WHat's this growing on my lawn? (lawns, bugs, grass, tree)
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I suspect it may be crocus corms. Squirrels like to steal all kinds of bulbs from other people's gardens and then re-plant them in lawns where there aren't any, so that's probably how the corms got there. It's very common for the crocus bulbs to then propagate other corms and spread themselves in patches through lawns. If that's what it is I doubt you'll be able to completely eradicate them all if you don't want them there. But they are harmless to the garden and easy to mow down along with the rest of your grass when they pop up in your lawn. Most people like the appearance of crocuses in their lawns as one of the first colourful, hopeful harbingers of spring.
If your dog digs up the bulbs (naughty dog!) and eats them the toxicity depends on what kind of crocus it is. Spring blooming crocus are rarely really toxic but may cause mild vomiting and diarrhea. Fall blooming crocuses which are a different species of crocus are much more toxic to dogs if they eat the bulbs. Here is some information about 5 types of bulbs that are harmful if dogs eat them: https://homeguides.sfgate.com/garden...ogs-26661.html
The way to identify the type of bulb - See the flakey overlapping scales on the outside of the bulbs in your pictures. That means it is a corm. Other types of species 'bulbs' include tubers, tuberous roots, rhizomes and 'bulblets' and they don't have the flakey overlapping scales on the outside of the bulb and all have different shapes from each other.
If it's not crocus you will find out next spring what they are when they grow. Some of the plants that grow from corms include crocosmia, gladiolus, crocus, freesia, irises, even some types of bananas come from corms. Here is some information about plants that produce corms. https://homeguides.sfgate.com/flower...rms-63052.html
I suspect it may be crocus corms. Squirrels like to steal all kinds of bulbs from other people's gardens and then re-plant them in lawns where there aren't any, so that's probably how the corms got there. It's very common for the crocus bulbs to then propagate other corms and spread themselves in patches through lawns. If that's what it is I doubt you'll be able to completely eradicate them all if you don't want them there. But they are harmless to the garden and easy to mow down along with the rest of your grass when they pop up in your lawn. Most people like the appearance of crocuses in their lawns as one of the first colorful, hopeful harbingers of spring.
If your dog digs up the bulbs (naughty dog!) and eats them the toxicity depends on what kind of crocus it is. Spring blooming crocus are rarely really toxic but may cause mild vomiting and diarrhea. Fall blooming crocuses which are a different species of crocus are much more toxic to dogs if they eat the bulbs. Here is some information about 5 types of bulbs that are harmful if dogs eat them: https://homeguides.sfgate.com/garden...ogs-26661.html
The way to identify the type of bulb - See the flakey overlapping scales on the outside of the bulbs in your pictures. That means it is a corm. Other types of species 'bulbs' include tubers, tuberous roots, rhizomes and 'bulblets' and they don't have the flakey overlapping scales on the outside of the bulb and all have different shapes from each other.
If it's not crocus you will find out next spring what they are when they grow. Some of the plants that grow from corms include crocosmia, gladiolus, crocus, freesia, irises, even some types of bananas come from corms. Here is some information about plants that produce corms. https://homeguides.sfgate.com/flower...rms-63052.html
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Thanks for the info.
Surprisingly(?) I have never seen a squirrel in my yard. So I doubt a squirrel brought it there.
Could they have been in the sod when planted 6 mos ago?
Thus far, my dog has ignored them - wood chips are much more to her liking! :-)
THey've been more of a bother at this point because they are hard and fairly large, and I am afraid the dog or a person may step on one & slide & sprain an ankle. THey are also quite hard underfoot, and we do walk barefoot there.
Could they have been in the sod when planted 6 mos ago? .......
...... THey've been more of a bother at this point because they are hard and fairly large, and I am afraid the dog or a person may step on one & slide & sprain an ankle. THey are also quite hard underfoot, and we do walk barefoot there.
Yes, they could have been quite small (smaller than tiny peas) and not at all noticeable in the sod when it was first put down. They grow bigger and develop more new bulbs over the summer months.
If you are in a cold growing zone then usually in autumn and winter all bulbs will do their best to sink themselves down 2 or 3 inches deeper into the soil to protect themselves from freezing temperatures at the surface. Then as the temperatures warm up towards spring the bulbs push themselves back up closer to the surface again in order to start blooming.
Since you are in Florida, a warm zone, you might be able to find and dig up the biggest of the bulbs over the winter months, since they may be more prominent and closer to the surface.
