Looking for Spring weeds in Southern California; picture heavy!

RosemaryDW

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2016
Messages
4,144
Location (City and/or State)
Newport Coast, CA
In preparation for our tortoise coming out of hibernation, I went out to find and photograph some safe weeds you might find for your own tortoise. I’m in a naturally dry, scrubby spot in California and there hasn’t been much rain here so it’s slim pickings. Even worse, my community association has already mowed some of our open areas, perhaps looking to prevent wildfires next fall? But look close enough and you’ll find something. While I eventually found weeds close by, the photo ops weren’t very good. As a result, I took some ID pictures near curbs and other areas. Rest assured I do not feed my tortoise anything that grows next to a parked car!

I’ll start with some of the easiest ones to find in my area, the dandelion and chicory relatives. These tend to be obvious, as they are large plants with yellow leaves. But which is which?

I’ll start with spiny sow thistle; you can see where it gets its name; it looks very prickly. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt you or your tortoise.

50DA50D5-677C-4B8F-89E6-BFE43554350E.jpeg

92D5547F-B69B-4DEC-AA4B-0DF612B6B785.jpeg

I couldn’t find a good spot for a photo op so here is a very healthy smooth sow thistle next to a neighbor’s house. It’s got a red/purple stem, like the spiny thistle but the leaves are very different, they take on an arrowhead shape as they grow and don’t have such pointy edges. Take a look at the many flower buds getting ready to bloom. It’s not like dandelion, which has only a single flower head per stem.

66F3E385-DF4B-4689-94B6-92CC878CE8BB.jpeg

Finally, the most common chicory around here: bristly ox tongue. It tends to be the bushiest of the three and here already has multiple large yellow flowers. Its most distinct feature are hairy litle bumps are over the leaves. The hairs cause the leaves to stick to your clothes.
F487D4FD-C233-470B-88F9-8E1CC25363BB.jpeg

A41622ED-27B3-41D8-91A4-681DB28FE289.jpeg

Here are all three together:

5F744BAD-3E17-4DB5-B2EF-5BA85A2FA6CA.jpeg

You might confuse ox tongue with wild sunflower but sunflowers have obvious brown centers, unlike ox tongue’s all yellow ones. Sunflower is edible as well, if you’d like to pick some.

4798CBAF-520F-404C-B240-D67B42379D51.jpeg

Wild fennel is beginning to show at the root line of old plants that died back the prior year. My tortoise occasionally takes a bite; I take a bit. Fennel gets much larger going into the summer; you might recognize it fully grown, as in the second picture.

9CDFEB9F-0F84-4C7D-9DDB-274EB93F8BD3.jpeg

E6ED51DF-4CF3-4573-B94A-CF69176F1E9D.jpeg

Here is a wild mustard that is beginning to reach full height. Like all the brassicas it has a four-petaled flower. It gets more bitter as the season progresses but my tortoise is very fond of it when she wakes up.

9FF5BC53-67A2-418D-954F-55809B5022CB.jpeg 3E9EC3EA-A7E4-4210-B1AA-2C5D2B373D38.jpeg C3DC2E88-4442-46AC-88D4-18308A20A0CF.jpeg

If you’re in California like me, you’ll likely find some cactus. You can pick it yourself if your brave but since you are in California, you can just buy the peeled stuff at the grocery store or just grow some of the kind without spines.

D26B736B-9FBB-4F5C-8671-289D60D8D4E6.jpeg

In another field I look at some low growing weeds. What on earth are you supposed to make of this? It all looks the same: green!

C83C359F-2B6D-430A-8C1D-9B278641A859.jpeg

But looking closer I see one plant sticking a little higher up, it’s young prickly lettuce. This plant develop longer, thicker stems and leaves as it grows several foot tall; but the leaves will stay the same, with their distinctive shape. This one is also popular with my Russian in the spring; later on it gets too bitter even for her.

25513BE9-A9F5-4723-9F45-4DAE99C94CAE.jpeg

794D443F-B21B-454A-AE66-A2C538F27C55.jpeg

Some of the other plants in the photo look like clover but which one is it? Trick question! There are two clovers here! The first one is burr clover. It has delicate clover leaves, very small yellow flowers and, if you look closely, plenty of the sticky burrs that give it its name. When I pull some out you can see how the plants have grown out of the burrs that later developed into dry brown seed pods.

