Invasive species need to be eradicated whenever they are found, as they affect other local fauna and flora. However, in the meantime, hikers and wanderers can benefit from the ones that bear edible fruits.

A YouTuber, Stan Svec of the Fishing Historic Places account, shared a foraging hack for those in the Northeast United States. If anyone should come across an Autumn olive tree, this is what he recommends.

"We've got an Autumn olive tree that is so burdened with fruit that it's tipped right over into the path that I'm on. Autumn olive is an invasive [species], but it's also very tasty, especially when it gets good and ripe, when they turn dark red. They're a little sour, but you can make some nice jellies and pies out of these things. Don't fight them, eat them," the OP says in the YouTube video.

Autumn olive is a shrub native to Asia that was introduced to the U.S. in 1830, according to the Nature Conservancy. It was widely planted by the Soil Conservation Service for erosion control near roads and along ridges.

Now it is a rapidly spreading invasive species that displaces many native plants across forests, roadsides, meadows, and grasslands, as it can shade out other plants and alter the soil chemistry where it's planted. Its nitrogen-fixing root nodules also make it more adaptable to change, including seasonal shifts.

When invasive species take over where native plants once thrived, native species are eradicated, local fauna and pollinators are displaced, and wildfire risk increases. Regardless of how small the intrusion of an invasive species is, spreads can happen overnight, and all should be pulled as soon as possible.

Other ways the U.S. is fighting invasive species include the U.S. Army investing billions to stop the spread of the invasive carp in the Great Lakes, and chefs including them on menus to raise awareness.

His fans were grateful for the advice and shared their experience with this plant in the comments.

"It tastes like a little bit sour fruit roll-up to me," one commenter shared.

"I have trouble finding Autumn olive fruit that the birds haven't gotten to, yet. It's always a good day for a forager to find an invasive edible plant. No shame in harvesting the lot," another said.

"You can tell they WERE ripe when they all magically disappear," a third chimed in.

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