# Survival > Foraging & Wild Edibles >  plant identification help

## oneraindog

please forgive me for the poor quality of some of these photos. im generally not this bad of a photographer but i was using the camera on my phone which is pretty hard so the focus and depth of field will be sort of shoddy. im also finding that plants can be hard to take good pics of when the background looks the same as the foreground  :Smile:   (mental note: bring backdrop)

im trying to reference them elsewhere but just thought id try and tap all the resources i could
thanks for any help you  can offer.


#1
i am 99.99999999% sure this is mullein. can anyone help confirm this?

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#2
total unknown

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#3
ive got some guesses on this one but im not sure enough about any of them

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#4
this one has a couple in it. the low laying, spread out weed and the plant egg shaped leaves and small white flower

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#5
total unknown

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#6
im wondering about the yellow flowers which i think are attached to the simple toothed leaves

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#7
any ideas?

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#8
im pretty sure this is the same as the plant in an earlier picture with the other small leafed flowering plant. is it chicory? too low for prickle lettuce...

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#9
this one was the hardest to get a good shot of. im wondering about the plant that is closest to the camera

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#10
a berry of some sort?? 

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#11
another berry?

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#12
another gross photo sorry. i wondering about the plants with the long tall stalks that have the white flowers at the ends.

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#13
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#14
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thanks for taking the time to look through all of this

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## COWBOYSURVIVAL

Back in the early 80's as a Royal Ambassador for Christ (Baptist Boy Scouts) I learned that the plant in pic#1 is Natures Toilet Paper. Works Great!

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## Chris

I would call #1 lambs ear, maybe I'm wrong, maybe that is a common name.

#7 looks like a parsely family to me, not parsely, but a relative (carrot etc).

#5 looks like japanese knotweed, incredibly noxious weed. But edible I hear. Also called false bamboo by people who don't know what real bamboo looks like. 

#4 is either spurge, an edible, or the spurge-lookalike that is poisonous whose name escapes me. Thanks to Rick I've learned that spurge does not have white sap when broken, so break that, and if the sap is clear, it is spurge. Good for salads. 

#3 looks like young thistle to me.

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## Chris

looks like you were right on 1

http://plant-species.suite101.com/ar...bascum_thapsus

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## laughingbeetle

Great photos, even with your camera being your phone.

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## COWBOYSURVIVAL

Check both sides of the leaf in 1 if your gonna eat it!

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## Rick

#1 - I agree. I think it's Mullein. I'd like to see the flower stalk when it pops out but I think it is. 

#2 - Looks like Shepherd's Purse

#3 - Prickly Lettuce.

#4 - The smaller stuff might be Mountain Watercress but I'm no expert on it. The big one might be Chicory but I need to see the flowers and know if the sap is a milky white. 

#5 - I'm going to say Japanese Knotweed but the joints don't look quite right.

#6 - Marsh Marigold or Cowslip (same plant)

#7 - I have no idea. 

I'll look at these some more tomorrow.

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## Rick

Chris - I think you are thinking of Purslane. Purslane has yellow flowers but the sap is clear. That's some good stuff. I spread a bunch of Purslane seed all over my property last year in hopes it will come up.

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## oneraindog

> Check both sides of the leaf in 1 if your gonna eat it!


check both sides for what? poo? haha
but seriously. what am i looking for?

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## oneraindog

thanks everyone for the feedback. this is great.

and i fixed #13 sorry

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## lanahi

> thanks everyone for the feedback. this is great.
> 
> and i fixed #13 sorry


The pictures are taking too long to download on dial-up, so I haven't seen all of them,  but:

#13 might be dock.

1.  Mullein if it is fuzzy on both sides of the leaf.
2.  Shepherd's purse
3.  prickly lettuce

#5 is Japanese knotweed.  It makes an excellent "rhubarb pie" when the shoots are very young...almost indistinguishable from the real thing in both taste and texture.

I'll take another look at the others later.

#6 may be a violet.  I thought all violets had violet colored flowers, but I looked in a book and saw two that had those types of leaves and the exact looking yellow flower:  Redwood violet and goosefoot violet.  The leaves seemed shinier in the book, though, so I don't know.

#14 may be False Lily of the Valley

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## gryffynklm

I haven't identified anything yet, but I did come across this on line field guide. If someone had posted somewhere else I apologize for posting again. It looks like it would be a good resource. 

http://www.enature.com/home/indexNew.asp

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## Chris

> Chris - I think you are thinking of Purslane. Purslane has yellow flowers but the sap is clear. That's some good stuff. I spread a bunch of Purslane seed all over my property last year in hopes it will come up.


Right... purslane is the good one with clear sap. spurge is the bad one with white sap.

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## COWBOYSURVIVAL

> check both sides for what? poo? haha
> but seriously. what am i looking for?


