Plant Images

[weeble]

PLANT IMAGES: - HUGE THANKS TO THUMPS FOR ALL HER HELP WITH THIS

Common Safe Plants

Greater plantain image

Field Penny Cress (Field penny cress - seeds are broadly winged)


Herb Robert

Ladysbedstraw

Ribwort Plantain

Hoary plantain

White dead nettle

Common mallow

Musk mallow

Leaves of musk mallow

Yarrow

Smooth leaved Sow thistle
do not confuse with the wild lettuce family/cf prickly lettuce.

Shepherds Purse

Chamomile & the Mayweeds are all safe, & have distinctive leaves, as a family.

Wild chamomile

Pineapple mayweed

Meadow crane's bill. Usually found on chalk, but also cultivated in gardens.

Shrubby climbers & clamberers in hedges.

"Dog rose"
several species all safe - leaves & petals

Bramble

Hawthorn

Please note that the flower/seeds of plantain are best not fed to rabbits dry.

 

[weeble]

POISONOUS PLANTS DO NOT FEED - IF IN DOUBT DO NOT FEED

Hemlock

Fumitory

Stinking Hellebore

Sunspurge

Tansy

White Bryony

Woodynightshade

Ragwort

Foxglove - flowers also come in pink and white

Elder - berries are purpleish in colour. If you have one of these beware the roots get everywhere!

Deadly nightshade

Monkshood

Black Bryony

Ivy Leaved Toad Flax

LINK TO DANGEROUS PLANTS AS PROVIDED BY GRAHAML
CLICK HERE

 

[Bunni_xx]

WOW! I love that, so helpful!

 

[helgalush]

Great post! Really helpful!

 

[Liquorice]

OMG my rabbit eat some elder leaves I hope she'll be ok

 

[Jaysmonkey]

Awesome.

This is a toxic weed list for tortoises, however tortoise dietary requirements with weeds is very similar to rabbits.
Hope it helps!
http://www.shelledwarriors.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=25242


This one is edible weeds which are safe
http://www.shelledwarriors.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=6243
http://issuu.com/starsw/docs/edible...t.xml&backgroundColor=5A0000&showFlipBtn=true

xx

 

[kat031181]

Great post x very helpful x

 

[csklug00]

Loved It!

I'm a Master Gardener in America, Texas to be exact and grow most of my bunnies fresh food. I absolutely LOVED your post! It inspired me to add strawberries to one of my gardens! Thank you!

 

[thumps_]

Thank-you this is so much help, I am only confident with dandelions, which we have loads on our garden lol And I have been getting them blackberries.

My mate who is a Parks Manager is going to help me out identifying some plants for me

I think that this is by far the best way to learn what's out there. :thumb:
It can open a door to a life long deeper appreciation, & love of wild life, enriching our lives.

My own background is an upbringing in the country when we were encouraged to identify the local wild plants & trees in primary school. It was also the norm for us to forage for our bunnies as children under supervision.
It led to a life long interest, but I'm not a botanist with the skills to identify all the UK plants to species level.

I try to recommend the plants which are easier to identify, as long as you check that the shape of the leaves & veins in the leaves are truely identical. Flowers and seed heads are helpful too but mot always present.

In spring, young plants can be more difficult to identify, especially those which mature into tall spikes & start as rosettes at ground level.

I commend Webble's choice of toxic plants. They include seriously toxic plants which we all need to be able to identify, & remove if buns could access them.
There are many other toxic plants which should not be fed to bunnies but a small nibble won't do any harm.
Those which are recommended as safe, can be fed regularly to bunnies.

I'm deeply moved & delighted by all your positive responses.

For those who rightly find wild plant identification too risky, may I suggest that you can also grow many kitchen herbs both for your bunnies as well as adding flavour & interest to human food.

 

[weeble]

Thumps the majority of the pictures and info on this thread are a tribute to your knowledge and expertise - thank you

 

[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! :thumb:

 

[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! :thumb:

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

 

[jerseygirl]

Hello :wave: 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 :wave: 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. :shock: 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.