# Anyone know what this is??



## joseph97297 (Nov 20, 2007)

Have them sprouting up all over the place.










Thank you. Am trying to find a nice book or website to help with the id'ing. We have all sorts of plants and stuff growing that I am curious about.


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## bluefish (Jan 27, 2006)

Looks like a milkweed of some sort. Asclepias species. You'll have to wait for it to flower to figure exactly which one as there are several species.


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## thequeensblessing (Mar 30, 2003)

If its milkweed, or the hemp dogbane we have here in ohio, its a pain and spreads like wildfire and you don't want it around.


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## joseph97297 (Nov 20, 2007)

Hm, I just googled milkweed and why wouldn't you want it around? Sure, the bitter kind discussed sounds like a pain, but if you can eat it, then whoee, more fixins.......

My wife told me to buy the Peterson Guides, would that be a good place to start so I wouldn't have to run and get my camera every time I wanted to id something?

Thanks for the advice and information.


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## thequeensblessing (Mar 30, 2003)

Why wouldn't you want it around? Because it can be toxic to livestock, it can take over your pasture rendering it "junk" (I've seen pastures with thousands and thousands of milkweed). Milkweed is also toxic to humans and can be eaten, but must be prepared using certain methods to detoxify it. 
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/poisonous-milkweed-humans-74425.html


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## joseph97297 (Nov 20, 2007)

Okay, I see where you are coming from now. All valid points.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Not something you would want in a pasture or hayfield (although deer can eat it with no ill effects, so can ducks and wild rabbits) but in a flower bed or wildflower garden it has no equal. Not a problem in grain fields either because it's withered and gone before harvest time. Also the only plant family Monarch butterfly caterpillars can eat and thrive on. It's a relative of the rubber tree so it can cause a reaction in people who are allergic to latex.

The Peterson series has many guides. Wildflowers and edible plants are good ones. I believe there is also a fungus guide in the series but not 100% sure about it. Euell Gibbons has some very good identification pictures in _Stalking the Wild Asparagus_.


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## warnimct (Jul 27, 2012)

I want to plant some milkweed around my place. It is the only food of the monarch butterfly. As their only food source, the continual elimination of milkweed has caused their population to drop. I don't have livestock around so I'm not worried about that but I encourage people to make a butterfly/ bee garden to help out our pollinators. Fence the area off if you have to...


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## joseph97297 (Nov 20, 2007)

I'm playing with 25 acres here, so no rush or need to eradicate it quite yet. I am in the process of trying to locate all the wild strawberries and blackberries we have. So far, there is a huge, and I mean HUGE amount.

Thanks for the info on the guides. I am going to do a little searching on Amazon and see what I can find.


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## dizzy (Jun 25, 2013)

My favorite guide is Newcomb's Wildflower Guide. We used it as a text book in my field botany class in college.


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