Help in identifying plants?

[Miss M]

Okay, most of these plants are slated for destruction. They would have been sprayed with herbicide this weekend if not for the fact that my uncle ended up having to work. If I find that they are useful, then perhaps I can help control them that way! Unfortunately, I don't seem to be much good at identifying them. I think I know what a couple are, but the others have eluded me. Can anybody tell me what some of these are, or point me in some direction?

PLANT 1: Identified -- Maidenhair Fern -- Adiantum capillus-veneris -- SAFE :bouncy: :

PLANT 2: Some sort of vine with tendrils, new growth:

Same vine, leaf detail:

Same vine, seed pods:

PLANT 3: Large bush or small tree:

Same bush:

Same thing, different specimen:

Infestation of bush by woolly aphids:

PLANT 4: Identified -- American Elm -- Ulmus americana -- SAFE :bouncy: :

Leaf detail:

PLANT 5: Some sort of bramble. I think it produces edible berries, if I recall correctly:

PLANT 6: Identified -- Sweet autumn clematis -- Clematis terniflora -- TOXIC:

Detail:

PLANT 7: Another prolific vine that has ivy-like leaves:

Detail of flowers and berries:

PLANT 8: Getting confused. Is this the same kind of vine? I think it is, and then I think it isn't. And there are too many bees around for me to get too brave in collecting samples to compare:

More:

And more:

PLANT 9: Some kind of Morning Glory -- TOXIC:

Different leaf shapes:

PLANT 10: Vine invading from neighbor's yard:

PLANT 11: Trumpet vine -- Campsis radicans -- TOXIC:

PLANT 12: Identified -- Japanese climbing fern -- Lygodium japonicum -- toxicity unknown:

PLANT 13: Yet another vine that appears to twine with no tendrils, largely with the previous vine:

Mingled with the bushes under the vines, is plenty of poison ivy. :evil: Obviously, I'm not gonna try feeding that to the buns! :x

It doesn't help that many of the vines are tied up in each other. Are these the same vine, with different leaf shapes? Do these berries go with those leaves? Without putting a good bit of effort into pulling some down to unwind, it was hard to tell.

 

[eco2pia]

Plant 1 is maidenhair fern, we have that. The rest will have to be someone else.

 

[MaggieJ]

I'm too far north to recognize much. Plant 2 may be dog strangle weed if the flowers were a brownish purple. Get rid of it if it is. Horrible invasive.

Plant 4 looks rather like some kind of elm... but please check further before feeding it to the buns. Elms (ulmus spp.) are safe for rabbits, but you do need a positive ID first. Having a name to check does make it easier though.

 

[Miss M]

Thanks, Eco2pia! Plant 1 was actually very important to know, since it is flourishing at the back of the rabbitry, and coming up near Squeak's cage. I need badly to know if it is safe, or if I need to kill it. Since you were able to tell me it is maidenhair fern, I was able to narrow it down to Adiantum capillus-veneris, which, it seems, is safe.

--update-- I was going to just let it grow in the rabbitry, where it could be a fresh forage, but Shay's going to be putting mothballs down back there. I assume it wouldn't be good for rabbits to eat something that's been sitting in mothballs, so I guess I'll kill it after all.

Thanks for the leads, Maggie! I'll check 'em out! <br /><br />__________ Sun Aug 15, 2010 10:00 pm __________<br /><br />You know, I can't remember what color the flowers were on Plant #2, but thankfully, I can rule dog strangle weed out. Wow! It's like Canadian kudzu!

I am now almost positive that Plant #4 is an American Elm. :bouncy: I'll do some more looking in the daylight, at the trunk and such, but the leaves, their arrangement, etc.... have it nailed.

 

[Shannon Shanks]

Hmmm...my reply earlier got eaten.

#6 is sweet autumn clematis.
Pretty sure the morning glory is the domestic toxic one (at least the seeds)

I would try your local extension office or plant nurseries. They can usually help id stuff.

Good luck.

Shannon

 

[Miss M]

The fluffy white bugs are woolly aphids.

Plant #11 is Campsis radicans, which is beautiful but horribly, incredibly invasive in this area. I will be be tracing it to see where it's coming from (I hope it isn't from the neighbor's yard!) and dealing with it carefully, since cutting it back can cause it to explode everywhere. It is destructive and also toxic. No bunny food here.

