Plant ID Please

[silvergirl]

My dad NEVER TASTES ANY MEMBER THE CARROT FAMILY WITHOUT KNOWING EXACTLY WHAT IT IS.

I once horrified a collegue when we were doing some plant ID, he had found a plant which was a member of the carrot family and was struggling to identify it as it didn't exactly match any of the descriptions in his books.

I had a quick look, took a piece and stuck it in my mouth. I was 95% sure it was just cow parsley, but the look on his face was sheer horror and he kept expecting me to drop dead any moment. I could easily have been 5% wrong.

I now always think of that whenever I'm about to try something I'm not sure about.

Glad you surrvived.

 

[xylaria]

I once horrified a collegue when we were doing some plant ID, he had found a plant which was a member of the carrot family and was struggling to identify it as it didn't exactly match any of the descriptions in his books.

I had a quick look, took a piece and stuck it in my mouth. I was 95% sure it was just cow parsley, but the look on his face was sheer horror and he kept expecting me to drop dead any moment. I could easily have been 5% wrong.

I now always think of that whenever I'm about to try something I'm not sure about.

Glad you surrvived.

I don't taste any member of the carrot family ever. My dad has a way of aproaching plants and IDing them that I have only ever seen in some Irish people, it is very tactile. It took me years to work out it was a skill passed down from a seditious granny. Loz's original post reminded me of my dad's behaviour, of course I am not suggesting anything about his granny's past, but it is the type of thing he would do and say "well at least I know what to use if I want to burn someones tongue off ". The smell of the crushed leaves of both arum and poisonous carrots is quite distinctive and should warn against tasting.

The reason i don't like discussing taste testing is that it takes a lot instruction and wisdom. Quite a few people only read half a post, misunderstand that it is the type of thing that shouldn't really be done unless you already know a lot, and understand the risks involved. Like tasting and spitting out cowparsley when you are on dry soil that never floods, and it doesn't smell of mice is quite a good educated risk [I still wouldn't do it], but randomly eating plants is the root to a darwin award.

 

[loz.]

Guys !!!1


"2 years ago !

I thought this was forgotten ! -

 

[silvergirl]

Sorry Loz, I hadn't seen the original date
But I'm sure a fair few of us have been there.

I have real difficulty ID'ing plants or anything else for that matter from a book. I need to Know the plant, in the flesh as it were, the way it feels, smells, the way it catches the breeze, what other plants it hangs about with.
Of course that means I really need someone there to tell me its a 'whatever' so I can then go and read up more about it.

That time of year again though lots of stuff coming up that I haven't seen since this time last year.