Interested in what it is?

I wonder if it could be Sunroots (Helianthus tuberosus) which get quite tall. They do grow in Va. http://vaplantatlas.org/index....

I am not so sure. The leaves of this are jagged and this plant has been blooming for about a month now but the center cluster has done nothing. Just these thinner and soft pedals growing out, about 3 or 4 pedals per flowers.

I just had to. I ate a leaf and it is minty. I ate another and it maybe reminded me of some soap-like scent but I could only imagine as a "fragrance" of soap and not really toxic like soap.
I spit the second leaf out.

The flowers smell interesting. Honey-like I suppose.
I ate a pedal and it did not taste much at all.

Could you post a picture of the entire plant, also individual flowers and leaves?

The second picture of this thread is of an individual leaf.

I may have spotted the plant. "Wingstem"
?
I am looking more into it now though.

Everything about this plant looks like what is called "wingstem"
and so far it is claimed to be "poisonous".

I ate half a leaf today and a pedal and no ill feelings so far.
Had a pretty empty stomach when I consumed it.

Have touched all over it and dived right in with my nose.

We will see.....

Unless this is a wingstem lookalike. Wingstem seems a little hairier.
This plant is not hairy at all, as far as I can tell, unless this comes at a later stage.

Hi...I'm in VA and have spread wingstem plants all over my property....one of the few plants deer and woodchucks don't seem to touch They are highly variable....one of the sure signs is the "wings" on the stems! Scroll down this page til you get to wingstem pic....

http://www.birdsoutsidemywindo...

I would agree...yours looks like wingstem!

I've never eaten it but have transplanted it with bare hands...no adverse reaction. It is aggressive but if you are looking for something for birds and bees that can push back some of the stiltgrass and other invasives....wingstem is it!

It sure does resemble Wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia)

edited to add links with photos for comparison. It appears more than one variety of Wingstem grows in Va.

Verbesina alternifolia:
https://virginiawildflowers.or...
https://virginiawildflowers.or...

Verbesina occidentalis:
Yellow Crown-Beard (Verbesina occidentalis)
https://virginiawildflowers.or...

You don't know what this plant is but you're eating it?

Good grief Lin! You're right! I just went and looked at 2 transplants of "wingstem" that I had transplanted from the same "mother" patch. One patch has opposite leaves, while the other has alternating leaves. However, what doesn't make sense is that the plants with alternate leaves, has leaves that look more like the crownbeard and the one with opposite leaves, has leaves that look like those of the wingstem (V. alternifolia). I did not plant the plants (in the original patch) but they are an isolated patch and I find it hard to believe that both these species seeded themselves in the same spot so I'm wondering if there's some hybridizing going on here?!

Horntoad said:You don't know what this plant is but you're eating it?

Never "taste" stuff that you haven't positively identified....
While most things will tell you not to taste any more, there are plants that don't.
And... While most "poison" plants really aren't that toxic, there are enough that are....

consider aconitum.... Supposed to be so toxic they tell you to wear gloves while planting the starts!
Consider castor bean. One bean is said to be deadly!

Next time.... Wait till we've identified the plant before sampling....

thelackof said:Everything about this plant looks like what is called "wingstem"
and so far it is claimed to be "poisonous".

I ate half a leaf today and a pedal and no ill feelings so far.
Had a pretty empty stomach when I consumed it.

Have touched all over it and dived right in with my nose.

We will see.....

I think I am in shock!

@thelackof - how are you feeling?

Still alive and well.
No ill feelings at all.

I am not always in touch with the internet and I use no phone so I can not always identify a plant immediately.

My long story is that I dropped my business, my car and money to live outside and though I have heard to "never touch or eat anything unless it is positively identified", I also realize that the two books that I do have (being highly rated and covering "most" of the eastern half of the United States), they can be a little lacking.

I have seen too many plants to just throw anything into my mouth but having seen this yellowing plant appear "everywhere", I figured that people would have either tried to poison it to death by now or it would have been spoken of like "poison ivy" or also that it would have been more apparent in one of my books or easy to find on the internet but after a good month of finding nothing about it, I just had to give it a try.

I have read of people eating poison ivy and having no reactions while touching it would cause for worse to the same person.
but I have also read of "death from taste" and stomach torment and etc etc etc.

Some times, you just need a little more faith in the Earth than to rely on a society so great and in numbers that cares more about money and plastic and exhaust before ever caring to identify the plants around their family.

and hey, if it hurts me, then I know to never touch it again.
and if kills me, then we all die, right?

The members of NGA are very good at identifying plants from a photo or two and a bit of information - but please, please, please do not eat anything unless and until you have received a positive identification. Whatever you think about the world it is not worth the risk. There are many well-known edible plants that can sustain you while you check out the new and unknown plants you encounter.

Whenever you are able to get near the internet check out what Green Deane says about the various plants. His site is called "Eat the Weeds".
http://www.eattheweeds.com/

There are numerous sites listing edible wild foods; here is one example;
http://www.twineagles.org/surv...

@greene for the link to twineagles.org
What a great, comprehensive list of natures bounty! for linking to it!



thelackof! to NGA!