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heavensabound

Plant I.D. please

5 years ago

This plant has overwintered in my cattlepanel greenhouse in Zone 5B. It has been lush and green all winter. I thought I had properly i.d'd it as a wild mustard last spring so this past fall I cooked some up with some mustard greens but my husband & I thought they weren't all that good and didn't eat much of them. I assumed it was because of the summer heat. I think I should remove it from my greenhouse but I will relocate it if it's anything valuable. Thanks, marnie

Comments (20)

  • 5 years ago


    Mystery plants · More Info


    Mystery plants · More Info


  • 5 years ago

    Btw, the leaves will grow out HUGE during the summer. Growing over a foot long!

  • 5 years ago

    Perhaps Salvia lyrata? But I've never seen one in the flesh.

  • 5 years ago

    And do the leaves have a fragrance when rubbed?

  • 5 years ago

    I think what happened was...


    I DID properly identify it. Here the old photo of it.

    https://photos.app.goo.gl/FEJ9z56HYxzNHtzB7


    But then, unbeknownst to me, this mustard must have died back and this current one grew back in its place, making me think it was the same one!


    I'm kinda glad this happened tho because I just dug out a carrot that I planted in the fall & when I tasted it, it had no carrot flavor or smell! I instantly thought "Oh no! What if this is poison hemlock that self seeded, where I planted carrots."


    Since I did come across poison hemlock last year in my yard, and I try to over winter crops, this convinces me to only grow carrots that are deeply orange or purple. No more whitish, yellowish ones for me!


    I went out to see if there was a fragrance in the leaves... nothing! Smells like a plain old leaf, not even mildly scented at all. But I did get an updated photo. Those first ones are from about a month ago. Thanks everyone.


  • 5 years ago

    Looks much more like a Brassica than a Salvia.

  • 5 years ago

    Weird. I wrote a comment and posted more pictures. And I can still read it and see it on my phone but it doesn't show up here.... it was 2 hours ago!

  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    More pictures would be good. Can you try again?

    eta the picture has turned up. Thanks. Not S lyrata. You should get flowers soon.

  • 5 years ago

    Maybe Rumex crispus, Curly Dock.

  • 5 years ago

    Definitely a wild mustard, my yard is full of those (less and less each year as i have no need for it). They do not taste good and are really just a weed.

  • 5 years ago

    I'm not sure about the 'definitely'. Flowers will settle it. But it's not dock.

  • 5 years ago

    The OP has a link above to a picture with the flowers, it is wild mustard.

  • 5 years ago

    Very likely it is. But the picture shows last year's plant and the OP wanted verification this is the same plant as last year's.

    Normally it wouldn't matter but if the OP is considering eating it they need to be absolutely certain. Flowers from this plant will give that certainty.

  • 5 years ago

    Thank you everyone. Thank you for taking time to help me I.D this one.


    It is really frustrating that I already wrote out a lengthy "well thought out" response, thanking you all, with an updated photo and some thoughts .... only to NOT see it appear at all!!! Even weeks after I originally posted it!!


    I was hoping it would go through their filters and suddenly pop up (like a previous post did) but i have no idea where it went for now, hope it pops up still.


    Very frustrating Houzz!! I liked the old gardenweb platform much better.

  • 4 years ago

    RESOLUTION! Well, I had to let the dang thing grow 10 ft tall in the prime real estate of my Greenhouse; sucking up all the nutrients of my beautiful, enriched soil just to figure out what the heck it was! One clue was that I saw it growing along bike paths near my house. I should have just cut it out of my garden bed and watched to see what those along the bike path grew into but (dummy me) I just had to know for sure. The thing got ten feet tall before it flowered. Drum roll please....

    Mystery plants · More Info


    Mystery plants · More Info

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Dipsacus species. There are 3, all introduced and listed as noxious, invasive weeds. Teasle Can't see foliage well but maybe D. laciniatus?

  • 4 years ago

    Yep. Teasel it is!

    Good thing Teasel isn't toxic!

    Lessons learned.

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    They make great dried flower heads for arrangements. Thanks for coming back to us. It’s always interesting to wrap one up.

  • 4 years ago


    I'm just hoping I do not get a million volunteers from saving this arrangement LOL. Off course I would come back to you guys, thank you for acknowledging that. I couldn't wait to get back to you guys. A heart of a gardener, knows the heart of a gardener🍃

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