ID please

[jjsull33]

Could I please get an ID on this plant?




They haven't tried to eat it or even really looked at it but its in my yard so I would like to know.
It's under a big tree if that makes a difference.

 

[wellington]

Sorry, I'm bad at plant and weed ID. See if you can find it on the tortoisetable.org

 

[Chinque]

Is it spiky? If so, we also have a lot of those here, too. It's probably just a weed. If I were you, I'd just pull it out. If it was one of those spiky weeds and you decide to pull it out, make sure to get the whole root if it has a tap root (a tap root is a root that's basically shaped like a carrot with little roots coming out of it).

 

[redbeef]

It kind of looks like it may be some sort of thistle, but it's hard to say...any flowers yet?

 

[jjsull33]

No flowers yet, it has looked like that for at least a week.

 

[redbeef]

No flowers yet, it has looked like that for at least a week.

kinda looks like it could be this: http://www.cwma.org/scotchthistle.html

hard to say right now, though...you'll have a better idea if it flowers

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hmmm:

"It is found primarily along roadsides and railroads, but can become an impassable obstacle to livestock on rangeland and pastures. <b>It is increasing in densities throughout Colorado</b>

 

[jjsull33]

possibly, I will have to see once the snow we are getting today melts, maybe it will start to flower then. It is fairly small still.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

possibly, I will have to see once the snow we are getting today melts, maybe it will start to flower then. It is fairly small still.

Hi, JJ. I live in the Denver Metro area, too, and I see these all the time. I also think it's a young Scotch thistle (Onopordum acanthium). These are in the sunflower family, so chemically they're edible, but like a lot of spiny plants, that really only applies when they're very young and haven't become hard or sharp yet. My Russians eat this stuff occasionally, but again, when they do, it's only the really young ones.

If they nibble on it outdoors, then that's okay, but I never offer my tortoises spiky plants myself. They may have hard mouths, but they can still get cut, and that can lead to infection. In my opinion, Scotch thistle is basically inedible.

PS - Lovely spring we're having, isn't it?

 

[jjsull33]

PS - Lovely spring we're having, isn't it?

Haha yea, good thing it's almost over haha. What is it another month till summer