Help confirm ID of plants, safe for rabbits?

[dragonladyleanne]

I uploaded these 4 pix onto FB yesterday, and got everyone telling me "dandelion" on the one I thought was Curly Dock. But I think maybe they thought all 4 pix were the same plant, and they aren't. I have 2 pix of the one, and 2 pix of the other. So here goes:

 

[Secuono]

Not dandelion.

This is.

 

[skysthelimit]

Curly dock is thicker, darker leave and more curly.

 

[MaggieJ]

Those last ones may be chicory. If so, it is an excellent plant for both rabbits and humans. Later on it will shoot up and develop sky blue flowers.

http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?act= ... me=Chicory

All the sow thistles, dandelions and chicory are very safe for all rabbits, pregnant, nursing or just out of the nest.

 

[Happy]

Do I see some poison ivy in the top one? You might want to keep some jewel weed in your garden.

 

[MaggieJ]

Oh, forgot to say that the first two are definitely sow thistles.

 

[Bad Habit]

I am disgustingly jealous of the green in your garden. That is all.

 

[Happy]

I'm jealous at the lack of green. Or rather the lack of TALL green.

 

[dragonladyleanne]

Do I see some poison ivy in the top one? You might want to keep some jewel weed in your garden.

I don't think I have any poison ivy, or I'd have been itchy and so would the dogs. I do have some morning glory, greenbrier and an unknown climbing ivy that does not bloom, but will cover the garage wall every summer, almost as prolific as kudzu (which it also is not). I'll post pix of THAT when it returns in a few months, maybe a close-up will help ID it.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

I cannot see any pictures in the first post-- BUT, many people mistake Virginia Creeper for Poison Ivy.. Virginia Creeper has 5 leaflets, turns red like Poison Ivy in the fall, and does sometime have similarly colored fruit.

http://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/pg_paqu2.pdf
http://plants.usda.gov/cgi_bin/large_im ... 03_ahp.tif

I have a story about a former professor of mine, and his inability to tell Poison Ivy from Virginia Creeper!!!

 

[dragonladyleanne]

I cannot see any pictures in the first post-- BUT, many people mistake Virginia Creeper for Poison Ivy.. Virginia Creeper has 5 leaflets, turns red like Poison Ivy in the fall, and does sometime have similarly colored fruit.

http://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/pg_paqu2.pdf
http://plants.usda.gov/cgi_bin/large_im ... 03_ahp.tif

I have a story about a former professor of mine, and his inability to tell Poison Ivy from Virginia Creeper!!!

Not sure why you can't see the pix in my post, but yes, I think the "ivy" that covers my garage each summer might be Virginia Creeper, though I have never seen berries. Maybe the birds eat them, or perhaps I only have male plants. It says deer and skunks eat the leaves, so I wonder about rabbits?

 

[MaggieJ]

Virginia Creeper is a tricky one... There is so much conflicting information. Since the berries can be fatal to humans and pets and the leaves can cause skin rashes for some people, I would not feed it to my rabbits. Pity, because we have lots of it!

http://www.ehow.com/info_8302017_virgin ... onous.html

 

[dragonladyleanne]

Someone on FB said they could not ID my mystery plant, BUT, the smaller plant near it was Florida Betony, also known as rattlesnake weed. In looking it up, I discovered it's what my dad called (and made me pull up whenever I was in trouble, for my penance) stinkweed. I also discovered it's a mint - so perhaps something for drying up Spot's mastitis! http://www.caes.uga.edu/publications/pu ... pk_id=7648