Indiana experience a mid - continental climate withcold wintersand affectionate summers . rain averages about 45 inches in the south - central area to about 37 inch in the north , and snow occurs for six calendar month , averaging from 20 inch to more than 100 in in the Second Earl of Guilford near Lake Michigan . Indiana contain U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5a through 6b . Before settlement by Europeans , most of Indiana was hardwood forest with some grassland . It ’s now mostly second - growth forest , urban areas and croplands . Edible wild plant live in woodlands , pastures and demented orbit throughout the Department of State .
Nut-Bearing Trees
Some large forest trees furnish edible ballock of import as solid food for many kinds of wildlife . Shagbark hickory ( Carya ovate ) , stalwart in USDA zona 4 through 8 , is slow - growing to 98 metrical foot tall and 49 feet broad , bearing numerous firmly - shell , sweet - kerneled freak in capitulation . Some thinner - shelled cultivars be . They ’re suited as tincture or specimen trees . Look for raging Tree along moist river bottoms or highland slopes . Also a material but slightly short tree , butternut ( Juglans cinerea ) , hardy in USDA zone 3 through 7 , grows 82 foot tall and 65 feet wide . It has angelic , oily - tasting kernels that are hard to evoke from the nut . Once the kernel is expose , it does n’t keep for retentive . Butternut ’s native habitat is in moist Wood and on river patio .
Shrubs with Edible Fruit
Multistemmed large bush proffer summer yield for people and wildlife . Blackhaw viburnum ( genus Viburnum prunifolium ) , brave in USDA zones 3 through 9 , produces bluish - black yield edible when in the raw or used to make jellies and preserve . In spring , minuscule , blank , fragrant prime occur at arm ends in flat - top clusters , making this an ornamental garden works . The 12- to 15 - foot - improbable shrub inhabits streamsides and brushwood in nature , and exercise well as a garden hedge . A summertime - ripening yield , elderberry looks delicious should n’t be feed raw . The plant ( Sambucus canadensis ) , hardy in USDA zona 3 through 11 , produces fruit that are black and calendered , but they have alkaloid compound that give an unpleasant gustatory modality to cutting berries , although chick relish them . manipulate the harvested fruits for about 15 minutes and use the juice for gelatin or pie . Growing wild along Mrs. Henry Wood edges and streams , 10- to 15 - foot grandiloquent European elder have showy white heyday clusters in natural spring and need annually pruning to keep the growth under control .
Wild Berries
Two types of delicious wild berries occur in Indiana . Offering abundant Chuck Berry that blacken when ripe , black raspberry ( Rubus occidentalis , hardy in USDA zones 3 through 7 ) is a straggly , thorny bramble with arched canes that can grow to 9 feet long . wipe out the fruit sensitive or cook it into pies and preserves . Showy white flowers and berries occur on 2 - class - old wood . For a Chuck Berry plant that is well-heeled to pick , Virginia hemangioma simplex ( Fragaria virginiana , hardy in USDA zones 3 through 7 ) bears small but mellifluous and tasty reddish fruits in other summertime . Plants are about 1 foot tall and develop in woodland margins or in open fields . They thrive in well - drained , damp soil .
Roots and Vines
A prairie species with showy , yellow flowers and that pay edible tubers on its roots , Jerusalem artichoke ( Helianthus tuberosa , hardy in USDA geographical zone 3 through 9 ) is a forking , perennial helianthus . The tubers are good raw or cooked . Each plant can cede 2 to 5 pounds of tubers . For a vine with showy , complex majestic prime and ellipse , eatable fruit , consider purple heat blossom ( Passiflora incarnata , dauntless in USDA zones 5 through 9 ) . flower all summer long , the 6- to 8 - foot vines raise back each year from perennial root . The soft fruits have a sweet pulp studded with small , black seed and are yellow when ripe . consume them raw or apply them for jelly .
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