Middle Earth Ranger Forum

Wonderful thread! You have so much fascinating flora in your area! I feel like my stomping grounds here where the Rockies meet the plains aren’t nearly as interesting in terms of unusual plant life. Even so, there have been a few things I’ve wanted to ID in the area around my home over the last year or so. Maybe we could make this into a dedicated plant-ID thread for anyone who might need it?

While I wouldn't want to wear out our experts, I'd sure enjoy that.

I took another look at that maybe-wild-carrot-maybe-hemlock - I THINK it's the wild carrot. There is fur on the stems and there are those foils around the flowers.
But some also have a bit of purple at the stem, and none have a purple flower in the center.

Haven't made it back up to the strange purple nut thing, but the *leaves* sure looked like walnut. Next hike up the back hill I'll seek it out again. Thanks all!

Manveruon wrote:Wonderful thread! You have so much fascinating flora in your area! I feel like my stomping grounds here where the Rockies meet the plains aren’t nearly as interesting in terms of unusual plant life. Even so, there have been a few things I’ve wanted to ID in the area around my home over the last year or so. Maybe we could make this into a dedicated plant-ID thread for anyone who might need it?

Flora identification is something I've been trying to work on in my personal skills but unfortunately plant knowledge can be rather specific based on location and with such variety it is hard to remember everything. I'm having to restrict myself to Texas and that's still such a huge state. A plant ID thread would be fun and I'd be curious to see how specific we could get with being so far-flung across the world.

Speaking of plants and derailing the thread a hair, I just picked up Judd and Judd's "Flora of Middle-Earth: Plants of J.R.R. Tolkien's Legendarium." I can highly recommend that book if you're interested in the plants of Middle-earth.

Very nice photos, Elleth!

Well, this weekend I went for a walk with a foraging book I got some time back.
Absolutely a worthwhile way to spend the afternoon!
I confirmed the berry-tree is "silverberry" also called autumn olive. From what wiki says, it's another invasive from Asia.
New Englanders went *nuts* planting Asian stuff in the 19th century - at least this stuff isn't as kudzu-take-over-everything as Japanese knotweed, and it is kinda tasty.
The taste was off in the cranberry direction, but juicier. I wouldn't want to have to live on them, but it's nice to know they're edible.
That strange kinda-sorta-walnut looking thing finally fruited. I still can't tell what it is, but it's interesting:

Strange fruit is right....WTF? Are those seeds or winged ants?!?

Good lord, that is the stuff of nightmares! Assuming it’s bugs and not some kind of bug-looking seed?

Manveruon wrote:Good lord, that is the stuff of nightmares!

agreed

I'll be seeing that in my nightmares tonight...

Found more of that weird pod. I *think* what's happening is there's some kind of grainy seed or something inside, then these little fly things get in, eat it all, and lay eggs. It's the strangest thing...

Also, I FINALLY found (I think) an ash -
... that last leaf is strange though, so I'm not certain.

It's a tiny thing though, the tree barely as thick around as a finger.
I heard a couple years back our ash in this part the country were just getting decimated, which is a real shame.

... and found a young dying birch with these on it - anyone know their fungi?

Birch fungus is Fomitopsis betulina.

Elleth wrote:While I wouldn't want to wear out our experts, I'd sure enjoy that.

I took another look at that maybe-wild-carrot-maybe-hemlock - I THINK it's the wild carrot. There is fur on the stems and there are those foils around the flowers.
But some also have a bit of purple at the stem, and none have a purple flower in the center.

Haven't made it back up to the strange purple nut thing, but the *leaves* sure looked like walnut. Next hike up the back hill I'll seek it out again. Thanks all!

The mnemonic is "Queen Anne has hairy legs". A black or purple dot in the center of a flowering umbel is common. The highly toxic lookalike to Daucus carota has smooth stems that can be purplish or mottled. The smell of the hemlock species is quite nasty and not carrotlike, but this is a dangerous enough plant to ingest that I usually steer novice foragers away from all umbelliferous plants. I have observed Daucus carota and Cicuta maculata growing intertwined with one another in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, at the edge of a pond. Daucus seems to be pretty habitat agnostic, whereas Cicuta likes it quite soggy and near water, but there are no shortcuts for a 100% confident identification to genus and species level with plants of this appearance.

I do like to use the seeds of wild carrot sparingly as a flavoring. The root is edible but nothing to write home about, especially in older specimens and even in young ones later in the year. The leaves and umbels make a good wild food garnish when shatter fried, but so does yarrow with less attendant risk on misidentification. It should also be noted that there is some data on livestock toxicity with Daucus carota and a suggestion that it may be an abortifacent, so pregnant people should avoid or consume in moderation even with positive ID.

Elleth wrote: I confirmed the berry-tree is "silverberry" also called autumn olive. From what wiki says, it's another invasive from Asia.

Very invasive. The fruits are more seed than anything, but if you have enough, a run through a food mill yields a very good pulp. I've also done a sweet pickle on them for 'wild cocktail cherries', but it's more a novelty than a functional food item as the seed isn't nice to eat.

Eofor wrote:The yellow one 5 could be Goldenrod.

Concur.