Plant Images

[iiisecondcreep]

Hi, can anyone tell me what this is and if it is safe?
I have had a look through the pictures but haven't seen any it matched. Its sort of arrow shaped and the 2 ends cross over at the bottom.

[thumps_]

Hi, can anyone tell me what this is and if it is safe?
I have had a look through the pictures but haven't seen any it matched. Its sort of arrow shaped and the 2 ends cross over at the bottom.

It's almost impossible to identify a whole plant on the basis of single leaf.
Given the time of year, & plants which are common, I suspect it's one of the wild sorrel family Rumex. If a small taste of the leaf is vinegary it's dock sorrel - Rumex acetosa.
This has various acids (oxalates) which are poisonous to buns & other animals when fed regularly or in quantity.

ETA It's not a 4 paws in the air job, if your buns have had a couple of leaves - but neither to be used as forage.

[iiisecondcreep]

It's almost impossible to identify a whole plant on the basis of single leaf.
Given the time of year, & plants which are common, I suspect it's one of the wild sorrel family Rumex. If a small taste of the leaf is vinegary it's dock sorrel - Rumex acetosa.
This has various acids (oxalates) which are poisonous to buns & other animals when fed regularly or in quantity.

ETA It's not a 4 paws in the air job, if your buns have had a couple of leaves - but neither to be used as forage.

I googled that and some of the images for wild sorrel that came up matched the plant. I have not fed any to the bun its just there is loads of it growing at the farm so I thought I would find out if it was any good for buns.

Thank you!

[Lottie999]

Just what I've been looking for! I've always wanted to give Pops more 'wild' food if you like, will have to have a search in the garden now!

[thumps_]

Just what I've been looking for! I've always wanted to give Pops more 'wild' food if you like, will have to have a search in the garden now!

You can buy seeds for rabbit wild plants on the internet too.

[jerseygirl]

Hello I'm hoping the people here on RU can help me indentify this.

I'm familiar with weeping willow and often pick it for the rabbits. Unfortunately though, the trees local to me all get some sort of orange, powdery fungal growth on the back of the leaves. One that comes, I don't pick it and have to wait for next seasons growth.

I've found a tree though that is not affected by this. I'm almost certain it is willow but would love to hear others opinions. The trees bark is just like the weeping variety, the green wood identical. The leaves very similar but have silvery colour on the back. White willow?

I only have pictures of what I picked and not of the tree itself, sorry.

[Dave81]

Is it safe to assume all the bunny friendly plants will grow fine in containers?

[thumps_]

Hello I'm hoping the people here on RU can help me indentify this.

I'm familiar with weeping willow and often pick it for the rabbits. Unfortunately though, the trees local to me all get some sort of orange, powdery fungal growth on the back of the leaves. One that comes, I don't pick it and have to wait for next seasons growth.

I've found a tree though that is not affected by this. I'm almost certain it is willow but would love to hear others opinions. The trees bark is just like the weeping variety, the green wood identical. The leaves very similar but have silvery colour on the back. White willow?

I only have pictures of what I picked and not of the tree itself, sorry.

I don't want to appear to ignore your question Jerseygirl.
I've done a quick search, & found that Willow is not a native species to Australia but 32 species were introduced (presumably from the UK) mainly to stabilise river banks, but some are naturalising as an invasive species now.
I am totally ignorant of Australian native species of plants & trees, so I don't know whether any of your native species of trees can be easily confused with willow.
You are absolutely right to avoid leaves which have "rust type growth" on them.
May I suggest that you contact Lobo a fellow Australian to help you, re confirmation it's willow & please come back to let us know?

The only thing to be cautious about when feeding large amounts of willow to buns is the salicilin content, which varies from species to species. This is metabolised in the body to an aspirin like compound which as you know can cause gastric ulceration in humans. I'll ask Pretty Lupin - I think she knows a simple country way to "test for salicilin content".

[thumps_]

Is it safe to assume all the bunny friendly plants will grow fine in containers?

In a word yes, if they're deep enough for the root systems, parsley & dandelion like to root deeply.
In the wild they grow better on poor soil but that is because the grass can't grow so vigorously & crowd them out.
When cultivated, most grow well in normal, or even rich soil.
They can be a bit temperamental about light & shade, & moisture though.
Mediterranean herbs like full sun & normal soil, not too moist, but not bone dry!.
Dandelions like sun but not heat - do well in morning sun, afternoon shade in the heat of summer, also like moisture & a rich soil -same for sowthistles.

[jerseygirl]

Thanks for your feedback Thumps. You are right, willow is considered a weed here now in many regions. It's so water hungry and self propagates easily.

I am wary of feeding too much. I have one rabbit that gets sleepy after eating fresh willow leaves and the green bark so I limit what I give him. The other 3 cope well with it fresh. All seem to enjoy and do well with it dry. A friend told me last week that the salicin levels in weeping willow are very much higher then they are in white willow. I will ask her specifically what she had read. I was surprised because I thought it was white willow bark that aspirin was first derived from. The older, aged bark??

I think I know this country test you speak of. I think I may have read it on here! Is it if you chew some and it saps the moisture from the mouth, it contains salicin? lol It reminds me of when I asked my father (a farmer) if he could tell me if the buns hay I had was mouldy. He popped in in his mouth and chewed it. Turns out it was just some rain damage on the hay

I will try get a good picture of the tree to post at some point.