Weed ID

[Frosted Rabbits]

Pic number 9 is Common Groundsel Senecio vulgaris
Pic number 5 is Purple Deadnettle Lamium purpureum

ID'd by digging up plants and using the hands on approach, with filed guide, and magnifying lenses!!!

 

[skysthelimit]

Pic number 9 is Common Groundsel Senecio vulgaris
Pic number 5 is Purple Deadnettle Lamium purpureum

ID'd by digging up plants and using the hands on approach, with filed guide, and magnifying lenses!!!

I really thought I had one, but it seems many things I thought I had did not survive the move. Still looking for my wok!

 

[MaggieJ]

Pic number 9 is Common Groundsel Senecio vulgaris
Pic number 5 is Purple Deadnettle Lamium purpureum

ID'd by digging up plants and using the hands on approach, with filed guide, and magnifying lenses!!!

I agree with #5 being Purple Deadnettle (Lamium purpureum) but I'm not so sure about #9. I've never found Common Groundsel here so have not been able to examine it personally, but it does not appear to be prickly from the pictures I have seen. #9 appears to be quite spiny to my eyes, which is why I suggested one of the Sow Thistles (Sonchus spp.) Sky, we need more detail or a sharper picture if you want to confirm the ID of #9. Is it spiny like a thistle or not?

If it is Common Groundsel, it does not sound like a good choice for rabbits. If it is a Sow Thistle, then it is excellent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senecio_vulgaris

Livestock

Linnaeus is cited to have claimed that "goats and swine eat this common plant freely, cows being not partial to it and horses and sheep declining to touch it, but not only are caged birds fond of it (the seeds), but its leaves and seeds afford food for many of our wild species (rabbits were given as an example)."[7] More recent studies claim that the lethal amount that cattle or horses need to consume is 7% of their body weight (example: 50 pounds (23 kg) would need to be consumed by a cow weighing 700 pounds (318 kg)). Lesser amounts cause the liver to lose function but is not apparent until the animal is stressed (by new feed or location, pregnancy, a different toxin, etc.). Sheep and goats have rumen bacteria that detoxify the alkaloids and are able to consume twice their body weight of this and other species of genus Senecio.[21][60] The alkaloids responsible are not destroyed by drying or by fermentation in silage.[6]

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

I went back into my field guides-- and the illustrative and written descriptions of Sow,common and spiny thistles do not match this plant at all-- I have the advantage- I live in the same area as Skysthelimit, and am seeing the same plants as they come up-- so I did, literally, dig up plants and bring them in to get real close looks at them!!

One of my longer term goals is to have labelled, potted up samples of safe for rabbits plants, and other plants, so that they can be seen throughout the whole growing season. A mistake a lot of my classmates made when making their herbariums for Botany class was not including the whole plant- Sometimes, the difference between two plants is the lack of or presence of a basal rosette! Even root structure counts, shape of the stems, and knowing if the area gets mowed often!

Note-- I was the ONLY person to include Lemna minor*Small Duckweed* and Lemna trisulca[/i*Ivy Leaved Duckweed*] in my herbarium. I REALLY wanted to find a Lemna major* Large Duckweed*! Those floating water plants, when dried- are over 90% protein!

 

[avdpas77]

Maggie,
We have another plant down here that from a distance is similar to Lamium atropupureum. Up close it is quite different, but it has the same "lanky" growth habit, very similar flowers, the same color of green on the leaves and stems, and in fact often grows together with henbit/dead nettle in the spring. I have looked it up before, but now that I want to find it I can't. The most obvious difference is, that it has leaves that grow against the stem with no petiole, and the sort of surround the stem, unlike the "shingle" type leaves on Lamium. The inter-node between the leaves is farther too. I always mix the two up, because they have the same growth habit and tend to invade my garden in the spring. Is this enough information for you to guess? I think we need to take some good pictures of each weed with the scientific names and the varied common names, and put them all in one place, then when we are sure of the identification, you could put the information with them about there use as a rabbit food. Of course, it is spring, and we area all busy, and I will probably never get it done....Heh, but it would seem a good idea.

I think you have sort of a similar thing on HT, but it would be nice to have something that is all together in one list. Maybe I will get ambitious and find some time.... but don't hold your breath. :lol:



skysthelimit If #2 ever gets a flower on it, (which I think it may and soon) could you take another picture?


OK, I think I answered my own question here...
According to whose website one looks at, Henbit is Lamium atropupureum OR Lamium amplexicaule (which is the other plant I was asking Maggie about). If one looks up purple deadnettle, the same thing. However, it seems that the (most common :? ) common name for the one in skysthelimit's post is Deadnettle, while Henbit is the most used name for Lamium amplexicaule.

I apologize for confusing the issue.

