Help identifying SC natives? *pic heavy! (7) 320x240s*

[calee]

I have some natives in my yard that I'm curious about. All of them are growing in sunny meadow or lawn-like areas with acidic clay soil. Anyone?

1. This one grows in clusters, is about 3" tall, and looks much more silvery than in the pic.

2. This one grows in clumps and gets about 6" tall.

3. This one is in small clusters and is about 3' tall.

4. This one grows in clumps, sometimes has a whitish-fuzzy stem, and is about 4' tall.

5. This one grows in clumps and is about 4' tall.

 

[patandchickens]

#1 looks like it *might* be one of the plantains. I just weeded a rather velvety silvery one out of my garden this morning in fact, although certainly most of 'em have plain boring green smooth leaves. Wait til it flowers and see what it looks like?

#2 looks like a wild aster. I will pursue it further once I do not have potatoes frying on the stove

#3 looks to me like alfalfa (or at least it is a legume, such as a vetch, but I think it is alfalfa specifically). Actually 'feral' not wildflower.

#4 is horsetail. It is a terribly annoying weed that's quite hard to get rid of. It generally indicates nutrient-poor soil, often soggy and/or compacted (not always). You don't want it in the garden. It spreads by runners that you will never eradicate fully.

#5 appears to be goldenrod of one of the 5 bazillion species. Again, wait til it flowers (in Aug or so) to be sure, as there are other things with generally similar vegetation.

This is fun

Pat

 

[Rosalind]

#1--Looks like mullein of some sort. AKA "camper's friend," for those camping trips when you forgot to bring TP

#2--Looks like one of the asteraceae. Are those flowers as open as they will ever get?

#3--no idea

#4--I can't tell from the picture, are the stems sort of jointed and crunchy? Could be a horsetail of some sort.

#5--Goldenrod. Which no one, but no one, is actually allergic to. People say they are allergic to goldenrod, but they are really allergic to ragweed, which blooms at the same time.

 

[aquarose]

I'll just jump in and say that I also think #1 is mullein. If it is, it will jump up real tall and bloom probably yellow. I always think its pretty when I see it growing by the roadside. There are several cultivated varieties too.

 

[calee]

Y'all rock! I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks plant ID is fun.

Answering questions & observations:

1. I think this is as big as it gets- 3" tall and about 6" in diameter. It grows in little carpets and starts out with the center leaves curled into little tubes. I don't remember seeing flower stalks on it last summer, but about this time of year it gets so hot and the other stuff gets so tall that I forget to look again. I'll watch it. Most of the narrow-leaved plantain that grows here has already bloomed and has really dry flowerheads now. But silver plants might take longer?

2. Those are the dried-up remains of fully blown flowers.

4. Unless the horsetail here is very different from the horsetail in Washinton, this isn't it. This has really soft, feathery foliage. It has a segmented stem like horsetail, but it is a soft & fuzzy stem and doesn't have the stiff, daddy-longlegish segmented branches. I also didn't see any horstail spears this spring.

5. I bet this is goldenrod! That means I can expect it to get about 6-7' tall here. Yay. That means if I step into one of the gazillion rabbit holes in the meadow and get stuck, nobody will find me until winter...

 

[patandchickens]

I just don't get 'mullein' from #1, I am stubbornly sticking with plantain.

#4 still *looks* like horsetail to me, and of course there are a number of horsetail species that span a reasonable range of what they're like... but AFAIK they all do have a rather stiff and rough texture to the leaves, and if you say this is not at all stiff and rough then I guess it is prolly something else but I'll be darned if I know what

Pat

 

[ShellieESterling]

If number 4 was aquatic, I'd say Parrots Feather. Here's a picture...

Maybe they're in the same family?

 

[Cassandra]

Hey, I have bunches of those same ones! Especiall 2, 4 and 5.

Those "horsetails" (or whatever they are) are ESPECIALLY annoying. I have been digging them up as I find them and their roots are like iron and come in HUGE knots.

And, all I can say is... I hope it's OK for chickens to eat goldenrods... :/ cause they love 'em.


Cassandra

 

[patandchickens]

Parrot's feather can grow out of the water (although, it needs its feet in the water or at least always-soggy) BUT the leaves change shape quite a lot and lose the narrow feathery look. (They end up as narrow, roundly-toothed 'regular ole leaves').

Are there any polygalas (milkworts) that get that big and have that many, that small leaves?

Pat

 

[calee]

I don't think it's milkwort, but I really don't know southeast plants well at all yet.

I hope the master gardener guys are at the farmer's market next weekend so I can take them more samples! They are either going to start a) rubbing their hands together with glee or b) start running for the hills when they see me coming with my basket.