Hello, first post so please excuse me if i'm posting in the wrong forum.

I have just moved into a new house with my wife and daughters, we have a nice garden but its been a bit neglected over the years by the previous owner and whilst going over it my wife noticed we have an abundance of a strange plant that we dont recognise. It looks a bit mushroom like but its 'cap' is hard, and when mowing the lawn my wife said that it looked like it emited smoke or spores.
One of our main worries is for our young daughter who will be starting to use the garden in the summer and we want to know what this plant is, if its dangerous and how to get rid of it. Any help identifying it will be most appreciated.

Here are a couple of pictures I took of this mystery

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...2010103sml.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...2010105sml.jpg

HytestA said:

I have just moved into a new house with my wife and daughters, we have a
nice garden but its been a bit neglected over the years by the previous
owner and whilst going over it my wife noticed we have an abundance of a
strange plant that we dont recognise. It looks a bit mushroom like but
its 'cap' is hard, and when mowing the lawn my wife said that it looked
like it emited smoke or spores.

Yes, it is emitting spores. Equisetum (horsetail, scouring rush) are plants
that reproduce by spores rather than seeds. They are often referred to as
'living fossils' as they were the dominant type of land-plant hundreds of
millions of years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equisetum

One of our main worries is for our young daughter who will be starting
to use the garden in the summer and we want to know what this plant is,
if its dangerous and how to get rid of it. Any help identifying it will
be most appreciated.

It's not particularly dangerous for humans, though it can be toxic to
sheep and horses as a contaminant in hay.

The 'getting rid of it' is going to be very hard. The underground part of
the plant is wiry and tenacious and herbicides like Roundup not particularly
effective (it helps to bruise the horsetails before spraying).

http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/hrsetail.htm

http://www.gardenguides.com/854-horsetail-weed.html

--
Pat in Plymouth MI

"Vegetables are like bombs packed tight with all kinds of important
nutrients..." --Largo Potter, Valkyria Chronicles

email valid but not regularly monitored

Thank you Pat for your help, looks like im going to have fun removing this

Pat Kiewicz wrote:
HytestA said:

I have just moved into a new house with my wife and daughters, we
have a nice garden but its been a bit neglected over the years by
the previous owner and whilst going over it my wife noticed we have
an abundance of a strange plant that we dont recognise. It looks a
bit mushroom like but its 'cap' is hard, and when mowing the lawn my
wife said that it looked like it emited smoke or spores.

Yes, it is emitting spores. Equisetum (horsetail, scouring rush) are
plants that reproduce by spores rather than seeds. They are often
referred to as 'living fossils' as they were the dominant type of
land-plant hundreds of millions of years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equisetum

One of our main worries is for our young daughter who will be
starting to use the garden in the summer and we want to know what
this plant is, if its dangerous and how to get rid of it. Any help
identifying it will be most appreciated.

It's not particularly dangerous for humans, though it can be toxic to
sheep and horses as a contaminant in hay.

The 'getting rid of it' is going to be very hard. The underground
part of the plant is wiry and tenacious and herbicides like Roundup
not particularly effective (it helps to bruise the horsetails before
spraying).

I've had better luck with weed-b-gon than roundup on horsetail.