What kind of Foliage is this? Pics

[PASOFAN]

This, grass/plant stuff is all over the pasture of the place i plan to buy.

ANyone know what is it and is it safe for horses to eat?

http://www.2hottotrot.com/data/500/PASTURE_GRASSES.JPG


Also this tree has popped up in a few spots, in clumbs.. I call it the needle tree. Definatly pulling them out by the roots BEFORE the horses move in. But didnt know what it was called either...

http://www.2hottotrot.com/data/500/NEEDLE_TREE.JPG


Thanks guys!:v:

[motorgypsy]

I've seen the first one and I don't think they eat it. I dont' know the name though. I'd just mow your pasture and keep it mowed because I'm pretty sure it dies in the winter and if you mow it won't come back because a good grass will choke it out. This is true of a lot of weeds - mowing is the easiest way to keep them down.

The tree looks like a locust tree. This wood is one of the hardest and longest lasting wood you can find. it is truly amazing stuff. Around our place it is used as fence posts. They do last for ages - like 50 years. There is black locust, honey locust and probably other varieties. We have black locust in our yard. Yes the thorns are nasty and if I wanted to keep a cluster I would fence them off from the horses.

[pnalley]

The second is definitely a locust. Like Nancy said they are prized as fence posts. When you drive through the country and see what looks like fence post made of split wood, that is locust. If you decide to try to use some as fence post use them green. Once they dry you will NOT get a nail or a screw in them. They are also tough on saw blades, a regular one will not cut them. As for killing them, good luck. I tried for 3 years to kill one. I finally gave up. Its about 20 feet tall now.

The 1st photo looks like some type of fern. I would think any broadleaf weed killer would work on them.

[dana]

i've never heard of a loctus tree but the second one looks like a hawthorne to me and i'd protect it for the small songbirds you want to keep around (if that's what it is)

[Abejita]

first pic is crownvetch or a type of vetch..not sure but i think they will eat it..,locust trees do not have that big of a thorn (at least the black and honey locusts here in the north)..and they grow tall..that is more of a shrub..we called it 'crown of thorns' but do not know real name..dana is probably right

[CarolU]

We have some Honey Locust here too. They're horrible, almost impossible to kill, and very dangerous around horses. Those thorns can put out an eye. We cut ours down, burned the branches and dug up the stump. Bugger STILL comes up where the roots were!

[pnalley]

I didn't realize you were in the north. I know nothing about northern plants, bushes or trees. If that tree/bush was in the south it would be a locust.

[JimHannah]

If it has broad bi-pinnate leaves, horizontal branching, large thorns that's a Locust. Likely a Black Locust, given location, and the size of the thorn. Very tough trees. Here in the Arid Southwest, we plant these trees because they grow so fast, can tolerate salt and heat, and give a decent amount of shade. They're cousins of our native Mesquites, and like the Mesquites they're tough, tough trees. Good luck getting rid of them.

I was in Santa Fe this past summer, and they've replaced a lot of the more traditional trees on traffic islands and curbing with Locusts because they grow well even in a low water situation. And they're expensive there. One of your toublesome Locusts sells for over a hundred bucks in a 5 gallon bucket in Santa Fe.

Jim

[Kerry W]

The tree is a locust. If they're small...try burning them. If you cut them down those thorns are everywhere..and they'll puncture a tractor tire, so be careful...soles of shoes are no match for them!;) The key with those trees is constant management, because as has been pointed out here, they sprout from runners from the root system.

The weed looks like puncturevine....but hard to tell, due to nothing to give reference to the size of the plant. It's not recommended that grazing animals are exposed to puncturevine. I think the seed pods can be dangerous for their digestive tract.

Here is a photo from the MU website:
http://weedid.missouri.edu/weedimages/puncturevine7-5.jpg


Here is a link to the site for future reference:
http://weedid.missouri.edu/

[Abejita]

oh and the crownvetch goes dormant in winter but will come back in the spring ( I am surprised it is so green there but I dont know the climate) ..it grows so fast ,mowing will not stop it and grass will not really overtake it..I have some in a small paddock that lies below a steep bank they planted it on yrs ago.It has since spread to the woods..keeping it mowed helps as it does spread by seeding but will also spread by root.I think (but am not sure) that using a broadleaf weed killer will get rid of it..I have read conflicting info as far as if it is safe for horses to eat

I grew up running around a black locust woodlot..Their thorns were at the largest an inch long and that was rare plus they looked more like a rose thorn in the way they grew off of the branch ,not a spike like that

[Kerry W]

Honey Locust tree, their thorns look like this:
http://www.washington.edu/home/treetour/graphics/hlocusttrunk.jpeg


Photo from here, with a map of where they can be found:
http://www.washington.edu/home/treetour/hlocust.html

[motorgypsy]

I just figured it was very young so the branches were very thin and small so the thorns look large by comparison. But the leaf will tell. Locust has a compound leaf. The black locusts in our yard have very long hard wooden thorns so not all of them have small thorns. The thorns on the black locusts in my yard are at least an inch and a half in length. Wicked.
http://bp0.blogger.com/_mDprj5-kLSY/R1wMLt2I8TI/AAAAAAAABRc/lMv6pgzSBVw/s1600-h/_BSC9936in.jpg (http://bp0.blogger.com/_mDprj5-kLSY/R1wMLt2I8TI/AAAAAAAABRc/lMv6pgzSBVw/s1600-h/_BSC9936in.jpg)

[JimHannah]

Lots of confusion over Honey Locusts. Two different species are known as a Honey Locust. One is a true Robinia, the other is Gedistia. Lots of Cultivars of both Black and Honey Locusts. Some Honey Cultivars are thornless, I haven't seen a Black Locust Cultivar without thorns yet. All the varieties will naturalize here, as far as I know. Again here, the Black Locust is taller, and the thorns are nastier.

