In one small corner of the newly replanted vineyard out back, something strange has happened. Giant morning glory plants have sprouted among the grape vines. They're bigger than the vines. I've never seen this kind of plant in or around the vineyards before. Small, almost tiny, morning glories are quite common, but not these giants.
A big morning glory plant dwarfs its grape vine neighbor.
And why are they only in one spot? I wonder if some soil from somewhere else was dumped here. Indeed, truckloads of fertilizer in the form of composted manure were applied to the parcel while it was being prepared for planting. Maybe that's where the seeds came from. Or maybe a bird or some other critter dropped them. I wonder.
However they arrived, they’re beautiful. Maybe it will be a monster grape vine, too.
ReplyDeleteThat sure looks like Gipson weed or Jimson weed. Nasty stuff and is poison, Datura stramonium. It's big burr like seed pods loded with seeds and spreads like wildfire. It's really bad stuff.
ReplyDeletejimsonweed, (Datura stramonium), also called thorn apple or devil’s snare, annual herbaceous plant of the nightshade family (Solanaceae). Possibly native to Central America, the plant is considered an invasive species throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere. It was used by Algonquin Indians in eastern North America, among other indigenous peoples of the Americas, as a hallucinogen and intoxicant. The leaves contain potent alkaloids (notably hyoscyamine and hyoscine), and all parts of the plant are poisonous if ingested.
ReplyDeleteJimsonweed grows to a height of 1 to almost 2 metres (up to 6.5 feet) and is commonly found along roadsides or other disturbed habitats. The plant has large white or violet trumpet-shaped flowers and produces a large spiny capsule fruit to which the common name thorn apple is sometimes applied. The stems are green, sometimes tinged with purple, and bear simple alternate leaves with toothed to lobed margins.
I just read that in France this stuff has invade the countryside and France has antidote available in their emergency rooms. Here in Ohio about 40 years ago I lost 2 cows and 1 horse to this weed. We had to shoot the cows but the horse died from the effects basically beat herself to death in a stall before we knew what was happening.
ReplyDeleteOh, gracious, Woody!
ReplyDeleteJust Morning Glories alone can be invasive! Your information is valuable. Thanks, Woody. Terrible about your animals.
ReplyDeletemitch, the grower will probably have the invading flowers ripped out before long.
ReplyDeletewoody, wow!