I discovered a new plant?!?!

[Eli]

it looks nothing like those pics tho. it had leaves like  a plant would and those red things were like little berries...it was covered in them. the first one i found had lost like half of the red berries so i was able to see the deep purple color. the second one had all the berries and it was bright red. i went back like 4 days later and picked it, it had lost all berries except those two.

I know it looks nothing like the pics, but species wise it looks very similar to an opuntia.  There are thousands of different variants of opuntia, not to mention hybrids and shit.  Could be just about anything, it is really fucking hard to identify plants even with pictures.  I'd say there is only a fifty percent chance we will ID it without a botanist or a hardcore plant nerd.  Any around?

Oh yeah, those aren't berries, they are 'fruits' or inflorescences.

ah ok.

well its all good i was just curious about it since ive never seen it before. i appreciate the help tho. maybe in a year after winter and all that shit ill try to find another one and have an expert or something take a look at it.

[millionsofdeadcats]

When I first moved to indiana I saw an animal I never saw before.  The slugs that I remember growing up in the mahoning valley were small and tan.  The slug I encountered the first week I lived here was fully eight inches long, spotted like a leopard, and had a vaguely predatory shape. 

I freaked the fuck out and caught it, and took it to the local extension office.   I walked in all wide-eyed and earnest, and told the lady I found a very wierd species of slug, and gave her the box I had it in.  I left my number for them to call me and tell me what it was, but they never did.  I found out a day or two later that these were common local slugs and the people at the extension office probably laughed at my dumb ass.

[Eli]

When I first moved to indiana I saw an animal I never saw before.  The slugs that I remember growing up in the mahoning valley were small and tan.  The slug I encountered the first week I lived here was fully eight inches long, spotted like a leopard, and had a vaguely predatory shape. 

I freaked the fuck out and caught it, and took it to the local extension office.   I walked in all wide-eyed and earnest, and told the lady I found a very wierd species of slug, and gave her the box I had it in.  I left my number for them to call me and tell me what it was, but they never did.  I found out a day or two later that these were common local slugs and the people at the extension office probably laughed at my dumb ass.

lmao that shits funny....zomfg look what i found!!!!

yeah theyre everywhere....LMAO.

But ive lived in mn for 20 out of 24 years of my life and always lived in the woods pretty much. first time ever seeing anything even close to this. so colorful compared to all the green and brown i usually see.

[millionsofdeadcats]

lmao that shits funny....zomfg look what i found!!!!

yeah theyre everywhere....LMAO.

But ive lived in mn for 20 out of 24 years of my life and always lived in the woods pretty much. first time ever seeing anything even close to this. so colorful compared to all the green and brown i usually see.

What I want to fucking know is, why a slug needs leopard spots.  What, was it hiding in the tall grass to jump a wildebeest or some shit?  What the fuck?

[Eli]

to hide from timone and pumba of course

[Vulture]

Jack in the pulpit.

The mutant cactus-looking thing is the dried remnant of one of these:

[Vulture]

Here's the plant in bloom showing the stem structure described:



Fun game: Find someone you don't like and convince them to eat a jack in the pulpit root raw. There's enough oxalic acid in there to choke a horse.

[millionsofdeadcats]

Jack in the pulpit.

The mutant cactus-looking thing is the dried remnant of one of these:

nice one...so they were berries after all heh!

[Vulture]

My plant-fu east of the Mississippi is over 9000.

[fanglekai]

Here's the plant in bloom showing the stem structure described:



Fun game: Find someone you don't like and convince them to eat a jack in the pulpit root raw. There's enough oxalic acid in there to choke a horse.

I use Barkeepers friend to clean the ceramic stones I use to sharpen knives, because the oxalic acid works to dissolve steel particles. Not something I'd want in my mouth.

[John Smith]

Smoke the berries and see if you get high.

[Eli]

Finally.. thank you so much Vulture!! Thats exactly what it is...I was hoping someone would be able to understand my fucked up description of the leaves and shit.

Feels so good to finally know what this fuckin thing is...Thank you again

[Eli]

And when I ripped off that top piece there were these whitish clear fuzzy crystals all over and inside the hollow top thing and I guess those were oxalic acid crystals. Lol good thing I didnt do some dumb shit and try to eat it or smoke em or somethin...

[Eli]

http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ARTR

Thats exactly what it is...the growing conditions and everything are spot on.
Thanks again man.

[Rowan]

Seems that they are not very costly to buy online, actually not very rare and thrive in nearly any climate! An amazing plant.

http://www.everwilde.com/store/Arisaema-triphyllum-WildFlower-Seed.html