what weed is this?

[tinytorts]

hi,
dose anyone know what weed this is, i picked it near some stables among nettels there seemed to be alot of it , it was very easy to pick came straight out the ground, can tortoise eat this?

 

[Tom]

I'm no plant expert. That looks similar to something called elephant ear, which is on the toxic lists. As I said, I'm not sure, so I could be wrong. To be safe, I wouldn't feed any of it until you get a positive ID.

 

[Yvonne G]

I kind of looks like an arrowleaf. That would be a house plant here in California. I've never seen it growing outdoors:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arum

 

[FWishbringer]

That -looks- suspiciously like a species of the Philodendron genus to me (though its cut, which makes it harder to ID for me). Does it grow in single, small, terminal plants with their own root systems (would not be a Philodendron); or does it vine (most certainly is); or does it have small things that look like mini-plants coming up off a rope-like main root (quite likely is)?

From http://www.exoticrainforest.com which helps id Philodendrons...

All Philodendron sp. I know of are VERY toxic to cats, dogs, and children; and would assume the same for tortoises.

As a note about Philodendrons, they were introduced as houseplants here in Florida, but have become weeds in many many places. Our temps don't drop low enough to kill them, so they keep growing year round.