Need help identifying a weed

shllnzl
shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited November 2020 in Plant ID

So far I have been unable to ID this. I have just been waiting for it to grow up and flower. (So many plant photos show just the flowers.)

The plants were unintended hitchhikers with a plant from Northern Idaho.

Thanks for any help.


Comments

  • Jens the Beekeeper
    Jens the Beekeeper Posts: 651 admin

    @shllnzl I am afraid I am of not much help but from what I can tell there are at least two different plants in there.

    A pic with more details would be helpful e. g. Leaves up close. Is there some withe sap when you break a stem?

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    @shllnzl Are the leaves soft or fuzzy? Are they lighter underneath? It looks like the veining is off a central rib, is that correct?

  • Merin Porter
    Merin Porter Posts: 1,026 admin

    Agreed that a close-up pic would be helpful. From this distance (and with the caveat that I am not an expert at identifying plants!), my first thought would be that the little swirly plant on the bottom right looks kind of like a tiny dandelion, and the leaves on the plant on the bottom left look to me like something from the mint family. But again, it's a bit hard to see in there, and I know there are people on these forums who are more qualified to comment than I am!

    Oh, and, just a suggestion, I have that app called PlantSnap and like it. Might be worth trying here if you can get access to it?

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I looked closer and there are at least 4 species of plants coming up in that pot. I took better photos of the two main types and saved them in a larger file size. The curved leaved plant has a white latex in stem.

    Thanks for the help. I will pursue plant apps.

    The smooth leaved plant looks like a mint but doesn't smell like one.

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    @shllnzl Much better close ups! Not a botanist but could the bottom one be burdock? Not sure about the first one. I'm sure I've seen it before but no idea where or what it was.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    @shllnzl I second possible burdock for pic #2. But, please be careful to find out what it is before using, as cocklebur is often confused with burdock and is toxic. Check out the differences through reliable ID sources.

    As I suggested before, iNaturalist could be of help. These pictures should be good enough to upload for ID.

  • Merin Porter
    Merin Porter Posts: 1,026 admin

    Yeah, seeing those closer I definitely wouldn't think either of them are what they looked like to me from far away. Please let us know what you determine! :)

  • Joette
    Joette Posts: 17 ✭✭✭

    To determine if the first plant is a mint, check the stem. Mints have square stems.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    @shllnzl Did you ever ID those weeds? Did you see the discussion on weed ID sites? I don't know if California's will help, but it might!

    Please feel free to add any other sites that you find to that thread.

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I never did ID these weeds and the plant in the bottom photo died. These pots were inherited from Idaho.

    Here is an update to the top photo.


  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    Looks like something in the Boraginaceae family with those hairs on the stems. Are the leaves hairy, too? Maybe one of the many Pulmonaria species???

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @torey Thanks for the suggestion. That family comes close, no exact match yet.

  • Joette
    Joette Posts: 17 ✭✭✭

    It resembles Self heal, heal all, Prunella vulgaris ssp. lanceolata, prior to little purple flowers blooming.

  • Ferg
    Ferg Posts: 285 ✭✭✭

    Prunella also has a square stem, if that helps...

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Ferg Oh, really close. The flowers look right, the leaves are not as long as photos I looked up. Hmmm.,,