# Can someone ID this plant?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 28, 2005, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-id-this-plant/332995 "2005-11-28T03:01:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-id-this-plant/332995/1 "2005-11-28T03:01:14Z")
Just found this image from a couple years ago. Forgot to ask back then, and I never did find out what this is. Any clues? SE Wisconsin, Milwaukee area. [Top Photo.](http://winepictures.blogspot.com/) I don’t remember what, if anything, came out of the pods. As far as I know, I didn’t see any body snatchers around, but you never can tell. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-id-this-plant/332995/2 "2005-11-28T03:29:58Z")
Looks like a [Pawpaw](http://www.pawpaw.kysu.edu/) to me. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-id-this-plant/332995/3 "2005-11-28T03:38:16Z")
How big are the pods? Did they pop opens when you touched them? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-id-this-plant/332995/4 "2005-11-28T04:47:40Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Looks like a [Pawpaw](http://www.pawpaw.kysu.edu/) to me. Pawpaw trees are pretty rare in Wisconsin. Their fruit also lacks the 3 fold symmetry that **Uncommon** ’s pods have. I don’t know what the plant is, but it’s not wild cucumber, bur cucumber, or datura, all of which have large pods and grow in southern Wisconsin. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-id-this-plant/332995/5 "2005-11-28T05:51:38Z")
Pods don’t ring a bell… can you decribe the flowers? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-id-this-plant/332995/6 "2005-11-28T06:11:36Z")
Definitely not a pawpaw. Is it in the wild, or in a garden? ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-id-this-plant/332995/7 "2005-11-28T12:04:41Z")
Not a Paw Paw, for sure. The pods were only about the size of **peanuts**. (Those are Kiwi leaves in the background.) The entire plant was only about four feet tall at the time of the photo and I don’t think it got much bigger. It appeared to be a wild plant, unless the previous homeowner planted it, however, I have not seen it since. I posted another photo of it in the link, if that helps. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-id-this-plant/332995/8 "2005-11-28T12:06:05Z")
> [@elelle](#): > > Pods don’t ring a bell… can you decribe the flowers? I don’t recall any, I think the pods just dried up the way they were and sort of broke apart. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-id-this-plant/332995/9 "2005-11-28T13:06:00Z")
I was going to suggest a Hary Kiwi, but I can’t see much in the picture. I could be anything that can grow in the state, it looks like an urban planting, not wild. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-id-this-plant/332995/10 "2005-11-28T13:11:53Z")
> [@Harmonious Discord](#): > > I was going to suggest a Hary Kiwi, but I can’t see much in the picture. I could be anything that can grow in the state, it looks like an urban planting, not wild. Click on the photos in the link for a larger image. It’s not part of the Kiwi community, far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-id-this-plant/332995/11 "2005-11-28T15:15:45Z")
I examined the photos in a photo editing program and I don’t think it’s the hardy kiwi any longer. I was rushed by someone again, and hit post. I am not going to post when being hurried along anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-id-this-plant/332995/12 "2005-11-28T18:04:11Z")
Might as well bump this for the afternoon crowd. Frankly, I’m surprised no-one has a clue so far. I’m sure it would be easier to identify with the leaves on it… I also thought the pods would be a dead give away for someone. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-id-this-plant/332995/13 "2005-11-28T19:42:29Z")
The best identification for many plants is the flower. The plant doesn’t look very woody. I see alternating leaves and branching going on. Is it growing in a moist area? ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-id-this-plant/332995/14 "2005-11-28T20:22:58Z")
What you have there is the remains of what is called by a bunch of names, often Wild Prairie Indigo. It blooms in mid-summer in southern Wisconsin with spikes of white flowers, and by the end of summer, all that’s left is those pods, which have darkened considerably from their green summer color. The scientific name is _Baptisia leucantha,_ FWIW. It’s a pretty stark prairie plant, hardy and easily noticed in a large prairie. They stand out among the smaller forbs. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-id-this-plant/332995/15 "2005-11-28T20:32:38Z")
I only minutes ago figured out that no leaves were part of the plant. It kept derailing me. I had considered a false indigo, because of the darker pod and that the pods were trilateral. Then I’d see the couple leave in the middle and decide I was wrong. Good to see it solved. ---
**Author:** ![Bewildebeest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bewildebeest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bewildebeest)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-id-this-plant/332995/16 "2005-11-28T20:45:58Z")
It looks more to me like[Yucca filamentosa](http://www.bennyskaktus.dk/332.htm). Here is a closer picture of the [fruit.](http://www.bennyskaktus.dk/images/Yucca/Yucca_filamentosa_332_fruit_2003_08_18_02.JPG) It’s kind of hard to tell when you don’t have a the lower part with the leaves. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-id-this-plant/332995/17 "2005-11-28T20:49:49Z")
IT’s pretty scraggly to be yucca, isn’t it? It sure looks like indigo from the stems. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-id-this-plant/332995/18 "2005-11-28T21:23:02Z")
Thanks guys. [Here is a nice shot of the Baptisia Leucantha.](http://www.nicerweb.com/doc/class/pix/SPRINGBROOK/2005_07_09/Baptisia_leucantha.jpg) Mine didn’t have the symmetrical beauty of the linked image, does that matter much? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-id-this-plant/332995/19 "2005-11-28T21:37:35Z")
Pretty sure it’s not [Baptisia.](http://www.bigeastern.com/eotp/images/baptisia_alba_greenpods.jpg) Baptisia has more stalk-like stems, and its pods are bi-lateral. It’s in the pea family; it’s pods are very pea like. The person who suggested Yucca made me literally slap my head. It’s definitely Yucca. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2005, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-id-this-plant/332995/20 "2005-11-28T22:11:42Z")
Here’s a picture of [_Yucca filamentosa_ L. Pods](http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/Syllabus2/factsheet.cfm?ID=822). It’s pretty [rare in Wisconsin.](http://www.botany.wisc.edu/wisflora/pictures/handmap/YUCFIL.gif). [_Yucca flaccida_ Haw.](http://www.botany.wisc.edu/wisflora/scripts/detail.asp?SpCode=YUCFLA&Genus=Yucca&Family=Agavaceae&Species=flaccida&Common=Adam%27s+needle%2C+beargrass%2C+yucca) is a little more common. The distribution map doesn’t show it near Milwaukee, but the origin is “Introduced - escaped” so it could appear elsewhere. Looking at the original linked picture " The hell is this thing?", there _are_ a few yucca-like leaves at the bottom of the photo.