Is this a weed or plant, what is it please?

Question

I live in Montana....I don't remember planting anything that resembles this plant and they showed up all over my yard, I think they may be a weed. Does anybody have any idea? they are a tall plant that sprung up quickly with kind of a bell shaped flower. Photo #2 Its a little fuzzy but you can see what it looks like at the top.

Kathleen R · Answer

It looks like a form of stokes aster/ or wild corn flower (still in aster family) I think!

TJ · Answer

I was answering your post and firefox crashed so in case you didn't see the answer. In looking in one of my Wildflower & Weeds books, it looks like it may be a weed in the Borage family, possibly a Hound's Tongue. Yours looks less weedy and a little different but it may be a start. Here is a website with pictures that I found: http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/animalsAndPlants/noxious-weeds/weed-identification/houndstongue.aspx. I am not an expert, just have tons of books, so I may be way off base but.I hope this helps.

TJ · Answer

I think these leaves are too big for an aster.

Mary Hill · Answer

I believe that is it...thank you so much..

Lawn Pro · Answer

And weed is defined as a plant you don't want a plant you do want

Evelyn McMullen · Answer

Whatever it is, it's pretty. If it was in my yard I'd keep it.

Caley's Culinaries · Answer

Yes.

Bonnie Lewenza · Answer

If it is hounds tongue you may want to get rid of it because it is toxic, especially if you have small children or pets around. Birds may have carried the seed and that's how it got where it is.

April E · Answer

this is hounds tongue Cynoglossum officinale there are a few different varieties of this weed/plant and no it isn't toxic to humans or dogs what it is toxic to is horses so unless it is where your possiable horses can get to it your ok it has narcotic properties their is a difference here is a excerpt from some of the herbal history of the plant it is a bit amusing 
 Herbalists use the plant as a treatment for piles, lung diseases and persistent coughs.[4] Houndstongue ointment is said to cure baldness and be used for sores and ulcers.[4] These uses are not supported by scientific evidence.[4] 
 In 1725, houndstooth was presented in the family dictionary, Dictionaire oeconomique, as part of a cure for madness.[5] In that book, madness was viewed as 'a distemper, not only of the understanding, but also of the reason and memory, proceeding from a cold, which drys up everything it meets with that is humid in the brain.'[5] To cure madness, Dictionaire oeconomique noted: 
 You must shave the head of the unhappy patient, and after that, apply to it a pidgeon, or a hen quite alive; or else bathe it with some brandy distilled with rosemary, elder, hounds tooth, and the roots of bugloss, or with the oyl of elder flowers: they rub their heads and wash their feet with a decoction of the flowers of camomile, melilot, balm gentle and laurel[disambiguation needed]; they put into their noses the juice of comfrey, with either two or three spoonfuls of honey-water, broth, or white-wine, wherein wormwood and sage are infus'd or else they do for five and twenty days together, mix with their broth in the morning, halt a dram of the allies of tortoise, and they put into the pot bugloss, borage, with a pinch of rosemary to season it.[5] 
 In the 1830s, houndstooth was known in France to be made into an emollient and diuretic for daily use in inflammatory diseases, especially of the urinary organs.[6] To prepare as a diuretic, the houndstooth leaves were mashed, and then boiled in water to extract oils, volatile organic compounds, and other chemical substances.[6] The mix could be sweetened with liquoriee to create Ptisan of Dog's-grass.[6] After decoction, the herbal tea was taken internally a cupful at a time.[6] In 1834, the Hospital of Paris provided a formula of 2/3 ss-J to Oij of water for houndstooth tea.[6] By the end of the 1830s, doctors in England were using houndstooth as an antiaphrodisiac to combat venereal excesses.[7]

Bonnie Lewenza · Answer

It is rather pretty in any case, it kind of reminded me sort of like irises. But a relative not the actual iris. Who would have known that it had medicinal purposes.

TJ · Answer

Hound's Tongue is considered an invasive or noxious weed in six US states as well as British Columbia and some other parts of Canada. It is reported to produce 2,000 to 10,000 seeds per plant. The toxicity of the plant is at least twofold. One is that ingesting it affects liver cells in mammals and can be fatal. Another problem is that it is reported to produce a chemical that can negatively affect surrounding plants, killing them or preventing growth. I think you should google it and read what is said on the web.

April E · Answer

I have googled it tj and yes to SOME mammals it is toxic (horses) I was speaking in terms of humans and dogs which it is not toxic to and many plants that are perfectly fine to grow in one place are invasive in another environment such as lantana which is a wonderful garden plant in Oklahoma it is highly invasive in more tropical climates or liatris which is also a good garden plant can go nuts in a boggy area. please remember ANYONE can have a website and post what they believe that doesn't make it fact. a great example is pointsettas most people believe they are poisonous and they are not they are a member of the euphorbia family and they extrude a sap that can be irritating to skin and mucous membranes but is not at all toxic to anyone except in a extreme case of allergy the flowers also extrude a nectar that is sweeter than honey (this IS total fact as I have consumed it myself on many occasions over the years) or neem oil the oil from the neem tree is used in many products quite a few of them are soaps and/or beauty products. however, neem oil is also a highly effective insecticide that is classified organic, but if you read the fda lable on the insecticed it is written as if the same product that is fda approved for the soap you showered with that morning is a deadly chemical, sorry for the rant just wanted to get this info out there

Redcatcec · Answer

This is a weed that is invasive.

Is this a weed or plant, what is it please?

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Is this a weed or plant, what is it please?

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