1F9967A3-B5DD-47D1-9017-E706BE043B71.jpeg

BDFC73E4-A40B-4240-8EC4-0BF09540F2C8.jpeg

ED89B78A-B641-41E4-BBDF-B5EE664E17B6.jpeg

Harder to spot in this patch is sweet clover. It’s not the easiest thing to see at first but these clovers grow longer and taller than burr clover, with thicker stems. Their three petaled leaves are much larger and the plants eventually throw off long yellow flower sprays.

E0EE3107-D446-4783-8537-8F4D4EBD36FD.jpeg

6B2485E4-BFA0-4B06-9821-D17314A9AB1E.jpeg

Sweet clover is a plant not everyone agrees on. It’s a do not feed in the Tortoise Table as it can be dangerous to cattle. Some experienced users feed it, knowing that tortoises and cows process food differently; I offer a little each year. You should know what to look for, whether you want to intentionally pick it or avoid it altogether.

I find another low mat of plants. These frilly leaves and purple flowers are filaree; safe.

5A6A3675-A299-4AD5-9C54-3C09BBCDE951.jpeg

8F29CDFE-6D14-4483-8739-BA290E259D99.jpeg

I look at another lump of green and spot some wild geranium, with its delicate round leaves.

3881E7E2-0F8B-4973-ACD8-1C7D8283B409.jpeg C75094DD-5979-4272-83E6-D4A3D211F0AA.jpeg

Finally growing into mounds is mallow. There is just about always mallow! Early in the year my Russian enjoys the plant’s immature seed pods; I believe she uses them as a protein source.

8FE5CA27-4FDA-419B-9F0A-D6F88672E20D.jpeg

7808306C-9E48-4AB4-87FF-AF544DF18ABC.jpeg

What weeds are you finding this spring?
 

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Tom

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I feed all of those except the wild geranium. The wild mustard keeps growing the longest and into the beginning of summer. The mallow is my favorite, but it dries up and dies early in spring. I seldom get any past April.
 

RosemaryDW

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5 Year Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2016
Messages
4,144
Location (City and/or State)
Newport Coast, CA
I feed all of those except the wild geranium. The .

I offer it but the Russian never takes more than a bite. It’s interesting that the weeds she prefers are all non native plant invaders from Eurasia, where she is from. She eats all the chicories and mustards but has no love for filaree or geranium. Not much interested in clover either.You eat what you grew up with!

I keep offering them in the spring though, hoping she’ll be hungry enough to try them.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,265
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
I offer it but the Russian never takes more than a bite. It’s interesting that the weeds she prefers are all non native plant invaders from Eurasia, where she is from. She eats all the chicories and mustards but has no love for filaree or geranium. Not much interested in clover either.You eat what you grew up with!

I keep offering them in the spring though, hoping she’ll be hungry enough to try them.
We just don't have the wild geranium here. I've offered "regular" geranium, and they aren't too interested in it.

Mine all eat the fillaree when its mixed in with other stuff, but mallow is a winter staple and favorite of all my tortoises. I feed out piles and piles of the stuff.
 

chemprentice

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5 Year Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2017
Messages
253
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California (OC)
Lucky! Although I also find my weeds in SoCal, I don't get nearly as much variety as you do - just the dandelion, catsear, kidney weed, filaree, mallow (occasionally), and sow thistle.
 

RosemaryDW

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2016
Messages
4,144
Location (City and/or State)
Newport Coast, CA
Lucky! Although I also find my weeds in SoCal, I don't get nearly as much variety as you do - just the dandelion, catsear, kidney weed, filaree, mallow (occasionally), and sow thistle.

You really just started looking; you’ll find more~
 

Greenjeans13

New Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2018
Messages
3
Location (City and/or State)
Eureka California
In preparation for our tortoise coming out of hibernation, I went out to find and photograph some safe weeds you might find for your own tortoise. I’m in a naturally dry, scrubby spot in California and there hasn’t been much rain here so it’s slim pickings. Even worse, my community association has already mowed some of our open areas, perhaps looking to prevent wildfires next fall? But look close enough and you’ll find something. While I eventually found weeds close by, the photo ops weren’t very good. As a result, I took some ID pictures near curbs and other areas. Rest assured I do not feed my tortoise anything that grows next to a parked car!