 

[skysthelimit]

That sounds like a summer project for me. Perhaps I can get a collection of pictures from people, by email or snail mail, and make a book/ addition to my website to identify weeds. I'm going out I'll take some better pictures. I'll just dig up one of each plant and put them on a white background.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

If you are going to do that-- include a 'measure' and a date in the picturein the picture-- a nice ruler, drawn lines, etc-- the difference between 'Hedge Bindweed" and "Field Bindweed" ( Both'wild' Morning Glories) is the size of the plant and where they grow-- and both can still be found right next to each other!

 

[skysthelimit]

If you are going to do that-- include a 'measure' and a date in the picturein the picture-- a nice ruler, drawn lines, etc-- the difference between 'Hedge Bindweed" and "Field Bindweed" ( Both'wild' Morning Glories) is the size of the plant and where they grow-- and both can still be found right next to each other!

Everyone who (hypothetically) submits a picture need to do that, as a collective effort when they take the pict. I just promised to compile them, not find them ...VBG...

I can only promise to work with what I have on this lot, which is not much.<br /><br />__________ Sat Mar 24, 2012 3:54 pm __________<br /><br />#2

#5

#7

#9

 

[MaggieJ]

Oh, much better!

#2. This is definitely one of the mallows (Malva neglecta or Malva Rotundifolia) and is a very good rabbit food.

#7. I am reasonably sure is Broadleaf Dock (Rumex obtusifolius) I feed the related Curly Dock (Rumex crispus) from early spring until it puts up its flower stalk.

#9. Now that I can see it clearly, I tend to agree with Terry that this is Common Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) and NOT a sow thistle. I would not feed Groundsel to my rabbits.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senecio_vulgaris

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

MAggie-- That number 7 I have plenty of right now, as well-- thanks for the connection, as I did not have it jsut a few miles away!! But it smelled similar when I tripped on it!

I dont think I have ever seen a groundhog eat a Groundsell, So I would not even offer it to mine

 

[MaggieJ]

Mind you, Terry, I would have liked to see the root of #7. If it is dock, there should be a substantial tap root: large, fleshy, and yellowish in color. The young leaves are the only part I feed. I have heard the seeds are toxic and I don't know if the root is safe either.

 

[skysthelimit]

Mind you, Terry, I would have liked to see the root of #7. If it is dock, there should be a substantial tap root: large, fleshy, and yellowish in color. The young leaves are the only part I feed. I have heard the seeds are toxic and I don't know if the root is safe either.

it has a large taproot, like a white carrot type (thickness). i didn't think it was curly dock, it just wasn't curly enough. 'milk' of the dock leaf is known to contain tannins and oxalic acid, which is also used to tan hides. I may not be able to feed it, but maybe I can use it to tan some hides.
__________ Sat Mar 24, 2012 6:48 pm __________

Oh, much better!
#9. Now that I can see it clearly, I tend to agree with Terry that this is Common Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) and NOT a sow thistle. I would not feed Groundsel to my rabbits.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senecio_vulgaris

Good. There is only one of them in the yard, and I pretty much killed it by digging it up.

 

[MaggieJ]

I've fed broadleaf dock on occasion. It is not as plentiful here as the curly dock. I don't use them after they shoot up their flower stalks, but they are very useful early in the season because they grow fast and are big plants. By the time they start to flower there are other, better choices available.

 

[Lastfling]

I believe that #5 is ajuga - bugleweed.

 

[MaggieJ]

I don't think so, Lastfling... The leaves of bugleweed (Ajuga repens) are different, glossier, and the flowers are closer to purple-blue than pinky-purple. There are many varieties of bugleweed, however, I cannot be 100% sure from pictures. It helps so much to handle the plants... smell them, feel the texture of the leaves, examine the roots, growth habit etc. etc.

http://www.imagejuicy.com/images/plants/a/ajuga/11/

 

[avdpas77]

I agree that #7 is a "dock", but we have several varieties here in the Midwest....similar to the several varieties of plantain. As far as feeding (and I leave this to Maggie) I don't worry about feeding any of the plantains, and I suspect that if the docks are feed-worthy that it would include the whole group... again This is Maggie's expertise. I do know that back in the 70's when I was in my back to nature mode, I tried boiling dock as greens as it was promoted. It was horrible BTW. :x

 

[MaggieJ]

To the best of my knowledge, all docks, when young, (Rumex spp.) and all plantains (Plantago spp.) are edible for both humans and rabbits. I would not hesitate to feed them to my rabbits. Rabbits seem to find them a lot yummier than people do!

 

[skysthelimit]

I assume that the high concentration of tannins makes them bitter?

 

[Lastfling]

I'm going to try again on #5 - this time Dead Nettle (lamium)

 

[rockeee]

Can I feed these? one is a giant thistle-ish thing - my boot in photo to show size, & one grows in fields with cleavers, dead nettle, etc.

thanks so much!