This is a round-up of the ID challenges I ran on Facebook this year. How many edible plants can you recognize in winter? I figured I better post it before this snow melts away and spring gets springing. Quiz yourself! Click the photos for hints. Answers at the bottom of the post.
Row 1: serviceberry (genus Amelanchier), stinging nettles (Urtica gracilis), salsola or Russian thistle (Salsola tragus); Row 2: cow parsnip (Heracleum maximum), ricegrass (genus Achnatherum), wild tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus); Row 3: arrowleaf balsmaroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata), Oregon grape (Mahonia repens), tansy mustard (Descurainia sophia), which is in the Mustard family, Brassicaceae or Cruciferae; Row 4: Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma), sweet clover (genus Melilotus), yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Thank you for putting this together. Such a useful skill to have, both for pattern recognition and ID, and for off-season scouting.
I got 8 out of 10! But the “sweet clover” one is really puzzling to me. Such tall stalks!
Nicely done! Yellow sweet clover is a tall plant, very common here in the West.