friend or foe?

[canesisters]

I spotted this in the pines near the chicken coop yesterday.
Anyone know what it is?

The black blur is Chaos the barn cat - included for scale.
It stands about 12-18" high.

Looks like a fern.. but not quite.....

close up of branch/leaf tip

 

[Ridgerunner]

By in the pines do you mean shade?

it reminds me of wild carrot. I consider that a weed.

 

[canesisters]

Yes, mostly shady. It's an area of the yard that was left uncleared - just fenced around. Several years ago I borrowed some goats to clear out all the briars and little shrubs ... and have mostly managed to keep it that way. This particular section is going to become part of the chicken run this summer. So if this is something I might want to keep, it is going to need to be moved soon.

 

[ducks4you]

I think it's wild carrot, too. Not exactly noxious, but still a weed.
http://www.eattheweeds.com/daucus-carota-pusillus-edible-wild-carrots-2/

 

[canesisters]

Ok. I'll leave it alone and the girls can have it.
Thanks,

 

[Nyboy]

Cane tell me more about goats clearing briars good idea bad idea.

 

[canesisters]

FANTASTIC idea - IF you can temporarily fence the area secure enough to keep them contained and safe.
The area I had was only about 100' by 50' and inside my fenced in back yard. I put up temp electric fence to keep them OUT of the area around the house and turned them loose in the yard. The area was so dense that you couldn't see the fence behind it. Within a couple of weeks (I only had 2 adults and a baby) they had stripped EVERYTHING from about 6' down. It looked like a park!
There are services springing up all over the place that rent out goats just for this purpose. Usually they are responsible for everything - containing them, delivering them, picking them up, providing whatever they need while there...

 

[valley ranch]

Did you smell it,taste it~

 

[canesisters]

Did you smell it,taste it~

LOL - no.
Since I was expecting to hear back something like "That's Poisonous Thingydoodle! BURN IT!", I didn't even touch it.

 

[thistlebloom]

It looks a lot to me like fringed bleeding heart. Exima.
But after looking at "wild carrot" images it resembles that also.

Wild carrot is also known as Queen Annes Lace, which I happen to like.
I know it can spread, but it's not a menace here. A sniff test should be able to determine if that's what it is. It will smell carrotty.