Hunt #1 - Bunchberries

Bunchberry plants grow low to the ground—in patches on the forest floor, often beneath pines and other coniferous trees. Each bunchberry plant has a whorl of pointed green leaves. In the spring, bunches of tiny, greenish flowers surrounded by four white bracts (leaves that look like petals) pop open. By midsummer the flowers have dropped and bright red berries grow.

Bunchberry flowers open in less than half a millisecond—one of the fastest plant movements known. The rapid motion flings pollen into the air, where it rides on a breeze to other bunchberry blossoms.

Hunt #2 - Wild Strawberry

If you look close to the ground alongside a sunny path in the woods, you might spy the bright red berries of the wild strawberry. Each leaf has three leaflets that look like toothy ovals. The berries look just like the strawberries you find at the market or in your garden, only much tinier. They taste better too! In early June look for white, five-petaled flowers with a yellow center.

Hunt #3 - Bluebead Lily

The three to five leaves of the bluebead-lily look like long, pointed, shiny green tongues sprouting from the forest floor. In late spring a 6- to 10-inch-tall leafless stalk holds small yellow, lily-like flowers. Dark blue berries replace the flowers by midsummer. These bead-like berries are poisonous. Look for bluebead lilies in damp forests.

Hunt# 4 - Wild Sarsaparilla

Wild sarsaparilla spreads out from a tall, thin stalk 1 to 2 feet high—like an elf-umbrella made of leaves. It likes to grow in shady spots, but you can find it in other places too. In early summer golf-ball-size clusters of little white flowers appear on a separate stalk. The flowers are replaced in mid- to late summer by deep purple berries.

People brew root beer from the rhizomes. White-tailed deer and moose love to eat sarsaparilla leaves in spring. Birds and bears eat the berries and spread the seeds in their droppings/scat.

Fun Fact: If you hold a sarsaparilla plant high above your head and let go, it will float like a parachute down to the ground.

Hunt #5 - Ground Pine

It looks like a miniature evergreen tree, but ground-pine—also known as princess pine—is a relative of ferns. It grows ankle- to knee-tall in sunny or shady spots in cool, damp forests. Like real pine trees, ground-pine stays green all winter. Because it resembles a tiny Christmas tree, it’s popular in holiday decorations. Ground-pine has also been used as a medicine.

Fun Fact:Ancient ancestors of the ground - pine stood 10 0 feet tall. Nowadays, they reach heights of about 12 inches.

Hunt #6 - Starflower

Like constellations sparkling in the night sky, the bright white blossoms of the starflower stand out from the forest floor beneath both evergreen and deciduous trees. Starflower blooms in May and June—even later in northern Minnesota. Look for one to two white, star-shaped blossoms, a little bigger around than a pencil eraser, emerging from a whorl of pointed leaves about as long as your finger. The blossoms attract bumblebees and other bees, which pollinate the plants as they search for food.

Hunt #7 - Red Baneberry

Baneberries grow about 1 to 2 ½ feet tall and like shady moist areas in the woods. The flowers are in a round cluster about 2 inches tall at the end of a long flower stem rising above the leaves. Individual flowers are about ¼ inch across. The will have glossy red berries after the flowers are gone. DO NOT TASTE OR TOUCH as they are especially poisonous. White baneberries are almost identical plants with white glossy berries.

Hunt #8 - Rose Twisted-Stalk

The stem on this plant looks like it doesn’t know which way to go as it zigzags from one pointed leaf to another. Pink striped, bell-like flowers emerge near the base of the leaves in May or June. In late summer the flowers give way to red berries. Good clues to the identity of this plant: twisted stalk, leaves staggered rather than opposite each other, and parallel veins on each leaf.Look for rose twisted-stalk in cool, shady places under deciduous trees such as maple, basswood, birch, and aspen.

Hunt #9 - Wintergreen

Wintergreen adds a touch of spice to the forest floor. The thick, shiny leaves of this ground-hugging plant give off a strong, fresh smell if you crush them. They are the source of oil of wintergreen, which is used as a flavoring. In June, wintergreen produces waxy, white flowers that hang down like tiny bells. Later in the summer and fall, look for red berries, which deer, grouse, and other animals eat.

Fun Fact: They also contain methyl salicylate, the active ingredient in aspirin.

Hunt #10 - Large-leaved Aster

If you see a plant that stands up to a foot tall with big heart-shaped leaves covering the forest floor, you are probably looking at large-leaved asters. This common plant prefers the dry part of the woods. And in late summer, the aster’s petals of blue, lavender, or white surround a disk of small yellow flowers. Together, they look like a star. After being pollinated by bees and other insects, the flowers produce seeds with fluff.

Fun Fact: This plant’s big, soft leaves have a reputation as a pretty good emergency substitute for toilet paper. It’s also known as “lumberjack’s toilet paper.”