The "Name that Plant" Game

I'll toss one in, simply because I ran across it while looking for something else.

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Description: These large biennial herbs stand 1 - 2.5 m tall and have broad alternate leaves with several flower heads. The leaves are ovate to oblong, even cordate and up to 50 cm long. The flowers are tubular, pink or purplish. The seeds are borne in prickly burrs.

Habitat & Distribution: The plant was introduced from Europe and now grows in waste lands throughout North America.

Edible parts & Uses: The young shoots and leaves are cooked as a green. The inner pith of the stems can be eaten raw. The roots are eaten both boiled and roasted and are often used as a coffee substitute.

An infusion of the roots is used to stimulating bile flow and has a mild laxative effect. The tea or a tincture of the roots has been used for stomach complaints and for a prolapsed uterus. A decoction of the roots is used for gout and rheumatism, to wash sores and traditionally as an antidote after eating poisonous food, especially mushrooms. The powdered seeds have been used as a diuretic. The leaves can be used as a poultice for poison ivy, poison oak, to soothe skin irritations, for impetigo, syphilis, gonorrhea and sunburn.

The seeds are an excellent diuretic. A tincture of the seed has been used as a folk remedy for joint inflammation.

Have at it guys.

(Hope nobody posted this before: I haven't read the entire thread.)
 
rksoon said:
I think Tony did this one before :thumbup:...maybe he can confirm.
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That's what I get for not having read the first twenty-something pages. It is a pretty common plant, so I wouldn't be surprised if it has been done.:D

Tony?
 
I so want to say Thistle, and if that is it, I did do it.

But the leaves are wrong...:confused:
 
dawsonbob said:
That's what I get for not having read the first twenty-something pages. It is a pretty common plant, so I wouldn't be surprised if it has been done.:D

Tony?
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It does get pretty tricky trying to figure out what's been done before:). Maybe we should edit the OP with a list of plants that have been id'ed and the post number they are on. That way it'll help people who just want to locate and refresh their memory on a specific plant too. But that would be a lot of work at this point...

When I post a plant, I just search the thread for the name to see if it's been done before. Is "search in this thread" only available to paying members?
 
Same genus, different species, Tony? Or maybe the one you pictured is in the first stage of growth, before the stalks and flowers form?
 
I am glad you posted that pic Dawson bob and good call Rksoon

I took the first pic myself and that is how I always see that plant. I also see it get tall like this.

But never seen it with the flowers.

Have any of the east coast guys seen it wIth the flowers?
 
tonym said:
It appears so

http://images.google.com/imgres?img...firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&um=1


I never seen it with the flowers though..
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Based on the interwebz (don't have any books, sorry), the first year of growth for Arctium minus yields a rosette of leaves, then the flowering stem is produced in the second year of growth. I don't know if the ones you see are of a different species and might have a different growth pattern though.

ETA: posted at same time. Wiki claims all species in the genus flower from July through October. :thumbup:
 
rksoon said:
Based on the interwebz (don't have any books, sorry), the first year of growth for Arctium minus yields a rosette of leaves, then the flowering stem is produced in the second year of growth. I don't know if the ones you see are of a different species and might have a different growth pattern though.
Click to expand...

Don't discount the fact that I am still a novice at the whole plant thing. I study yes, but I don't have a crap load of experience with plants. That is why I enjoy these types of threads so much:thumbup:

You're up Bro
 
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