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Know this look-alike

Wild Grape Look-alikes: Canada Moonseed and Virginia Creeper

These look-alikes can be deadly. Get the identification right before you eat anything. Wild grapes are safe and delicious, but Canada moonseed is poisonous and can be fatal. The giveaway is the seed: grapes have several round seeds, while moonseed has a single flat crescent-shaped seed. Moonseed also lacks grape's forked tendrils. Virginia creeper berries are toxic too, and its leaves are split into five separate leaflets instead of one lobed leaf.

The dangerous species

Canada Moonseed (Menispermum canadense)
Andrew Conboy · CC BY
⚠ do not eat

Canada Moonseed

Menispermum canadense

How to tell it apart

  • Each fruit contains a single crescent moon shaped seed, lending the plant its name. NC State Extension ↗
  • The fruit of Canadian moonseed are poisonous and can be fatal. Wikipedia ↗
Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)
Levana Taylor · CC BY-SA
⚠ do not eat

Virginia Creeper

Parthenocissus quinquefolia

How to tell it apart

  • The Virginia creeper has alternate, compound-palmate leaves (usually 5 saw-toothed leaflets, each leaflet to 6" long) that emerge purplish in spring, mature to dull green in summer and change to attractive shades of purple and crimson red in fall. NC State Extension ↗
  • These berries contain toxic amounts of oxalic acid and have been known to cause kidney damage and death to humans. Wikipedia ↗

Edibles people confuse with these

If you are foraging any of these, rule out the look-alikes above every time.

The notes above are an educational starting point, not a substitute for a field guide or an experienced forager. If you are not completely certain, do not eat it.