weed id please!

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WildWolf

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Location
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I'm not sure what these plants are. Can you guys help me ID them?

Plant 1: The plant is a little fuzzy.
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Plant 2: Hen bit Lamium amplexicaule
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Plant 3: purple deadnettle Lamium purpureum
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Plant 4: I think it's called "wild sage" around here, but I'm not sure...
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Plant 5: the plant is a little fuzzy, and very thin. It was tiny white flowers.
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Thanks in advance!
 
It's always a bit difficult working from photographs, but here are my best guesses.

1. Fleabane Daisy (Erigeron annuus) As far as I know, not useful for rabbit forage. Used as a flea repellent since colonial times.
http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/fieldbio/Wi ... FINAL.html

2. Either Henbit (Lamium amplexicaule)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamium_amplexicaule
I've always understood that henbit is toxic to rabbits. The leaves, to my nose, are odourless.

OR

or Gill-over-the-ground a.k.a. Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea)
Ground Ivy (Gill-over-the-Ground) has a sweet minty fragrance when the leaves are crushed and can be made into a cooling tisane for humans. Not sure how (or if) it should be used for rabbits.
http://www.thekitchn.com/edible-weeds-ground-ivy-149396

3. Really not certain, but possibly one of the Dead Nettles, such as Lamium purpureum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamium_purpureum

4. I don't know and can't even provide a good guess.

5. Uncertain, but if I had to guess, I'd suggest possibly one of the chickweeds. Possibly Common Chickweed (Stellaria media) which is edible for rabbits, but please do not feed it without making a possitive ID. This is a guess only... someplace to start your research.
 
Thanks for your replies! Sorry MaggieJ, I edited my original post without seeing your reply. I successfully identified henbit Lamium amplexicaule and purple deadnettle Lamium purpureum. Interesting, a google search about both of those plants says that they are edible (eaten raw even) for humans, and a couple people said there rabbits love them while others say their rabbits don't.

__________ Thu Apr 17, 2014 5:04 pm __________

#5 (now #3) is not common chickweed (Stellaria media). This plant is much thinner and has less leaves, and the flowers are different.
Thanks anyway! <br /><br /> __________ Thu Apr 17, 2014 5:06 pm __________ <br /><br /> I think that #1 is Fleabane Daisy. Thanks!!
 
WildWolf":3gq9w85w said:
#5 (now #3) is not common chickweed (Stellaria media). This plant is much thinner and has less leaves, and the flowers are different.
Thanks anyway!
Click to expand...

I was very tentative about suggesting chickweed, but please be aware that it can have different growth habits and that there is more than one species/variety in the chickweed family. Here it is tall and lanky as in your photo.

I always find it difficult to ID plants from photos because I need the information my other senses such as touch, smell and taste provide. You just can't get that from photos! This is why I stress that these are only guesses.
 
WildWolf, not sure what part of NC you live in, but your state is blessed with wonderful gardening resources. Check with your local extension agent, or if you have a Master Gardener program, they're a great resource, too.

I live fairly close to Virginia Tech, and I've used their information for everything from beekeeping to how to get rid of fleas in a carpet (for Texas daughter). State uni's are a vastly underused resource & most of their advice is free.
 
(MaggieJ, I'd like you to know that I really respect your understanding and ability to identify herbs. I've also been foraging and studying herbs, mostly wild ones, since I was a kid too. I can tell you know your stuff. You also don't recommend things that you have never tried, which is also something I deeply respect.)

Fleabane seems pretty close for that first one.

But, plant 2 is definitely not Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea).
(I've never found it to smell very minty when crushed either, at least not compared to mint. I've used it occasionally in the past and never been very impressed. It's one of the most common lawn weeds around here and a plant I'm very familiar with. )

I also think that last one might be chickweed, anyway to get a good pic of an open flower?
 
Thank you, Zass! :)

I've always had trouble differentiating Ground Ivy from Henbit by sight, but Henbit has no odour that I can detect, whereas Ground Ivy is aromatic. It is certainly not as strong as mint, but quite noticeable to my nose, at least. But noses vary... and so do plants from area to area.

This from the entry on Wikipedia on Ground Ivy:
"In addition, ground ivy emits a distinctive odor when damaged, being a member of the mint family."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glechoma_hederacea
 
Yeah, I've seen that mentioned on all the descriptions. My nose has unfortunately never encountered that minty aroma in real life. :shrug:

By henbit are you referring too Lamium amplexicaule? I'm definitely not getting those two confused. But, I do have 6-7 varieties of mint in my own garden, so perhaps my nose is spoiled :oops:
 
By henbit are you referring too Lamium amplexicaule?
Click to expand...

Yes, as mentioned in my first post on this topic. I've never found much use for either so I guess I've not taken the time to note the differences between henbit and ground ivy... other than the smell. Maybe this year I will do a more complete comparison.
 
Ok, I think I can see the plant your referring to in the pics. Low growing, and to the right on the 4th picture?

The large central plant in those pics is something tall that seems to have a basal rosette. I assumed that was the one they were asking about. It is kinda hard to tell exactly which plant they are referring to though.
 
Thanks everyone for your replies. MaggieJ and Zass, I really appreciate your help. I always make sure that everyone guesses match the real plant by doing google searches and all... I just don't know how to google search a plant when I don't know the name.

I never thought about looking for a plant data base from a university! I will definitely do that.

Sorry for the confusion, I took down 2 plants because I IDed them by recalling a name someone mentioned to me a long time ago and looking it up. I looked at the differences of henbit and ground ivy (flower, leaf, steam- not just smell) and I'm 99.9% positive the plant in the picture I originally posted is henbit. The other plant picture I took down was definitely purple deadnettle.

Plant #2 is the tall thing in the center of the picture that has a basal rosette. The next picture of Plant #2 is another plant of the exact same type but the tall stem had not grown yet. The third picture of Plant #2 is an up close picture of a stem that I picked so that the picture was clear.

__________ Thu Apr 17, 2014 9:57 pm __________

Here is a picture of plant #3's flowers. It's really blurry because I had to take it up close due to the tiny size of the flower. I will try to take a better picture tomorrow.

photo9_zpsa310bf2f.jpg


__________ Thu Apr 17, 2014 10:02 pm __________

One more thing about plant #3- It's hairy... Are there hairy varieties of chickweed?
 
In future, Wildwolf, it would be helpful if you did not remove pictures just because you have identified them to your satisfaction. These threads should remain intact for the benefit of all who might wish to consult them. Removing the pictures results in confusion and destroys much of the value of the thread.
 
I'm sorry... :oops: I thought that no one had replied (I guess my computer hadn't refreshed the page)... :oops: Should I re-post the pictures?
 
It's up to you whether you want to repost the original pictures. I was looking more to supply guidelines for posts of this sort for the future. One of the goals for a natural feeding forum is to build a base of knowledge for the future.

It sometimes takes time for people to reply... I spent a fair bit of time to provide links to supplement my guesses and may have been still preparing my post when you decided you had no replies. So be a bit patient, 'k? (And it is always a good idea to refresh the page before making changes.)
 
For future reference, I decided that the hen bit was hen bit (Lamium amplexicaule) and not ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea) by looking at a couple of things. Hen bit's leaves are in whorls around the stems, and I'm pretty sure only the flowers of ground ivy are in whorls. Also, hen bit's flowers have an easy-to-see tube shape, wheras the ground ivy flowers are much shorter in that you can't see a tube shape.
 

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