Do you know what these plants are & if safe in Hay?

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HelsB

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Fillowing on from my Hay Making post:

Can anyone help with what these are:

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& are they safe in hay ?
 
The top one is birds foot trefoil - not poisonous.

The second - I am not sure could it be mare's tail - if so I think this is poisonous.

The third and fourth I think are just sorrel. I get it in my hay and the horses just leave it.
 
1st one is a trefoil of some kind, perfectly harmless, third one is sorrel, which is a bit like dock. Second one is not mare's tail but I don't know what it is - it looks downey and slightly fleshy almost like a garden herb of some kind. Any better pics of the second one? How long are the leaflets? Is it hairy all oevr or just underside of leaves?
 
tHANKS aLL,

SpottedCat I will go and find more details on it this evening. If any help it is almost as tall as me! Think it's going to need pulling but would really like to know exactly what it is to see just how careful I should be!

I would live a book that shows all UK plants / weeds and their affects on horses, ie whether poisonous, good for them (& why) or no affect. Have looked on Amazon etc and can't find one, so if anyone knpws of a good one please let me know
 
HelsB - the problem with most books like that is that they are no good for identifying plants - you'd be better off investing in a copy of Rose, learning to use the ID key then googling the plants afterwards to see if they are poisonous IYSWIM. I have several botany books and some of them have plants wrongly IDed in them etc. The Rose book is by Francis Rose and called The Wild Flower Key - but it is a technical botany book and you will need to learn how to accurately use the key for it to be of any help to you! Sorry, that sounds really negative, I'm not implying you couldn't do it, just that it is harder than you might think - I do it for a living and still am not brilliant with plant ID.
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HelsB - the problem with most books like that is that they are no good for identifying plants - you'd be better off investing in a copy of Rose, learning to use the ID key then googling the plants afterwards to see if they are poisonous IYSWIM. I have several botany books and some of them have plants wrongly IDed in them etc. The Rose book is by Francis Rose and called The Wild Flower Key - but it is a technical botany book and you will need to learn how to accurately use the key for it to be of any help to you! Sorry, that sounds really negative, I'm not implying you couldn't do it, just that it is harder than you might think - I do it for a living and still am not brilliant with plant ID.
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I'm scared now.....do you want to come and practice your plant ID in my little field in Suffolk ???
 
Helen I have the first and third plants in my field, actually No 1 is everywhere and the boys are still fine after eating it for the past three years.

I also have a very pretty mauve flowered plant - again they are still live and kicking so don't think it is a problem.
 
Thanks T but this is for hay, total different ballgame, not my field but one which I have been given permission to take the hay of and now I'm scared
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Another good book for identifying wild plants is 'The Concise British Flora in Colour' by Keble Martin.
My husband went to agricultural college and this was a 'must'.
 
All but the second one are in a field we make hay in and we have never had any problems. The last one goes very dry and spikey and is usually left.
 
The second looks like knapweed to me. It will have a puple flower like a thistle and is perfectly safe, we have it in our hayfields in the poorer areas as it likes an unfertile soil.
 
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The second looks like knapweed to me. It will have a puple flower like a thistle and is perfectly safe, we have it in our hayfields in the poorer areas as it likes an unfertile soil.

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I'm not sure it is Zizz - knapweed has very 'dagger' shaped leaves and isn't generally downey - this looks like it has much straighter leaves and a coevring of fine downy white hair.

Of course if it is knapweed it is totally safe and my horse loves it in hay!
 
in that case i would hazzard a guess at either rough hawkbit or maybe field scabious but some more photos would help. Is it flowering at all that is when they are easiest to identify!
 
We have Mare's tail - in the garden not on the pasture thankfully - very poisonous I believe. The second picture doesnt look like it though. It has (soft)needle like leaves -
 
More pics - sorry lots of them!

You would have laughed seeing me this morning I went in the field and got totally soaked right up to waist height in the long grass!!

Couldn't find the one I photographed before, but found another the same which is like a bush! See pics

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Sorry none in flower yet
 
LOL at you on a mission stalking the weeds in your field !
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I think those photo's show wild chrysthanamum (not sure how you spell that !) does it have a strong smell if you crush the leaves or stem? Have seen it in straw bales - the cattle don't eat it as it's bitter.
Sure it's not harmful, but can check with OH when he gets back in , he's an arable farmer so should know.
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LOL at you on a mission stalking the weeds in your field !
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I does it have a strong smell if you crush the leaves or stem?
Sure it's not harmful, but can check with OH when he gets back in , he's an arable farmer so should know.
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Now I know you think I am mad 'staking weeds' but not so mad that I have brought it into the office (at work) to sniff!! LOL!!

Yes please....

I did buy some books yesterday that I found in a second hand shop I passed! Will look up all of the suggestions from this thread to see if I can identify!

My OH thinks I am crazy (is he right?) and we should just pull them but I do want to know!!
 
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Consensus in the office is it looks like it could be Mugwort.

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Yes! Just looked it up on the site mentioned above and it certainly looks very much like that!

Is it poisonous?

Thankyou thankyou thankyou spotted cat & colleagues!! xx
 
Not sure - quick google indicates it probably isn't good for them in large quantities....but nothing definitive, all the sites referring to it are a bit dippy hippy!
 
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