Seriously - key in "natures toilet paper" in your browser. Your pic #1 is Mullein and it is great for wiping your butt. Not a pretty part of survival butt if you don't know what to use, you better bring some Preperation H in your bag of tricks.

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## snakeman

Although mullein is soft, I have heard that is causes a rash. I don't know if it is true but I wouldn't want a rash down there if I could avoid it.

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## lanahi

> Although mullein is soft, I have heard that is causes a rash. I don't know if it is true but I wouldn't want a rash down there if I could avoid it.


I've never gotten a rash from it and haven't heard that before...if it was really mullein!  On the other hand, some people are allergic to odd things including maybe that.

The seed stalk sent up in older plants with the yellow flowers produce seeds that when crushed can be thrown in a still pond.  Any fish there would be momentarily paralyzed and rise to the surface where they can be quickly scooped up.  (The paralysis doesn't last long). They are safe to eat.  Haven't tried it, though.

Mullein is also an important medicinal plant for lung congestion.

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## snakeman

Mullein is a pharmacy! Tea can be for congestion or coughs, and the flowers make a stronger tea. You inhale to vapors from the tea. You can also smoke it for the same reason. I got that from Tom Browns field guide to edible and medicinal plants. Great book to have but it is not good for identification. It has no pictures. For ID, peterson guides are best.

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## lanahi

> Mullein is a pharmacy! Tea can be for congestion or coughs, and the flowers make a stronger tea. You inhale to vapors from the tea. You can also smoke it for the same reason. I got that from Tom Browns field guide to edible and medicinal plants. Great book to have but it is not good for identification. It has no pictures. For ID, peterson guides are best.


I like Tom Brown's skills books and also Euell Gibbons.  Neither are good for identification, like you say, but they are both inspirational and educational.  I have more than one field guide, Peterson's being one of them.  I have a few just for more local or regional edible plants as well.

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## Rick

> You can also smoke it for the same reason.


Is it me or does it seem a bit counter intuitive to smoke anything for lung congestion? Or for any reason for that matter.

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## crashdive123

It's just you. *cough, cough, cough*  Well, OK - maybe it's not just you.

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## Stairman

#2 is definetly Shepherds purse, #3 is a wild lettuce of some sort. #4 is not Purslane. I have it growing here and eat it everyday.Flowers are red, white, orange and yellow. I am pretty positive thats not it from the pic. Others Id have to cross reference from my books to know.

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## oneraindog

> Is it me or does it seem a bit counter intuitive to smoke anything for lung congestion? Or for any reason for that matter.


what crash said....

but seriously if your just smoking it a few times to induce a productive cough it makes sense. its habitual smoking of anything that is incredibly counter productive.

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## LowKey

#1 most probably mullein
#2 shepherds purse
#3 Could be a thistle, could be chicory - too small to tell
#4 Crown of leaves could be Hawkweed (Hieracium sp) 
#4 Procumbent weed, not sure. The leaves look too leathery/hairy for a spurge. Are the stems woody or weedy? Need to see the flowers better, especially the stamens and the calyx (underside)
#5 Japanese Knotweed (_Polygonum sp_)
#6 _Viola rotundifolia_
#7 Not sure. Looks like a fairly common weed we have here related to _Geum sp._
#8 Again maybe Hawkweed
#9 Is that a shrub? The stems have wings similar to Burning Bush
#10 Is that a native? The flowers look to be a Hibiscus/mallow of some kind but the leaves are not native for a Mallow family flower.
#11 Looks like a young _Rubus odoratus_ but could also be a number of other things. Need flowers.
#12 Need a better picture. (edit, had to break out the keys, it's coming up as Cuckooflower, a relative of watercress. Not sure you want to eat it though. Are the stem leaves long and narrow, different from the lobed basal leaves?)
#13 99.9% certain this one is _Digitalis_ (deadly)
#14 _Maianthemum canadense_

Thanks for the workout. Skills are rusty.

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## Rick

The problem with posting just one season of a plant is that it's often hard to identify it. Many plants look alike until you see the flowers or seed pods or if you look at the roots. I understand what you are trying to do but just seeing a part of a plant makes it difficult to name it.

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## LowKey

You can pretty much identify almost any Northern tier US plant from flowers and leaves – except for grasses and the Cruciferae (mustards). Be darn careful with your Carrot family plants.

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## Rick

I agree but my point in the pics above is so few have flowers...only leaves and stems.

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## LowKey

The trick with plants is they grow so slow, then flower and die before you can figure them out. Collect some seed. Grow some in your yard. Let the lawn go native rather than kill everything with leaves wider than a blade of grass. Go for walks through meadows and marginal forests every couple of weeks and bring a key every time. It's amazing what you'll learn. When you can get it down even to what characteristics a plant family has, that helps you when you are in not-so-native territory. Helps, but never to be relied upon if you plan on eating something...Looks can be deceiving. But I don't want to teach a Grandfather how to suck eggs either...sorry if I offend. I'm still new here.

