What is this??

[DT86]

I mowed some hay on the halves for a guy this year. Second cutting isn't worth anything at all. I should be charging him for cutting his weeds.

Anyway I was raking it today and found these little guys. A bunch of them actually and I have no idea what they are.

I have lived within two miles of this field for 25 years and never seen this before. What are they?

 

[greasemonkeyok]

Ok, the images show up now. Does the plant have small thorns or bristles?

 

[DT86]

Ok, the images show up now. Does the plant have small thorns or bristles?

They had been cut several days ago. The only stems I saw were very thin. Almost comically thin and it seems to climb up what ever is there like a vine with no ability to hold the weight of its own "fruit".

Hopefully this pic will actually show up this time.....







TA DA! It worked! LOL

 

[DT86]

I really am glad this is a FREE app. Haha.

They have a very distinct smell once you open them. Almost citrus like.

I realized I did not answer the question, no thorns anything that I could see.

 

[kensnelling]

I have something similar around here, except the "fruit" is a light beige color. Have no idea what it's called other than darn weeds.

Ken

 

[DT86]

The only reason I care is to find out if it is poisonous to cattle. Anyone??

 

[1fastbob]

Those pods look very similar to Yucca pods.

 

[DT86]

Those pods look very similar to Yucca pods.

I looked up Yucca on Wikipedia. Pretty sure we don't have those in Southwest VA.

 

[smstonypoint]

It looks like a ripe "maypop" friut to me. See maypop - Google Search and Passiflora incarnata - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

It's not poisonous to cattle -- or at least the cattle on our farm when I was growing up.

Steve

 

[DT86]

I think you've got it! Looking through Google images of "maypop" it looks like the same stuff. I wonder why I've never seen it on our place two miles away or any where else? Odd.

 

[smstonypoint]

I think you've got it! Looking through Google images of "maypop" it looks like the same stuff. I wonder why I've never seen it on our place two miles away or any where else? Odd.

I see it along roadsides here in SC and it shows up in an open area on my farm in NC that I bush hog only twice a year. I don't think it does well in cultivated fields or in areas that are frequently mowed. Actually, it's a neat plant. It has a pretty flower and is supposed to have medicinal properties.

Steve

 

[/pine]

If they grow on a vine they may be "passion fruit"...

passion fruit >pictures

if so, the vines will get intricate (mostly purple) flowers...before the fruit appears...

more about passion fruit >links

 

[1fastbob]

It looks like a ripe "maypop" friut to me. See maypop - Google Search and Passiflora incarnata - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

It's not poisonous to cattle -- or at least the cattle on our farm when I was growing up.

Steve

I agree. Looks way more like a maypop than a yucca.

 

[Gary Fowler]

That is definitely a maypop. They have a rather sickly odor but you can eat the seeds. I used to eat them when I was a kid sometimes. They grew in most of our fields. They didnt seem to hurt the cotton any other than wrap up a cultivator when plowing due to the long vines.

 

[forgeblast]

Has the shape of a paw-paw but you said they were off a vine?

 

[Kessler Farms]

Where I live, they are called rabbit apples. Pretty sure that's not the scientific name, but all I know them as. Not poisonous.

Sent from my Milestone X2 using TractorByNet

 

[DT86]

Thanks guys. It still seems odd that I've never seen them before. In fact they are only in one small area of the field I mowed. Maybe 50'x50' area total.

Perhaps someone feed hay there once from else where and brought the seeds with it? I dunno.

 

[Hoosier Hay Man]

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ksu-pawpaw/cooking.html

These look paw paws. They have a citrus taste and smell. They are good eating. Also called Indiana banana and Prairie banana.

They have short shelf life and bruise easily.

Closer look I am not sure those are paw paws.

 

[jltrent]

DT86 were do you live in SW Virginia, I am in Lee county the very western tip. I had the same thing in a couple of fields I cut this fall. The cattle love em. You can turn cattle in a field that has this vine and that will be the first thing they eat.

 

[DT86]

Washington County.