Here is some information about how to kill bulbs in the ground, but I doubt that you will get rid of all of them without doing some damage to your lawn too:
You could very well be right about that. After seeing your post I just looked up another type of ground orchid, Spathoglottis plicata, an introduced invasive terrestrial species to Florida that grows from corm-like bulbs that look very much like the corms in OP's pictures. Here's full information about that type of ground orchid: https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/117275
Quote:
...... S. plicata, in common with many other orchids, produces thousands of minute dust-like seeds that are mainly wind-dispersed (Arditti, 1992). In addition, this species can be dispersed by dividing rhizomes, tubers, corms or bulbs (Dave’s Garden Website: http://davesgarden.com/).......
Coachgns, for better identification is it possible for you to dig out some of the whole corms in your yard and post some close up pictures of them laid out on a piece of white paper towel?
Also, of the ones you've found in your lawn so far, have any of them produced any foliage? If so, could you describe the foliage?
You could very well be right about that. After seeing your post I just looked up another type of ground orchid, Spathoglottis plicata, an introduced invasive terrestrial species to Florida that grows from corm-like bulbs that look very much like the corms in OP's pictures. Here's full information about that type of ground orchid: https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/117275
Coachgns, for better identification is it possible for you to dig out some of the whole corms in your yard and post some close up pictures of them laid out on a piece of white paper towel?
Also, of the ones you've found in your lawn so far, have any of them produced any foliage? If so, could you describe the foliage?
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THat's a good idea - I'll try to dig one out. New house, and we don't have lots of needed tools yet, but something from the kitchen should work.
THe more I am researching, the more I think orchids of some kind.
(Now to just figure out the invasive bugs we found in our freezer - little tiny things - circuit breaker blew while we were away. Really gross!) - Been quite a week! :-(
Here are photos of the bulbs - quite an extensive rhizome network
Thanks, good photos and you did a great job with the well varied selection you took up.
With the network of rhizomes and roots like that those are not crocuses. Crocus corms have thinner, thread-like fibrous roots and thinner, longer contractile roots and their corms are covered with visible overlapping sheaths and scales on the entire surface from top to bottom. Yours do not.
Since they don't grow here and I've never seen anything else quite like that here, I cannot say with certainty but I think Tree Zoo may be right about them being ground orchid corms / bulbs. Yours have very thick, strong contractile roots (the contractiles are what are used to push or pull bulbs higher up or deeper down into the soil), which look very much like what I would expect more from the thick, spongy contractile roots of both terrestrial orchids and aerial epiphyte orchids.
If you don't get a more positive ID from somebody else here with experience with these things, if it was me I would take those specimens and any others you care to dig up to a nursery or botanical specialist for a positive ID. Then you can also find out if they are toxic to dogs, and if there is some method to kill them without harming your lawn.
I grow aerial epiphytic orchids and I know that some types of orchids do have up to 20 different alkaloids in them, some of which are quite toxic to ingest, others of which can cause fairly severe allergic reactions just from touching them, and some of which if consumed can cause a hallucinogenic and body rush effect that is called an "orchid rush". So better to be safe than sorry if you can get a good ID on those in your lawn.
Thanks, good photos and you did a great job with the well varied selection you took up.
With the network of rhizomes and roots like that those are not crocuses. Crocus corms have thinner, thread-like fibrous roots and thinner, longer contractile roots and their corms are covered with visible overlapping sheaths and scales on the entire surface from top to bottom. Yours do not.
Since they don't grow here and I've never seen anything else quite like that here, I cannot say with certainty but I think Tree Zoo may be right about them being ground orchid corms / bulbs. Yours have very thick, strong contractile roots (the contractiles are what are used to push or pull bulbs higher up or deeper down into the soil), which look very much like what I would expect more from the thick, spongy contractile roots of both terrestrial orchids and aerial epiphyte orchids.
If you don't get a more positive ID from somebody else here with experience with these things, if it was me I would take those specimens and any others you care to dig up to a nursery or botanical specialist for a positive ID. Then you can also find out if they are toxic to dogs, and if there is some method to kill them without harming your lawn.
I grow aerial epiphytic orchids and I know that some types of orchids do have up to 20 different alkaloids in them, some of which are quite toxic to ingest, others of which can cause fairly severe allergic reactions just from touching them, and some of which if consumed can cause a hallucinogenic and body rush effect that is called an "orchid rush". So better to be safe than sorry if you can get a good ID on those in your lawn.
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Well, since I live only 2 blocks from a major botanical garden, and their Orchid show just opened this weekend, I think I have a pretty good place to take them! :-)
My guess is Chinese Orchid.
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