Soft ragwort

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teasle

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Does anyone know anything about the soft ragwort. It is later to grow and flower than the ordinary ragwort. Does it still grow from rosettes?
 
Its just different and later than the ordinary ragwort, It feels a softer plant, the little plants are whispy.
 
Soft ragwort??
There are about seven types of ragwort, non of them i would call soft.
But, late growing plants due to the weather (wet and warm) have started to come through and probably wont actually flower, this year, will probably be just your bog standered nasty ragwort.
 
Are the leaves the same shape and colour? or are they narrower and taller? How big is the plant overall? Are the leaves smooth or hairy? Are they dark or light green?
Try to describe the plant to us
 
Not St Johns Wort I can recognise that. The plant is limper than the ordinary ragwort. That is what I think I mean by soft. Though some of it is quite tall and firm, but a lot of itis thin and whispy. It stands upright, but is bendier than the ordinary ragwort.
 
Could also be new plants that have germinated this year, maybe is stretching through long grass so is longer and floppier? Also, I have known old roots produce thin offshoots, weaker than the main plant that was pulled up, leaving the roots in the soil?
Where is it growing? Describe the colour and the texture of the leaves.
 
teasle said:
Not St Johns Wort I can recognise that. The plant is limper than the ordinary ragwort. That is what I think I mean by soft. Though some of it is quite tall and firm, but a lot of itis thin and whispy. It stands upright, but is bendier than the ordinary ragwort.
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To me it sounds like a young plant that has been forced by the weather.
The older the plant the more woody it is, so a younger plant forced to flower would be a bit "softer" if you like.
 
Its definately ragwort, maybe it is Oxford ragwort. It is there in abundance in one field at the farm where i keep my horse and a litle bit in a few other fields. It is the same every year definately a different species to the ordinary ragwort.
 
I've heard that not all types of ragwort are poisonous to livestock, so it maybe harmless. Certainly only one variety of ragwort is listed as an injurious weed in the 1959 Weeds Act.
 
Hard to identify without pics, friend of mine had someone tell her that Cow parsley was giant hogweed just by being descriptive, the photos told a hugely different story so take some and post them if you can.
 
Went to bed with a book on wild flowers. I am prety sure it is Oxford Ragwort. That describes it well. the stems split, and it is smaller than ordinary ragwort. But I want to know if it still grows from resettes. Where I am pulling it the grass is long and I cant see if there are any resettes or not. Also would like to know if it is as poisonous as the ordinary sort.
 
If it's ragwort then I'd treat it as poisonous, but why not ring Kew or similar and check? If you can't see if there are rosettes then maybe get down on your knees and part the grass with your hands to have a look.
I think the ragwort I dig sometimes comes back tall and weedy later in the year, but I'm not 100% sure it's the same plants of course.
 
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