizomes year-round where lawful.
Field use: Documented food parts include young inner shoots, pollen and processed rhizome starch. Leaves make mats, baskets and thatch; seed down can bulk tinder.
Caution: Water can concentrate sewage, metals and parasites. Raw rhizome requires correct processing; avoid contaminated marshes.
Look-alikes: Yellow flag iris has sword leaves and showy flowers but no brown cattail head.

food shootfood starchbasketrythatchtinder

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Arrowhead / wapato

Sagittaria spp.

Water and wetland edible plants

Stylized form diagram for Arrowhead / wapato

Identify: Arrow-shaped or lance leaves rising from shallow water; three-petaled white flowers in whorls; underground tubers in some species.
Habitat: Shallow ponds, sloughs, marshes and slow streams.
Season: Tubers late summer through winter.
Field use: Tubers of confirmed edible species are documented food after cooking; leaves and flower stalks help locate the bed.
Caution: Never eat raw. Species and tuber production vary. Wetland pathogens and water hemlock are nearby hazards.
Look-alikes: Arrow arum has one large hooded flower and toxic tissues.

food tuber

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Watercress

Nasturtium officinale

Water and wetland edible plants

Identify: Creeping hollow stems; pinnate leaves with a larger rounded terminal leaflet; small white four-petaled flowers.
Habitat: Cold flowing springs and streams, often where nutrient-rich.
Season: Cool seasons.
Field use: Tender tops are documented food and are usually cooked in survival settings.
Caution: Raw watercress can carry liver flukes and sewage pathogens. Avoid downstream of livestock, roads or settlements.
Look-alikes: Water hemlock has divided leaves and umbrella flowers; never rely on habitat alone.

food green

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Traditional-use

Documented traditional medicine

Yarrow

Achillea millefolium

Medicinal and traditional-use plants

Identify: Aromatic finely divided leaves; flat clusters of small white to pink flower heads.
Habitat: Dry openings, trails, grassland, shore gravel and disturbed soil.
Season: Summer through fall.
Field use: Documented traditional external uses include washes and aromatic preparations; dry flower heads make light tinder.
Caution: Possible allergy, pregnancy and anticoagulant concerns. Not a substitute for wound cleaning or medical care.
Look-alikes: Poison hemlock is much taller with hollow purple-spotted stems and true umbels.

medicinetinder

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Mugworts

Artemisia vulgaris complex

Medicinal and traditional-use plants

Identify: Aromatic deeply lobed leaves, commonly silvery beneath; small inconspicuous flower heads.
Habitat: Disturbed ground, steppe, forest edges and riverbanks.
Season: Summer through fall.
Field use: Documented traditional uses include aromatic smoke and digestive preparations; dry stalks can be tinder.
Caution: Avoid internal use during pregnancy or with seizure disorders. Species identification is difficult.
Look-alikes: Ragweeds lack the silvery underside and have different flowers.

medicinetinder

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Saw palmetto

Serenoa repens

Medicinal and traditional-use plants

Identify: Low fan palm with creeping trunk, saw-toothed petioles and black oval fruits.
Habitat: Southeastern U.S. pine flatwoods, scrub and hammocks.
Season: Leaves year-round; fruit late summer-fall.
Field use: Leaves provide thatch, weaving and brush; fruits have documented food and medicinal history but are strongly flavored.
Caution: Saw-edged stalks cut deeply; concentrated medicinal extracts are not field treatment. Wildlife relies on fruit.
Look-alikes: Dwarf palmetto has usually unarmed petioles and more upright leaves.

thatchbasketrybrushmedicine

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Poisonous look-alikes

Do not eat — verify before harvest

Water hemlocks

Cicuta spp.

Poisonous plants

Stylized form diagram for Water hemlocks

Identify: Wetland perennial with divided leaves, white umbrella flower clusters and thick chambered rootstocks.
Habitat: Marshes, wet meadows, stream edges and ditches across the northern hemisphere.
Season: Spring through fall.
Field use: No survival use. Make wetland root gathering a prohibited activity unless a qualified botanist is present.
Caution: Extremely poisonous; small amounts, especially roots, can cause violent seizures and death.
Look-alikes: Angelica, cow parsnip and other Apiaceae can look similar. Never taste to decide.

poison

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Poison ivy and poison oak

Toxicodendron radicans / T. diversilobum

Poisonous plants

Identify: Leaves in three leaflets; variable lobing; white berries; climbing aerial rootlets or shrub form.
Habitat: Forest edges, dunes, riverbanks and disturbed North American ground.
Season: Growing season; stems year-round.
Field use: No use.
Caution: Urushiol causes dermatitis; oil persists on tools and clothing and becomes dangerous smoke when burned.
Look-alikes: Boxelder seedlings have opposite leaves; Toxicodendron leaves are alternate.

poison

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Daturas / thorn apples

Datura spp.

Poisonous plants

Stylized form diagram for Daturas / thorn apples

Identify: Large foul-smelling leaves; upright trumpet flowers; spiny egg-shaped capsules.
Habitat: Disturbed warm ground, dry riverbeds and fields worldwide.
Season: Summer-fall.
Field use: No use.
Caution: All parts contain dangerous tropane alkaloids causing delirium, overheating, seizures and death.
Look-alikes: Brugmansia has hanging trumpets on woody shrubs and is also toxic.

poison

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Castor bean

Ricinus communis

Poisonous plants

Identify: Large star-shaped palmately lobed leaves; spiny capsules; glossy mottled seeds.
Habitat: Warm disturbed ground, riverbanks and tropical/subtropical waste areas.
Season: Growing season; seeds seasonal.
Field use: No survival food or medicine use. Oil extraction is industrial, not a field process.
Caution: Chewed seeds can release ricin and cause severe or fatal poisoning.
Look-alikes: Jatropha has similar lobed leaves but different fruit; it is also toxic.

poison

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