I’ll start with some of the easiest ones to find in my area, the dandelion and chicory relatives. These tend to be obvious, as they are large plants with yellow leaves. But which is which?

I’ll start with spiny sow thistle; you can see where it gets its name; it looks very prickly. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt you or your tortoise.

View attachment 232392

View attachment 232394

I couldn’t find a good spot for a photo op so here is a very healthy smooth sow thistle next to a neighbor’s house. It’s got a red/purple stem, like the spiny thistle but the leaves are very different, they take on an arrowhead shape as they grow and don’t have such pointy edges. Take a look at the many flower buds getting ready to bloom. It’s not like dandelion, which has only a single flower head per stem.

View attachment 232425

Finally, the most common chicory around here: bristly ox tongue. It tends to be the bushiest of the three and here already has multiple large yellow flowers. Its most distinct feature are hairy litle bumps are over the leaves. The hairs cause the leaves to stick to your clothes.
View attachment 232426

View attachment 232396

Here are all three together:

View attachment 232423

You might confuse ox tongue with wild sunflower but sunflowers have obvious brown centers, unlike ox tongue’s all yellow ones. Sunflower is edible as well, if you’d like to pick some.

View attachment 232397

Wild fennel is beginning to show at the root line of old plants that died back the prior year. My tortoise occasionally takes a bite; I take a bit. Fennel gets much larger going into the summer; you might recognize it fully grown, as in the second picture.

View attachment 232398

View attachment 232399

Here is a wild mustard that is beginning to reach full height. Like all the brassicas it has a four-petaled flower. It gets more bitter as the season progresses but my tortoise is very fond of it when she wakes up.

View attachment 232400 View attachment 232401 View attachment 232402

If you’re in California like me, you’ll likely find some cactus. You can pick it yourself if your brave but since you are in California, you can just buy the peeled stuff at the grocery store or just grow some of the kind without spines.

View attachment 232403

In another field I look at some low growing weeds. What on earth are you supposed to make of this? It all looks the same: green!

View attachment 232404

But looking closer I see one plant sticking a little higher up, it’s young prickly lettuce. This plant develop longer, thicker stems and leaves as it grows several foot tall; but the leaves will stay the same, with their distinctive shape. This one is also popular with my Russian in the spring; later on it gets too bitter even for her.

View attachment 232405

View attachment 232407

Some of the other plants in the photo look like clover but which one is it? Trick question! There are two clovers here! The first one is burr clover. It has delicate clover leaves, very small yellow flowers and, if you look closely, plenty of the sticky burrs that give it its name. When I pull some out you can see how the plants have grown out of the burrs that later developed into dry brown seed pods.

View attachment 232408

View attachment 232411

View attachment 232409

Harder to spot in this patch is sweet clover. It’s not the easiest thing to see at first but these clovers grow longer and taller than burr clover, with thicker stems. Their three petaled leaves are much larger and the plants eventually throw off long yellow flower sprays.

View attachment 232413

View attachment 232412

Sweet clover is a plant not everyone agrees on. It’s a do not feed in the Tortoise Table as it can be dangerous to cattle. Some experienced users feed it, knowing that tortoises and cows process food differently; I offer a little each year. You should know what to look for, whether you want to intentionally pick it or avoid it altogether.

I find another low mat of plants. These frilly leaves and purple flowers are filaree; safe.

View attachment 232414

View attachment 232427

I look at another lump of green and spot some wild geranium, with its delicate round leaves.

View attachment 232420 View attachment 232419

Finally growing into mounds is mallow. There is just about always mallow! Early in the year my Russian enjoys the plant’s immature seed pods; I believe she uses them as a protein source.

View attachment 232422

View attachment 232421

What weeds are you finding this spring?
Thanks for the photos and info. Can't wait to go on a weed walk in the three open areas near my house and in my own yard once the rains stop here in Eureka to look for tasties for my Russian, Curley.
 
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