Plant ID's in Deedle and Rory's Yard - What's on the Menu?

[jkingler]

I don't know what to call any of it, except Catch of the Day.

 

[Lulu]

Looks like grass, sow thistle, and oxalis or clover. It looks like oxalis from here, but it's hard to tell from a picture and when it's that young. Has it flowered at all? The grass and sow thistle are fine. If it's clover, it's fine. Oxalis is high in oxalates. I don't feed it as I have plenty of other weeds, but I would think it is like anything else that's high in oxalates in that it's ok in moderation for a well hydrated tortoise.

 

[jkingler]

No idea which kind of grass it would be, so is any kind of grass fine? I have been feeding the sow thistle (thanks for the ID!) and the oxalis/clover. I have not seen it flower, so I don't know what it is. The torts eat it from time to time, but not much of it...

Here's a pic of something else from outside that I've put in the indoor enclosure:

Is that one safe?...Heh.

 

[Lulu]

I pretty much operate under the assumption that any grass not sprayed with chemicals is fine.

Does the oxalis/clover have black speckles on it? My oxalis has little black spots.

I don't know what the second picture is. Has that flowered? Are the leaves stiff? waxy? puffy? Is it really small and delicate? If so, I think that just started growing in my yard too and I haven't yet had a chance to identify it.

 

[jkingler]

Too dark out to tell if it has black spots...And your description of the second plant sounds about right.

There are also vines and such growing back there. Will try to get pics soon, just in case it's a good one!

 

[Lulu]

Is this the same one?

Sorry for the poor pictures. I just took some with my phone a couple of days ago so that I could research the weed.

 

[jkingler]

That's the one, I think. I can't tell similar plants apart very well, but it looks the same to me!

 

[Lulu]

OK, let me look at my books and see what I can find. Most of my resources are on native plants and if it's not native, I'll have to talk to the horticulturist. I need to get some hours in at the Nature Center anyway, so if someone here doesn't pipe in, I should know what it is this week sometime.

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Common chickweed? Do you agree?

http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/site/plants_19.asp?mode=main&catID=86

C'est bien!

 

[jkingler]

Sounds good. I will post more stuff as I photograph it.

 

[Yvonne G]

In the first picture, I see some hawksbeard (edible) and some oxalis (ok in moderation) mixed in with the grass.

The next pictures show chick weed (edible).

 

[HipsterTorts]

It's sow thistle, not hawksbeard. They're both edible, but there is clearly a difference.

 

[jkingler]

So the majority say it's sow thistle, and after checking The Tortoise Table, that looks about right to me (but what do I know? haha).

If so, that is awesome, so I'll spread it around the yard if so.

 

[Lulu]

Only us crazy tortoise keepers actually cultivate weeds.

I picked up some chickweed like it was sod and put it into an enclosure that I am getting ready in the hopes that it grows. There are some seed suppliers online - mostly herbalists.