That plant is poison: P-P-P-Poison!

Jess from Jacksonville ax'd me this question:

I'm going camping soon. How do I tell which plants are safe to eat and which ones want to kill me with deadly poison?

I'm not any kind of plant expert, but I'm confident that your smartest bet is to not eat plants while you're on your camping trip. Tonight, at a stop light at the bottom of an I-95 exit, I saw a gallon jug on the side of the road marked "Drinking Water." It was filled with a dark brown liquid that looked just like sweet tea. Even though you like sweet tea, you wouldn't drink that, right? Because you know that it could be something far more horrible, right? And even if it was sweet tea, it's possible that someone pooped, spat, pee'd or threw up in it, right? Same with forest plants. Even if you look at a plant identification book and decide that a particular plant is non-poisonous, there always exists the possibility that a rat with the plague took a crap on that plant--or something. Of course, the same suspicion should be applied to commercial, non-forest foods. But when you're out in the woods, you're further away from a hospital. If you do happen to get sick from eating berries covered in raccoon pee, it will take longer to get medical attention and the infection might have time to spread to your brain.

I hope this helps. Can I come camping too? It seems like you need some supervision.