Jim

[Kerry W]

You might be right Jim. I grew up there, and to be honest, we just called them "those http://www.augk18.dsl.pipex.com/Smileys/argh2.giflocust trees!!!!!" Especially when the tire guy had to come out when one found a tractor tire. Oy! That cussing is burning my ears to this day! Anyway...you see them in rows on old farmsteads, organic barbed wire.;) We got rid of any that we ever found on the place.

[JimHannah]

There's only 20 or 25 trees that will actually grow here. Less than a half dozen aren't risky. That makes it easy for us to look them up and down. It's a real bummer to plant a tree and have it keel over with in a year or two from the sun, salt, dry winds, or pests. I really check them out before I plunk down the pesos. Kinda strange to be talking over Locust Trees on a Paso Board.

Jim

[Kerry W]

Well, if you're looking for obnoxious...try a sweet gum tree. They grow like weeds, come back after you cut 'em down, and I just LOVE stepping on those spikey balls with my bare feet! :mad2:

[Monty]

Call your county and ask if they have anyone that can help you determine what you have and can tell you how to deal with it ! In WI - we call the County for that - Or see if the County has a website .
As far as stumps - once you cut the trees down - there is a stump killer you can use - you drill holes in the stumps and pour it in -
But ,I would call the County or a store that deals in plant/trees .

[PASOFAN]

Thanks guys!!

I should be more specific on WHERE these are, they are at the place i plan to buy in MO, NOT MN...


The neighbor offered to bushhog for me, I was going to have him pull them up by the roots and burn them. I should warn him about the thorns and tires! That would suck big time if he got one in his HUGE tractor tires...

The trees look young, maybe 2yrs old, those thorns are as long as my pointer and pinky fingers.. Didnt see the leaves because they were gone off when I went to visit..

What is Fescue? Someone said the foliage might be Fescue? Not sure what that is...

But I will keep reasearching it! CrownVetch I dont think it is because it doesnt flower.. Just stays that green color...

[PASOFAN]

A APF.com lurker suggested it was a Osage Orange tree. See link and pics

http://www.osageorange.com/Osage_Orange_P.html

http://www.osageorange.com/Osage_Orange_P/IMAG0002.GIF

http://www.osageorange.com/Osage_Orange_P/IMAG0003.GIF

However I dont think it produces the "orange" apple nut thing... But I found it very interesting, it has similar spikes but much smaller than the one's on the tree in the pasture...

I wish I knew what the leaves looked like, I guess when I see the leaves I will find out!

I think it is definatly a locast tree just dont know if black or honey..lol

THanks again all! Very intersting, lots of new trees and plant life for me to learn about in the south I guess...

Still trying to find out about the green stuff though, it is a low growing plant, not huge at all, just abundant..

[CarolU]

The leaves look like a locust. What you might want to do, since the trees are young, is cut them down, pile them up and burn them. Then have him bush hog for you. Fescue is a grass.

http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/turf/publications/tallfesc.html

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071027172324.htm

But, it is NOT GOOD for pregnant mares. The endophyte fungus that is common with fescue makes the bags tough and frequently foals can't kick through them. It can also cause other problems. I'd contact your extension agent there. Have your fescue tested.

http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/endophyte.html

[Mellifluous]

fescue is grass, that is not fescue. I will go with the vetch assessment. It is highly invasive and is a favorite of state highway departments to reseed disturbed areas. I think it may be crown vetch.

http://www.invasive.org/eastern/eppc/COVA.html

I would bet that the tree is some sort of locust. It would be most helpful to see it when it has leafed out.

[PattiB]

It looks like a fern not vetch. The thorn tree is not Osage Orange or Hedge Apple tree (horses love to eat them)
We had honey locust with thorns like that, the black locust have smaller thorns but still are thorny.

[motorgypsy]

Nope - not a fern. And locust trees can have really long, huge thorns. I have several in my yard.

Fescue is a major blessing and a huge curse. It is mainly found in pastures in the southeast because it does not die in the winter so a good planting of fescue can actually provide winter forage for your horses. If you have coastal planted with the fescue, you have year round pasture with no hay. I boarded on a farm that did this. It saved us the cost of the board to stay there. BUT as Carol said it has a fungus in it, not on it. You can't see it or smell it. It's inside the plant. This fungus not only can cause abortion and death of the foal but can also cause you to lose your brood mare. I know probably 10 people personally who lost mares and/or foals to fescue. Arwen's mom was on fescue pasture when she was pregnant with Arwen. We did a lot of research and a Clemson University professor found out that giving the mare a paste containing domperidone sp? will eliminate the problems caused by fescue during pregnancy. We gave it to her during the last three months. It was pricey but well worth it since the birth was on schedule (fescue can cause them to go overtime), she has plenty of milk (fescue can cause them not to have milk) and no birth problems (fescue can cause red bag and the sac can be sooo tough the foal can't get out and smothers). So now in our area they generally mix orchard grass with fescue and coastal. Of course the coastal dies in the winter and I think the orchard does too but the orchard must come back quickly because the first cutting in the spring in SC is fescue/orchard. Then later cuttings are coastal. So - if you're going to breed - avoid fescue or make sure there's not a lot of it. If you have fescue in your pasture, plant some other grasses like coastal and keep it mowed short so the bent grass will smother it out at least partially. Fescue hates to be cut short. Brood mares can tolerate about 20% without problems but more than that -watch out. The things it causes are horrible in pregnant mares. For geldings - you usually have no problems with fescue. it's not the most nutritious grass and our guys like coastal a lot better but they will eat it.