# help ID this plant please



## marlowmanor (Jun 2, 2012)

We were clearing some brush at my inlaws today and giving it to the goats. There was one tree/bush that was cut down and I was not sure about. The goats just sniffed it and left it when I offered it to them. I know sometimes they will leave something till the leaves dry then chow down. I want to make sure it isn't something dangerous for them and that is why they aren't eating it. Here are a couple pics I got

shows back of leaves






shows front of leaves and more detail


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## redtailgal (Jun 2, 2012)

It looks like wild wisteria to me.  Wisteria would be tall and have vines.

It could be a sumac.........this would be more like a shrub.

I dont know about the toxicity of either one.


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## marlowmanor (Jun 2, 2012)

redtailgal said:
			
		

> It looks like wild wisteria to me.  Wisteria would be tall and have vines.
> 
> It could be a sumac.........this would be more like a shrub.
> 
> I dont know about the toxicity of either one.


After looking it up it does appear to be a sumac, just not the poisonous one. I will check all the links I have for plants that are poisonous to livestock to be sure though. It definately is not wisteria. 
Thank you RTG!


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## redtailgal (Jun 2, 2012)

Welcome.............

FYI......the berries from sumac make a wonderful tea.  lol.  I know that you NEEDED to know that useless tidbit of information.


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## marlowmanor (Jun 2, 2012)

redtailgal said:
			
		

> Welcome.............
> 
> FYI......the berries from sumac make a wonderful tea.  lol.  I know that you NEEDED to know that useless tidbit of information.


I didn't know that. There were no berries on it. Not sure if it ever had berries either. I was back in a heavily brushy area that the inlaws were clearing out. Hopefully now that I am pretty sure it is not poisonous the goats will decide to eat it. I am betting they will wait till the leaves are dry then chow down on it.


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## Straw Hat Kikos (Jun 2, 2012)

I have no idea what it is but my goats LOVE it!! It hasn't hurt my goats at all so I would say it's fine.


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## mama24 (Jun 3, 2012)

Looks like wisteria to me, too. It just sprouts up down here. When I first moved here, I was digging it up all the time and thought it was a sumac. But then I missed some one spring and it bloomed and I found out it had been wisteria all along.


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## marliah (Jun 3, 2012)

Looks like sumac to me, we have that all over our yard!


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## 20kidsonhill (Jun 3, 2012)

I was thinking Sumac, we have tons of it on our property, Sumac trees that is.  Is yours more like a bush?  Our goats love the branches from the Sumac trees.


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## pridegoethb4thefall (Jun 3, 2012)

Look up 'black walnut'- we have a large one here and those leaves look just like ours. Dont know if you have those where you live. I think they are bad for horses, not sure about goats though.

We have wisteria too, but the leaves are more rounded, with wider leaves, and then come to a slight tear drop shaped point. Your pictures dont look like our wisteria. 

I dont know what sumac looks like, but I think you have either sumac or a young black walnut. The walnut starts like a bush, then grows into a tree. From what Ive read, black wanut is poisonous, and you cant eat the nuts, they arent like regular walnuts.


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## marlowmanor (Jun 3, 2012)

pridegoethb4thefall said:
			
		

> Look up 'black walnut'- we have a large one here and those leaves look just like ours. Dont know if you have those where you live. I think they are bad for horses, not sure about goats though.
> 
> We have wisteria too, but the leaves are more rounded, with wider leaves, and then come to a slight tear drop shaped point. Your pictures dont look like our wisteria.
> 
> I dont know what sumac looks like, but I think you have either sumac or a young black walnut. The walnut starts like a bush, then grows into a tree. From what Ive read, black wanut is poisonous, and you cant eat the nuts, they arent like regular walnuts.


I'm really leaning towards a sumac because the pics I have found in my search look like it. I have a fear it may be black walnut too though. I need to look it up more and get some better pictures to make sure it is not a black walnut. There were no flowers or the start of walnuts on these trees and I don't know that it has flowered or anything either. It's been back in the wooded area that my inlaws were clearing. There are more of them out there still and i may have to look at them again to see if I see any nuts being formed and maybe I can take the camera out and get some more pictures too since the ones I posted were from my phone. I am thinking they are sumac though and seeing other fellow NCers that have seen it and fed it to their goats without trouble makes me feel that it is a safe plant. I'm just afraid I am thinking it is one thing and if it turns out to be something else and the goats are harmed I will feel really bad.


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## mama24 (Jun 3, 2012)

You can eat black walnut nuts. They grew all over the place when I was a kid and everyone ate them. They have a stronger flavor than English walnuts, but are still very good! The leaves are slightly toxic and have deworming properties. They are very bitter, though, so I can't imagine a goat would want many. I have been surprised before, though. Black walnuts have a thicker husk than English walnuts and if you try to remove it by hand, your hands will be stained dark brown for days. We always left them on the ground until the husk started to rot a little, then stomped the husks off, laid the nuts out in a single layer to dry, then stored.  The leaves, bark, and husk were used as a brown dye in the past. I used it myself on some muslin just to see what it looked like.


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## mama24 (Jun 3, 2012)

Oh, and poison sumac is called poison b/c it can cause a rash, not b/c it is actually toxic. I think it has the same stuff that's in poison ivy and poison oak. We had staghorn sumac in my neighborhood as a kid and the deer absolutely loved eating the leaves and berries.


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## elevan (Jun 3, 2012)

Bark doesn't look right to be Black Walnut.

eta:  I have a TON of Black Walnut around here.


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## mama24 (Jun 3, 2012)

I agree, elevan, doesn't look like walnut to me, either, though the leaves are similar. I am thinking poison sumac if it isn't wisteria. So be careful cutting it down b/c you may react if you react to poison ivy!


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## marlowmanor (Jun 3, 2012)

In my searcning it looked more like staghorn sumac. The pictures I found of poison sumac didn't match. I am glad to hear that there seems to be a concessus that it is not black walnut.  I've seen no reaction on anyone that handle the branches either so I am not thinking it is poison sumac either. I need to look up if staghorn sumac is common in NC.


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## marlowmanor (Jun 3, 2012)

I think I figured it out finally. I believe it is smooth sumac. I will be watching the other trees in my inlaws yard that were not cut down to see if the berries are produced. They should be showing up pretty soon.  Now we see how long it takes the goats to decide to try it!


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