Thanks, Shannon! Why didn't I think of the extension office? I wonder where it is... that's what I get for moving. :lol:

Sweet autumn clematis -- I never knew clematis could be invasive, but apparently it is here. Shame... it is pretty. But it can't grow where it is. Can't use it for the rabbits, either:

Clematis was called pepper vine by early travelers and pioneers of the American Old West and used as a pepper substitute to spice up food since true black pepper (Piper nigrum) was a costly and rarely obtainable spice. The entire genus contains essential oils and compounds which are extremely irritating to the skin and mucous membranes. Unlike black pepper or Capsicum, however, the compounds in clematis cause internal bleeding of the digestive tract if ingested in large amounts. The plants are essentially toxic. When pruning them, it's a good idea to wear gloves. Despite its toxicity, Native Americans used very small amounts of clematis as an effective treatment for migraine headaches and nervous disorders. It was also used as an effective treatment of skin infections. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clematis

Plant #12 is Lygodium japonicum, Japanese climbing fern. A super-invasive in this area. Why me? At least I have only a little of it. I think. I don't find anything about it being toxic. But I don't find anything about it being not toxic. I have only a little, so I'm not taking any chances.

 

[Shannon Shanks]

Cool little factoid about clematis. Thanks. I've never had any problem with it. I wonder if different varieties are more irritating then others.

You'd be surprised at how many don't think of or even know about extension offices. I did the master gardeners program, and one of the things you're required to do is a set number of volunteer hours in the plant clinic.

Good luck with the battle. I know in the south some of the vines are real nightmares.

Shannon

 

[Miss M]

I did visit the extension office where we used to live several times. Once, to identify the problem I was having with some althea bushes. Another time, to identify an ant. And another time to turn over for identification a very large non-native scorpion (already dead, thank goodness) that we preserved in alcohol. They figured it had to be from out west, and maybe rode in on the undercarriage of a truck or something.

Thank you for the well-wishes! It looks like I have several very difficult fights on my hands. I'm going to need that good luck you mentioned!

 

[Shannon Shanks]

Perseverance is the key. Once you get it on the run you have to keep chasing it until it's dead.

When we moved back to the house I grew up in the only thing surviving in one flower bed was St. Johns Wort (the ornamental one, not the medicinal one). It had spread everywhere, jumped the retaining wall and infested the patio. After 3 years I was still occasionally pulling up bits of it but they were few and far between. Eventually I stopped finding it.

Shannon

 

[Miss M]

Wow!

I know that some of the vines in the ligustrum at the back of the yard are sending out runners under the grass and popping up in the middle of the yard. That's going to be fun to deal with, but hopefully we'll get there.

 

[Devon's Mom Lauren]

What the heck is Canadian Kudzu?

 

[MaggieJ]

What the heck is Canadian Kudzu?

I think what Miss M was getting at is that dog strangle weed (which they apparently do not have) is like a Canadian kudzu -- that it seems to take over up here the way kudzu does down there. But at least kudzu is good bunny food... which dog strangle weed is definitely not.

 

[Miss M]

What the heck is Canadian Kudzu?

I think what Miss M was getting at is that dog strangle weed (which they apparently do not have) is like a Canadian kudzu -- that it seems to take over up here the way kudzu does down there. But at least kudzu is good bunny food... which dog strangle weed is definitely not.

Yes, that is exactly what I meant.

I can only wish that some of these vines were kudzu. I thought some were, initially, but when I went out to the hedge, none of them were. It seems that the vast majority of what is out there is inedible. :cry_baby:

It's really weird, being in a position to wish that I had kudzu. :?

 

[Cottie]

Reviving this. =) :zombiebun:

I just got an ID on Campsis radicans (trumpet vine). A few articles on gardening report that its a rabbit favorite until it develops woody stems. The only toxicity reported is contact dermatitis. (http://research.vet.upenn.edu/Poisonous ... fault.aspx)

Is there any more info on the toxicity?

 

[DogCatMom]

All of the photos seem to have been taken down or moved. Have all the plants now been identified?

 

[skysthelimit]

The initial post is so very old, pictures may have been removed because of storage space or bandwidth issues.

 

[DogCatMom]

The initial post is so very old, pictures may have been removed because of storage space or bandwidth issues.

Good grief. I didn't even notice the date. Never mind!