help to identify these plants

Hi! I need some help to identify these plants. These plants are located on the north shore of Lake Erie (Ontario) in a mostly hardwood forest. The first one is a plant that produces a blue to blue-purple berry in small clusters. The second plant only has a couple of large leaves per plant and produces one "fruit". The fruit is dark green when unripe and when it is fully ripe it is yellow and very soft almost mushy in side with many seeds, oddly enough the fruit smells very sweet. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Hi Misty-

Thanks for the puzzle! Just from internet sleuthing, I think the top one may be blue cohosh.

Here's a link to a page with a pic: http://inspirezone.org/wildflowers4.html
Or search google images for blue cohosh.

Mariamne

Hi Misty-

I believe your 2nd one is a Mayapple:

Here's a link with lots of nice pics and description of the aroma of the fruit:
http://nathanrupley.wordpress.com/2011/02/12/foraging-highlights-1-last-years-fruit-harvest/

Mariamne

Thank you so much Mariamne! that is exactly what they are!! So neat!! learning about how much wild food and medicinal plants there are around here it's great!!

Misty - you are welcome! I learned some new things: I knew what the mayapple leaves and flower looked like, but not the fruit, nor it's aroma! And as our regions are near each other, I'll put the knowledge to use! Have fun! Be on the lookout for ginseng, too. It's supposed to be prevalent in the woods of our regions. I haven't been on a search for it, yet, but plan to, in late fall. Mariamne

Your mystery plant is blue cohosh, Caulophyllum thalictroides. I've never seen this in the wild before since it doesn't grow commonly in my region, but it's so distinct that it was easy to key out using the Carolina Key.