# A Planty question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 13, 2012, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-planty-question/625003 "2012-06-13T11:36:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2012, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-planty-question/625003/1 "2012-06-13T11:36:40Z")
What am [I](http://s862.photobucket.com/albums/ab183/spike1380/?action=view¤t=bigweed.jpg)? I told my mom it’s most likely a very big weed but she wants to know which weed specifically. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2012, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-planty-question/625003/2 "2012-06-13T12:00:14Z")
pic? ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2012, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-planty-question/625003/3 "2012-06-13T12:06:28Z")
> [@congodwarf](#): > > What am [I](http://s862.photobucket.com/albums/ab183/spike1380/?action=view¤t=bigweed.jpg)? > > I told my mom it’s most likely a very big weed but she wants to know which weed specifically. For other elder Dopers, the “I” in “What am I?” is a link to a photo 😉 Kind of hard to see in the post. **congodwarf** , it could be one of at least 3 weeds I have on my property right now. It’s very hard to tell from the photo. Any more descriptive information? ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2012, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-planty-question/625003/4 "2012-06-13T12:16:38Z")
Not at the moment. I’ll try to get some more from her. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2012, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-planty-question/625003/5 "2012-06-13T12:26:51Z")
> [@congodwarf](#): > > Not at the moment. I’ll try to get some more from her. If she’s in MA, UMass has a pretty good [herbarium](http://extension.umass.edu/landscape/weed-herbarium) website, but it’s not a lot of help if you don’t know what family the plant falls into. Still fun to look at, though. ---
**Author:** ![Jamodu\_Green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Jamodu\_Green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamodu_Green)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2012, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-planty-question/625003/6 "2012-06-13T12:55:03Z")
I think it’s a sapling, possibly a maple. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2012, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-planty-question/625003/7 "2012-06-13T13:02:10Z")
> [@Jamodu\_Green](#): > > I think it’s a sapling, possibly a maple. No, that’s pretty clearly herbaceous, not a woody plant. It is not a tree. I’m leaning towards a hogweed. ---
**Author:** ![Bewildebeest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bewildebeest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bewildebeest)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2012, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-planty-question/625003/8 "2012-06-13T13:45:05Z")
It looks similar to herbaceous hibiscus species I have grown, but I don’t remember which one. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2012, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-planty-question/625003/9 "2012-06-13T14:21:31Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > I’m leaning towards a hogweed. Then you’re leaning in the right direction: [Heracleum sphondylium - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Hogweed) ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-planty-question/625003/10 "2012-06-14T02:49:08Z")
I was talking to my mom today and asked her for more info. It would have been nice if she had given me the whole story yesterday. Apparently it’s about 95% likely that it’s a hibiscus, after all it’s growing in the exact spot where my stepdad planted one last year. :smack: She insisted it was a weed. He insisted it was a hibiscus. They decided to ask me since I took a botany class so apparently I’m an expert. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-planty-question/625003/11 "2012-06-14T12:24:47Z")
Yup, it looks like a hardy hibiscus. They tend to come up late in spring, after you think they’ve kicked the bucket.