What is this plant?

**Chris** · 08-28-2010, 02:40 PM

Sorry, no picture, let me describe it.

It almost reminds me of rose mallow or hardy hibiscus, I've seen it in ditches and at the edges of farmland here in Michigan. Leaves are small (3 inches, but on big plants they can be bigger) and heart shaped, flowers are small and yellow and hibiscus shaped, plant grows upright, and can get very tall, over 7 feet, in the right soil. Stem is fibrous like the inside of a sunflower. Seems to be an annual. Seed pods that form are very interesting looking, look like a crown, dries to almost black and little black seeds come out. Seed pods about the size of a quarter.

**your_comforting_company** · 08-28-2010, 04:53 PM

the "crown seeds" sound like a mallow.
try this one: http://www.missouriplants.com/Yellow...asti_page.html

it is listed in my "weeds" book: 2.1meters tall cotyledons have 2 leaf shapes, one round, and one heart shaped, covered in trichomes. Alternate, serrate margins, velvety pubescent surface. says it is an annual. The map shows it everywhere in US and Southern Canada, but the desert in CA, UT, and AZ
strong unpleasant odor when crushed.

plant contains toxins that cause visible organ damage, depression, fluid accumulation, and mild liver necrosis. (If that's the right one).

This link will take you to a database of Mallows and you can look through the pictures. Hope that helps.

**Chris** · 08-28-2010, 04:58 PM

that is exactly it, I know it reminded me of the mallows in my garden. thanks. I've been curious about that one since I found one growing like 7 feet tall at my parent's house when I was like 10.

**your_comforting_company** · 08-28-2010, 05:17 PM

The crown of seeds is a recognizable characteristic of many mallows when they are past flowering. Good description. really easy to follow and compare to others in my books. It was good exercise for me to try without a picture to go by.

**Rick** · 08-28-2010, 05:18 PM

YCC - How on earth do you take a few descriptive words and turn it into the actual plant?! I had no idea what that plant was. (not that I'm in your caliber of foraging).

**nell67** · 08-28-2010, 05:43 PM

Originally Posted by Rick

YCC - How on earth do you take a few descriptive words and turn it into the actual plant?! I had no idea what that plant was. (not that I'm in your caliber of foraging).

Me either,I could not find any info by that description!

**your_comforting_company** · 08-28-2010, 07:22 PM

Like I said, the crown of seeds was a number 1 indicator that it was in the mallow family, besides Chris saying it looked like a mallow, so I knew what family to start my search in. I flipped through my book reading the "habit and habitat" [tall, erect & grows in ditches and roadsides] section for a brief description of the plants immediate characteristics (in the Malvaceae family). I wanted to narrow my search by "habit" and height... not too many mallow plants will grow 7 feet tall nor have small flowers at that height.
When I found one that was in the right height category, I read the detailed descriptions of that plant, leaf shapes [heart shaped], stem [fibrous], seeds [circular crown], and flowers [small and hibiscus shaped] (my book breaks down each one VERY descriptively) till I found one that fit best. Not many hibiscus have heart shaped leaves, most are more long.
Chris' description was actually very good. Mostly it was a bit of good fortune that it was in my book as it isn't the grandest collection of plant pictures. It is a grand collection of descriptions for the plants that are in there.

It is a good time to point out that your books that you rely on be as extremely descriptive as possible. Any plant that you attempt to identify should not be confirmed by pictures alone, as there are many nuances that might not be observable from a distance, or you may not know how to describe accurately. A GOOD plant book will have good descriptions to go with the pictures and it should point out special identifying features of that plant.
The Peterson guides are okay, but for the best books you'll want to contact your local university. Mine is published by UGA so it is fairly area specific. The peterson guides put more emphasis on eating them, when actually that part comes MUCH LATER in an individuals foraging study. Most effort should be concentrated on positive identification and details. Once you have a positive picture AND verbal description, THEN you can go home and read about when/how to pick what parts, and how to cook/eat them.
A lot of folks seem to get the two steps backwards. Don't be one of those folks. Do your homework FIRST!

**your_comforting_company** · 08-30-2010, 04:17 PM

I would like to know how Chris determined it was an annual.. did you just watch it all year?
I feel like there is a detail there I'm missing in making that distinction. annual, biannual, perennial, biennial, all that jazz.. I gotta read up on that.

**Chris** · 08-31-2010, 07:28 AM

I've never known it to grow in the same place twice, and it grows and seeds in one season.

**your_comforting_company** · 08-31-2010, 12:28 PM

Powers of observation. Thank you sir!

**Chris** · 08-31-2010, 09:23 PM

plus if you think about it, it grows in disturbed soil, which is a sure sign of an annual. A perennial would develop into a patch or a thicket, but with annuals disturbing the soil brings seeds to the surface and they sprout.

**your_comforting_company** · 08-31-2010, 10:34 PM

I do remember reading that now. I'll do some more reading and that'll be one of the things I try to start noticing! Another thing to add to my observations list.