What plant is this?

[masona]

My mother not seen it before and want to know what's growing in her garden

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• masona
• 1 Sep 2014
• 1

 

[Deleted2797112]

Could be primula vulgaris but a single leaf isn't much to go on.

 

[r896neo]

Looks like either a foxglove or could be a primula as ceres suggests. A foxglove leaf would be ever so slightly furry and a greyish tint whereas a primula would be a tiny bit shiny/waxy and have no hint of grey, just a green or yellowy green

Was it a leafy herbacious perrenial type plant or a shrubby plant?

 

[masona]

Was it a leafy herbacious perrenial type plant or a shrubby plant?

I'll pop round and take a photo

 

[Diyisfun]

I thought foxglove, but there is a weed that looks very similar.

 

[munchingB]

thats a verbascum leaf i think.

 

[masona]

Could be primula vulgaris but a single leaf isn't much to go on.

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• masona
• 3 Sep 2014
• 1

 

[munchingB]

verbascum bombyciferum.

that will grow about 2 meters tall.

they look better when keep smaller especially where that one is sited.

it is a biannual but can-and might this year-flower the same year and then it'll self seed million and millions of seeds and then rot down.

when the spike starts to grow out of the centre, give it a chop and it'll produce more spikes of flowers than the one big one it would otherwise have that generally bend over if not in a sheltered spot or group.

 

[masona]

Are verbascum bombyciferum poisonous

 

[munchingB]

they are suppose to be yes but ive handled them for years and taken seeds etc and come to no harm. i think its the seeds that are meant to be the worse part of the plant to consume but i think youd have to eat a hell of a lot to make yourself ill.

i only know about cutting them short because i had a horse that would lean other my paddock fence and eat them out of my garden as far as he could reach and he never came to any harm.

 

[masona]

they are suppose to be yes but ive handled them for years and taken seeds etc and come to no harm. i think its the seeds that are meant to be the worse part of the plant to consume but i think youd have to eat a hell of a lot to make yourself ill.

i only know about cutting them short because i had a horse that would lean other my paddock fence and eat them out of my garden as far as he could reach and he never came to any harm.

Just concern for my grandchildren's

 

[munchingB]

though it is toxic there are no reports of poisoning from ingestion of verbascum so it cant be that toxic.

i run a landscaping company and it is a very common weed in peoples gardens so there is an abundance of them around all the time.

i wont grow foxgloves for example because of a young daughter but i would never have any concerns over a verbascum.

i just read that someone ate 40-60 oz of the plant to induce a narcotic effect that subsided after 2 hours. no hospitalisation either.

its not the type of plant that you would want to eat anyway-even for a kid. the bottom leaves will start to rot and attract all manner of creepy crawlys-not something you want to put near your mouth!

 

[EddieM]

they are suppose to be yes but ive handled them for years and taken seeds etc and come to no harm. i think its the seeds that are meant to be the worse part of the plant to consume but i think youd have to eat a hell of a lot to make yourself ill.

i only know about cutting them short because i had a horse that would lean other my paddock fence and eat them out of my garden as far as he could reach and he never came to any harm.

Just concern for my grandchildren's

You should try not to worry too much about toxic plants in the garden, a lot of common stuff is pretty toxic, eg. Delphiniums, daffodil bulbs, foxgloves, deadly nightshade are of course all very toxic, but that said I would try not to overly worry, education is the key.