Anti-social plants (Images from today's walk-about)

Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum)

The "tell" to identifying this plant is seen if you zoom in by clicking the image. There are maroon or purplish splotches by some of the follicles on the stem.

Produces prolific amounts of seeds per plant.

The dead and dried stems still have enough toxin in them after weathering for three years to still be fatal if ingested. Symptoms are similar to curare.

Cow Parsnip (Heracleum maximum)

Hand included for scale

The juice is virtually harmless until exposed to UV light (like sunlight) at which point it causes burn-like blisters. One of the folk-names for this plant is Satan's Celery. It is surprisingly common across the United States. It IS EDIBLE but comes with warnings and caveats. One of the major issues is that it is sort-of easy to mistake Poison Hemlock for this plant even though the leaves on Poison Hemlock are lacy and the lobes on this species are few and the leaves are massive rather than lacy.

It is the larval food for a surprising number of butterflies and moths, including Swallowtail butterflies:

It is a host plant for the black swallowtail butterfly (Papilio polyxenes), short-tailed swallowtail butterfly (Papilio brevicauda), old world swallowtail butterfly (Papilio machaon), anise swallowtail butterfly (Papilio zelicaon), and the moths Eupithecia tripunctaria, Papaipema harrisii, Papaipema impecuniosa, Agonopterix clemensella, Agonopterix flavicomella, and Depressaria pastinacella   Wikipedia

I am contemplating "lifting" some of these seeds because I enjoy Swallowtail Butterflies.

Dogbane (Apocynum androsaemifolium)

Any plant with "...bane" as part of its name is generally toxic.

Dogbane is no exception. 

The plant is poisonous^[9] due to the cardiac glycosides and resins it contains.^[10] Escalating doses usually cause vomiting and diarrhea. Other symptoms include dizziness, colour hallucinations, cold sweats, and excessive urination. In extreme cases, the heart rate may slow before fatal convulsions.   Wikipedia

On the upside, it can be used as a contraceptive. It is most effective if administered to your daughter's boyfriend.

Dogbane is a prime nectar plant for adult butterflies.

ESCAPED 

This is the time of year to identify patches of feral/volunteer garlic as their scapes unfurl

Deer and other herbivores don't bother garlic very much. That gives it a competitive advantage over many other species.

Canadian Airforce

Very anti-social if you get too close to their young

I know where this is...

This is an unusual collection of plant species

The Quaking Aspen has a very broad range of sites it is happy on as long as it gets lots of sunlight; dry, wet...it doen't care. The Red Cedar is the odd-fellow because she hates wet-feet. The rose sprawled across the Red Cedar's branches is Rosa palustris or Swamp Rose and it is very rarely seen in medium or dry sites.

I liked the various shades of green and blue and the punctuation of the pink R. palustris blooms swooning in the arms of the Red Cedar. I am not an artsy guy, but this spoke to me.

On the other side of the pond (left side of image) is a dock and a paddle-boat.

I think this pond would look good with Wild Rice growing in it!