Is this a weed? Bees love it & I think it's pretty

16 years ago

Any guesses as to this volunteer in my "garden"?

I think it may have been seeds from the feeder which have germinated. It looks like heads of cabbage that send up a long shoot, on which is a grouping of yellow flowers. Along the stalk, under the flowers, are long skinny seed pods.

The bees absolutely love these flowers and that's why I've allowed it to take over in this area. It was not effected by the freeze whatsoever, and it's very tall.

Here are some pics:

Thanks in advance for any info or guesses,

Nat

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (10)

PRO
Jan Sword-Rossman Realty 239-470-6061
16 years ago
acoreana, it looks like some type of chinese cabbage or Bokchoy plant.
Jan
butterflygardener
16 years ago
Maybe~~~Indian Mustard or Leaf Mustard
Brassica juncea?
Kat
Related Discussions
For a possible weed, it's rather pretty
Q
Comments (2)
Carol, Thank you! I checked out the reviews at Dave's Garden (why is it even listed there?) and they scared me. "Invades like Attila the Hun." I've got enough noxious, invasive weeds already, so I'm going to remove that plant and its two friends this afternoon.
...See More
A Weed I like, so vibrant, lush, pretty
Q
Comments (25)
Surprised to see this stuff shooting up in March, like clover only comes up in big fluffy spirals. Is starting to flower now, yellow flowers, very pretty plant, looks much like upward spiraling clover until it flowers when the top leaves get more pointy than clover. Looked in my weed book and it is Lotus corniculatus, Bird's Foot Trefoil. "It is used in agriculture as a forage plant, grown for pasture, hay, and silage. Taller growing cultivars have been developed for this. It may be used as an alternative to alfalfa in poor soils. It has become an invasive species in some regions of North America and Australia. A double flowered variety is grown as an ornamental plant. The plant is an important nectar source for many insects and is also used as a larval food plant by many species of Lepidoptera such as Six-spot Burnet. It is regularly included as a component of wildflower mixes in Europe." "Birdsfoot trefoil is a perennial, fine-stemmed, leafy legume that has become of increased importance in American agriculture in recent years. Introduced by chance from Europe, strains selected in this country are now of major importance as pasture and hay crops. It is hardy and adapted to areas of ample moisture supply from the Ohio and Potomac Rivers north into Canada and west to the edge of the Great Plains, also in humid parts of the Pacific States. The leaves are sessile along the stems, each with 5 linear to oval leaflets. Stems are decumbent unless in fairly dense stands, reaching 20 to 40 or more inches in length. The plant has a deep, branched root system and tolerates both wet and moderately dry conditions. It is unusual among legumes in that it does not cause bloat in cattle. Both as pasture and as hay it is highly palatable and nutritious. Harvested seed increased 6-fold from 1949 to 1959, and in the latter year was sufflcient to plant about 300,000 acres, according to census data." Cool. Letting this one stay and grow, very pretty, blends in well with the strawberry clover. The slugs don't eat it!
...See More
Bees love it! What is it?
Q
Comments (8)
Yes, 'Arborescens' is a cultivar name implying it is based on a particular instance of a shrub being grown from cuttings of the adult condition of the typical plant. Of course, in practice various people may have rooted multiple different clones over the years and used the same name for these independent introductions. Giving even a forma name to ivy plants merely having reached sexual maturity seems technically incorrect as such naming is supposed to recognize genetic conditions (same as cultivar and species names) of sets of related plants rather than identify physical states of individual specimens. Although Hedera helix is also present here as a wild plant the conspicuous, dominating weed ivy infesting communities in the Pacific Northwest is actually Irish ivy (H. hibernica). This tends to produce larger leaves and the hairs on these leaves are different.
...See More
Weed pretty enough to grow indoors, what is it?
Q
Comments (9)
I have been growing scarlet pimpernel indoors since May. I found them growing in my yard when I was preparing the soil to do a rock garden around my patio in mid April. I did not know what they were but I thought the tiny bright orange flowers were beautiful. So I scooped them up with a lot of soil and popped them in a pot and they have been growing and blooming since then on a southwest facing window sill in my home in San Francisco. I just love the charming little flowers. I would probably not see them in the yard as they are so tiny. I plan on putting the pots outside when they go dormant and start watering them in the spring again when I'll bring them back inside.
...See More
manature
16 years ago
I did a long post on this last year. It does come from your birdseed, and it is a type of wild mustard. I will have to see if I can locate the post on it. I saved a whole bunch of seed from mine because I enjoyed it so much. The flowers are very pretty, and the silvery, cabbagey look of the leaves add a nice contrast to a mixed bed.

Marcia
manature
16 years ago
I can't find my original post in the archives, but we had a lot of guesses and I finally narrowed it down to what I thought it most resembled. I BELIEVE it was brassica rapa or wild turnip/mustard. But there are quite a few varieties and they cross pollinate, too, so you see some differences in leaves from pictures offered online. I know I marked my seed packs as wild mustard after much discussion and Googling.

I read that it is quite invasive in some parts of the country, but don't have any info to that effect for Florida. I plan to scatter some of the seeds in my beds as soon as I get them cleaned out.

Marcia
an_ill-mannered_ache
16 years ago
definitely brassica. collect the pods, let them dry in a shady, dry area with good circulation. each of those little pods will hold a dozen or so seeds.

they are probably quite edible, though spicy.
acoreana
Original Author
16 years ago
Thank you, thank you, thank you!

It looks very much like the chinese cabbage but then it also looks like the mustards, and from all the searches I've just run (with the all the helpful info given, thank you :) ) I can see how it was hard to nail down, Marcia. To my non-expert eyes the best match I've found is the "Brassica rapa L. (Chinensis group) Â BRASSICACEAE", which you believe yours to be as well.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who got this wonderful suprise and decided to go with it, lol.

So far it hasn't spread, just seems to clump right in that area. I'm definitely going to follow ill-mannered's instructions and try to dry some to plant next fall. Gosh, I hope it works. I want to spread it over to the "wild" corner of my yard where I let the weedy stuff take over for the butterflies enjoyment. I keep waiting for an HOA letter about that corner but it hasn't happened yet - I must have nice neighbors (crossing fingers & knocking on wood).

Thanks very much all! Your help is greatly appreciated.

Nat
manature
16 years ago
Nat, I know Ill's method is probably better, but I have to say that I just let the seed pods turn brown on the plant, and then collected them. They dried out nicely and I'm hoping they are viable.

The upside to doing it the way I did is that it is easier. The downside is that when you are collecting the dried pods, you find they split fairly easily and you can lose some seed to the ground.

Marcia
acoreana
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks, Marcia, I will try both ways as I'm not very confident about knowing when to pluck the pods.
manature
16 years ago
I waited until they were brown and dry, starting to pop open on their own, then picked as many as I could.

Good luck!
Marcia
thonotorose
16 years ago
I have seen this growing along roadsides in several areas of Central Florida. I thought it looked like a brassica, too. Now I know where it came from.

Is this a weed? Bees love it & I think it's pretty

Comments (10)

Jan Sword-Rossman Realty 239-470-6061

butterflygardener

Related Discussions

manature

manature

an_ill-mannered_ache

acoreana
Original Author

manature

acoreana
Original Author

manature

thonotorose

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Is this a weed? Bees love it & I think it's pretty

Comments (10)

Related Discussions

acoreanaOriginal Author

acoreanaOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

acoreana
Original Author

acoreana
Original Author