Here are some more plants (please help identify) 1) Many flowers, leaves had a pleasant odor when crushed. We think it is Doellingeria umbellata (white aster). 2) This medium sized tree had many purple juicy berries that smelled sweet when crushed. We think it may be some sort of cornus. 3) These trees were everywhere. My guess is populus (black poplar?). How do you tell the difference between the various elm trees and poplar? 4) This plant is always growing in my garden and I am always pulling it out. Would like to call it something other than that "stupid prickly weed". 5&6) There were a fair number of these flowers. The leaves were like plantain, I can't remember what they smelled like. The flower stalk is hollow. No idea what this is.
#2. A buckthorn, probably Purging Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica). #3. White Mulberry (Morus alba). #4. Creeping Thistle (Cirsium arvense).
2) Glad we did not eat the berries! 3) I thought this was a white mulberry (see photo). Both of these trees are in the same area. 4) I will probably still call it that stupid prickly weed. thank you.
They're both White Mulberry - this has just about the most variable leaf shape of any species of tree.
Yes, I think you are right. I looked this up and it is claimed to be an invasive weed in North America. http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/silaa3.htm Question for you botanists: If I stumble upon a plant like this in the wild and it is known to be an invasive weed should I rip it out or even tear off the flower heads to slow the spread? Is this pointless since it has already invaded this continent? My impulse is just to leave it alone and just accept the fact that now the native plants have to compete with the newer species since removing it will have a negligible impact. Ironically Europeans are not native to North America either, so who am I to judge- apparently by this definition I am a weed too.
The first will be an Aster of some sort - not too many white flowered ones (and this one isn't Aster umbellatus, so that one can be crossed off the list)