# Help ID Flower Bed Intruder! LARGE GIANT WEED/PLANT.



## Bazzgazm (Jun 28, 2012)

So this guy overran my flower bed.. but we were curious how big it could get... so we've been letting it go out of curiousity..

Wondering if you guys know what it is.


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## Malhavoc's (Jun 28, 2012)

Its just taking the soil it always should of had! long live your new overlord! with it shall come beer, bacon and poutine! so not all is lost.


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## catfishrod69 (Jun 28, 2012)

That would be a type of maple tree. Yep, its gonna get big. Better make sure to pull up the tap root when removing it.


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## Bazzgazm (Jun 28, 2012)

actually id'd as jimson weed, crazy stuff.... look it up.... definitely taking this down.


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## catfishrod69 (Jun 29, 2012)

Seriously? Looking pretty maple like to me. The leaves are a hair off, but maples have different patterns.


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## Formerphobe (Jun 29, 2012)

I was going to say castor bean... Castor or jimson, I'd take it down, too.  Definitely not maple.


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## Steven Valys (Jun 29, 2012)

how about a nice daytime photo to end the maple/ jimson debate


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## Stan Schultz (Jun 29, 2012)

catfishrod69 said:


> That would be a type of maple tree. Yep, its gonna get big. Better make sure to pull up the tap root when removing it.


Au contrare! The leaves of maple trees, and therefore also their branchlets, arise on the stem in "opposite" fashion, two at a time across from each other. The leaves on the mystery plant are decidedly "alternate," one arising from one side here, from the other side slightly farther up the stem. 

And, the stems look very herbaceous, not woody and no obvious bark.

It's not a maple.

---------- Post added 06-29-2012 at 05:38 PM ----------




Formerphobe said:


> I was going to say castor bean... Castor or jimson, I'd take it down, too.  Definitely not maple.


Not castor bean either. Compare the leaves with these *images*. I was thinking of *jimson weed* too, though.

If so, all parts of the plant are very toxic. You can keep it as a show & tell plant, but don't let anyone or anything (e.g., the family cat) eat any parts of it. See the *Wikipedia article*.

If you keep it long enough for it to flower, we would very much like to see what the flowers look like. Take lots of photos. We *LUVS* pichers! Be sure to post them to this thread so we can maintain the continuity.

OMG! Maybe it's a *triffid*? (One of my most favorite "creature features!")


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## pitbulllady (Jul 1, 2012)

This is Jimson Weed, very dangerous stuff, actually.  I've had to pull up and kill enough of this in the South to know what it is.  It's HIGHLY toxic and can be abused as a psychotic drug; think bath salts results.  Not something you want around at all.

pitbulllady


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## catfishrod69 (Jul 2, 2012)

Yes after i looked at the pic a little more i ruled out maple also. I do see these sometimes along road sides. Dont they have a white? fruit?





Pikaia said:


> Au contrare! The leaves of maple trees, and therefore also their branchlets, arise on the stem in "opposite" fashion, two at a time across from each other. The leaves on the mystery plant are decidedly "alternate," one arising from one side here, from the other side slightly farther up the stem.
> 
> And, the stems look very herbaceous, not woody and no obvious bark.
> 
> ...


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## SuperMommy (Jul 21, 2012)

I don't know where you are seeing alternate phylotaxy, I clearly see opposite branch and leaf pattern. It is a baby maple!


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## ZergFront (Jul 21, 2012)

Whatever maple your nearest neighbor has, I'd bet this one is an offspring of it. If it's a sugar maple, I'm jealous! LOL!


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## SuperMommy (Jul 21, 2012)

ZergFront said:


> Whatever maple your nearest neighbor has, I'd bet this one is an offspring of it. If it's a sugar maple, I'm jealous! LOL!


I second this!


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## Bazzgazm (Jul 21, 2012)

There is no arguement as this is definitely jimson, which is i didn't bother checking the thread for a few days... it was a red "herbacious" stem, and definitely some sort of weed....... I would have gotten a picture but it was gone the next day...


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## Arachninja (Jul 28, 2012)

As I am a horticultural science major I can vouch that this is not either Ricinus communis (castor bean) or a species of Datura ( jimson weed/ angels trumpets),  and as the stem does not look woody(are they) nor the leaves shaped like, or grow in the manner of Maple scratch that as well.  Nor is it a common weed, as I know that plant let me do some further research and I will figure it out.  And as for castor beans and jimson weed my yard is full of those and belladonna, all are nightshades and toxic but no animal of mine has ever eaten them, , so unless the cat is vegetarian dont worry, now they are awesome and I will mail you seeds if you want a absolute heat tolerant giant, ( my castor beans reach ten feat and the leaves are around a foot and a half across.  But so many plants are toxic just dont eat any if you are not absolutely certain.  Both have been used to make poisons, but the seeds are the culprit in all not the leaves.  Though some toxicity may be in the juices the fast death occurs from seeds and in the castor bean you must chew them for one to kill otherwise it usually would pass right through like a watermellon seed (dont try obviusly).  Dont worry though it is not one of these trust me.  now if their are spiky seed pods and white flowers it is possibly a nightshade as it does look similiar/ otherwise do not worry.


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## Stan Schultz (Jul 29, 2012)

Arachninja said:


> As I am a horticultural science major I can vouch that this is not either Ricinus communis (castor bean) or a species of Deterra ( jimsom weed/ angels trumpets), ...


The genus is _Datura_, and it's spelled Jimson weed. I hope you do better on your finals.

:biggrin:


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## Arachninja (Jul 29, 2012)

hehe yeah, thank god for multiple choice, this is the reason I could not be an english major, guess I should get the wife to proof read my posts like my papers.  Also if the keepers guide is online and it says something about "cracked" is that legal, I dont like pirating crap.


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## Stan Schultz (Jul 30, 2012)

Arachninja said:


> hehe yeah, thank god for multiple choice, this is the reason I could not be an english major, guess I should get the wife to proof read my posts like my papers.  Also if the keepers guide is online and it says something about "cracked" is that legal, I dont like pirating crap.


The only legal editions of the Tarantula Keeper's Guide series of books are the one printed paper edition (issued in both paperback and hard cover) published in 1984 by Sterling Publishing, and the two paperback, printed paper editions published by Barron's in 1998 and 2009. There are *NO* legal, electronic versions.

When we first signed the contract with Barron's, I insisted on a clause that also covered electronic versions in the royalty scheme. Barron's sort of laughed and said something to the effect of, "Sure. Why not?" That was in an era when no books had yet been published for Barnes & Noble's Nook or Amazon's Kindle formats. Indeed, neither those devices, nor iPads, nor a bunch of other electronics marvels even existed, even on paper. They were considered part of some wild science fiction story, something *Patrick Stewart* used on a movie set. I'm sure there's a lesson to be learned in there someplace. I'll let you figure it out!

I plan to lobby heavily in favor of publishing TKG4 in either or both Kindle and Nook formats, as long as they were in color because of the photos. That would effectively eliminate most constraints for the book's size (it wouldn't matter if it were 1,000 pages long, it would cost almost the same to publish), and would also allow much larger and many more photos, something enthusiasts have mentioned on several occasions.

As with most successful publishers, Barron's has proven to be exceedingly (one might almost say "excessively") conservative in their willingness to adopt new or progressive technologies and attitudes. About the only thing that's going to get them to change is for the competition to do so and give them a run for their money!

Enjoy your little, 8-legged, stick-in-the-mud publisher!


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