Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Really good or really bad?

Two years ago I went to my first plant-swap. As it turns out, people who go to plant swaps are really really nice, insisting that you take home more than you can carry, and then some more.

They also as a whole didn't know much about what plants are native and what aren't. I ended up with quite a few mystery plants.

This one is the most perplexing. It was identified to me as Zizia aptera, heart-leaved Alexander, which is rare here.



But I fear that it may have been misidentified.



I was too late to get photos of the flowers, alas.






Here is a patch of Zizia aptera at Garden in the Woods. The leaves look ever-so-slightly different from what's in my yard.



I'm worried that I might instead have wild parsnip, Pastinaca sativa, which would be bad. Or, maybe something else? If anyone can help me identify this plant, I would be grateful.

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