I used to TA a keying class taught in the spring and the fall. I always argued with my profs that the kids in the Botany major should need to take both to learn the plants in all seasons. They said the course was to learn to use the keys. Phooey. Plants beat books any day.  :Big Grin: 

I have a key I used when I did wetland mapping in New England. _Weeds in Winter_ by Lauren Brown. You'd be amazed how far you can key some relatively common indicator plants even in winter.

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## Northgirl

1 I think 1 is mullein as said before, should be fuzzy, taller and kind of grayish later with yellow flowers,  I used it in the Rocky mountains for TP.  Worked great and no rash.
2 Shepherds purse
3 looks like a thistle.
5 sure looks like Japanese knot weed, I had it in a yard once.  I swear you could haul every last root and the stuff would magically reappear.  Don't bring this one to your yard!
6 The flower doesn't look like marigold to me, looks far more like yellow violet.
14  I also agree that this one looks like _Maianthemum Canadense_ or the wild lily of the valley family.

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## Miro313

I just joined 7/10/09 and found all your photos of the wild plants you need to ID.  
I can positively ID photo #2 common name pepper grass, it grows just about anywhere and is very invasive.  The heart shaped pods are edible and very tasty.  They taste a little like black pepper just not as strong and are great to cook with.  I add it to soups and meats myself.

#6 looks like a wild violet that I have only seen one other time in the deep woods of east Texas growing in a slightly swampy area.

Miro313

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## crashdive123

Hey Miro313 - glad to have you around.  When you get a chance forage your way on over to the Introduction Section and let us know a bit about yourself.  Thanks.  http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...splay.php?f=14

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## preachtheWORD

1 - Probably *mullein*, but it is usually "fuzzy-er"

2 - *Shepherd's Purse*.  The little "purses" give it away.

3 - Maybe young *Sow Thistle* or some kind of wild lettuce.

4 - the one with white flowers is possibly *Trailing Arbutus*?

5 - *Japanese Knotweed*.  Pretty sure on this.

6 - probably a type of *Violet*.  They more often have blue-purple flowers, though.


8 - some kind of *Wild Lettuce*?


13 - possibly very young *Burdock*

14 - perhaps very young *Pickerelweed* or *Water Hyacinth*?

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## toughsord

2.growing in city. dont know what it is but i wouldnt eat it even if it were edible

3.looks like thistle but might be prickle lettuce

4.looks like a deorative flower

8.doesnt look like it has prickles like the previos one. perhaps an imitation species

9.its pretty out of focus. try picking it and taking a picture.

10.looks like raspberry but i dont recognize the flower. maybe it is a different species or another imitaiton

11.looks like another decorative

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## Tundrascout

Just picked up a copy of "Discovering Wild Plants" by Janice J. Schofield and looked some of these up.  From what I can tell:
#2 Sheperds purse
#6 violet
#7 Alum root
#11 goose or thimble berry

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## pocomoonskyeyes

> Right... purslane is the good one with clear sap. spurge is the bad one with white sap.


If you are referring to Spurge Nettle _Cnidoscolus stimulosus_ you are passing up an Edible plant (p.32 Peterson field guides Edible Wild Plants). I have ate spurge nettle roots years ago and they are good I promise. If you mean some other plant I apologize.However none of these plants are Spurge Nettle.

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## Rick

Poco - That's not it. He's referring to spotted spurge, which could be confused with purslane. There is quite a bit of difference between them actually. But if it was your first time looking for purslane you could make the mistake. Here is spotted spurge.

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Here is purslane...

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## pocomoonskyeyes

AHA! now I see said the blind man. there was one plant that resembled spurge nettle kinda', and that is what I thought he was referring to

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## your_comforting_company

I've been growing mullein around my house for about 5 years. Makes excellent tp as does mullberry leaves  :Wink:  the mullein I grow has much longer leaves, and it's a biennial so it wont have a flower stalk until the second year. You dont necessarily have to smoke it for asthma and cough as much as just be near some thats burning (i.e. a healing tent). My grandmother introduced me to this plant and I like to think I have an intimate image in my mind but there are regional variances in pretty much all plants. If it gets a tall cluster of yellow flowers next year, make sure you save the seeds and spread them. save the woody stalk after you strip the leaves off also as it's really good for friction fire. its one of the 'miracles of nature'. The rest, i'm much to amateur to even guess. without flowers and a key, i'm useless.

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## Rick

I grow Charmin around my house. It makes an excellent TP, too.....just sayin'......

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