Weed ID?

[Tom]

Anyone know what this one is? I found a ton of it in a very remote area and it looks so good that I almost want to eat it. It has little spikes all around the perimeter of the leaves, but I doubt any tortoise will have an issue with that.

 

[Laura]

Thistle.. of some sort.. helpful huh?
Ive seen it growing everywhere too and thought the torts would prob like it.

 

[Yvonne G]

That's thistle. When you order the desert tortoise seed mixture from Annie Lancaster, thistle is included in the seeds. Its supposed to be edible. I planted the mixture in my Russian pen, and they didn't eat it. If you allow it to bloom, each flower will give you hundreds and hundreds of seeds. Personally, I love this plant. I think the leaves and flowers are SO pretty! But it does become obnoxious if the tortoise won't eat it and keep it under control.

 

[Fernando]

That's thistle. When you order the desert tortoise seed mixture from Annie Lancaster, thistle is included in the seeds. Its supposed to be edible. I planted the mixture in my Russian pen, and they didn't eat it. If you allow it to bloom, each flower will give you hundreds and hundreds of seeds. Personally, I love this plant. I think the leaves and flowers are SO pretty! But it does become obnoxious if the tortoise won't eat it and keep it under control.

What is Annie Lancaster's website? Does she have one?

 

[Yvonne G]

turtlestuff.com

I'm not sure, but I think she's also associated with turtlecafe.com

 

[Tom]

The stuff that I call thistle around here looks totally different than this. I'll get a pic of what I call thistle tomorrow.

 

[Laura]

lots of different kinds of thistle.. I have a diff type too. very prickly.. purple flower..
then there is also Star Thistle..
and the one you posted..
and others Im sure!

 

[Edna]

Blessed Milk Thistle.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...-SearchBox&tbm=isch&ei=vBydTZzwDe-L0QH_ua3jAg
I hope this link works for you. I found this page via a google search, images. And I didn't read far enough to see if it was edible.

---

Cool. Wikipedia says it's edible, leaves boiled as a spinach substitute, or raw in salad.

 

[dmarcus]

I have been looking to see if the Milk Thistle is edible..from what I have gathered, milk thistle is fine for torts as long as it hasnt been grown on fertilized ground. So just be careful of where it comes from, like getting plants from garden stores because of the pesticides they use on them.

 

[Tom]

Edna! That's it! Thank you. Yvonne was right too. It is a thistle. The Bull Thistle on that page is the one we usually see around here. Did a google search on Blessed Milk Thistle and found this:

"Due to potassium nitrate content, the plant has been found to be toxic to cattle and sheep. When potassium nitrate is eaten by ruminants, the bacteria in animal's stomach breaks the chemical down, producing a nitrite ion. Nitrite ion then combines with hemoglobin to produce methaemoglobin, blocking the transport of oxygen. The result is a form of oxygen deprivation."

Now I don't think tortoises are technically a ruminant (someone correct me if I'm wrong), but I don't think I'll risk feeding it to them. What a shame. So much good stuff.

 

[Laura]

We have the Bull thistle, but Ive been seeing the Milk one growing.. must like wet winters...

 

[stells]

It is Milk thistle... it is ok to feed as long as you know it comes from unfertilised... low nitrate soil... as it will act like a sponge and soak up the nitrates... it is easy enough to grow... i grow it in my enclosures... and the tortoises love it...

 

[Tom]

Thanks Kelly. Its growing in a totally untouched, uninhabited area near my ranch. The nearest human activity would be nearly half mile away and there is no stream or anything to carry any sort of run off in that direction. There would be absolutely no fertilizer of any kind there, but there is lots of rotting vegetation and tree leaves that have built up over many years of sitting there completely untouched. I'm sure there are lots of natural nitrates and fertilizer from all the decaying matter. Do you still think its safe to feed?

 

[stells]

I would feed it... but thats just me...

 

[John]

I'm not a botanist but I do think thistle and ivy are some how related and ivy is not safe to feed.

 

[stells]

Thistles are fine... and edible... for smaller tortoises i do cut the prickles off...

 

[Tom]

I'm not a botanist but I do think thistle and ivy are some how related and ivy is not safe to feed.

I've been feeding them the regular "Bull" thistle for years.

 

[DeanS]

I'm not a botanist but I do think thistle and ivy are some how related and ivy is not safe to feed.

Ground ivy and Swedish ivy are OK, although I believe there's one ssp of Ground ivy that isn't so much toxic as it is an irritant! Of course, poison ivy is highly toxic.