Sunday, June 17, 2012

Botanical inquiry

Does anybody know what this thing is? It sprouted in the front garden and it has interesting leaves, but I'm thinking of moving it (or throwing it away).



14 comments:

Minicapt said...

It's definitely a plant, probably the Green one.

Cheers

mojo said...

It's what the Hekawe indians used to call a "weed"...

JeffS said...

It's probably an endangered species, so expect the EPA and Fish & Wildlife Service to show up any day.

Yojimbo said...

The EPA may fly a drone over your house to see if your in compliance with the Clean Water Act.

rinardman said...

It looks like a young Mexican plant, and Obeyme says they're welcome here, so give it a job and a roof over it's head.

And some fertilizer.

rinardman said...

Oh, and be sure to take it to the polling place in November!

Anonymous said...

It looks to be a swamp hibiscus. It's native all the way up to the Chesapeake Bay and doesn't actually need a swamp. See the pics at Dave's Garden :
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1872/

Isophorone said...

I have a bunch of those things sprouting up as well. When I don't know what something is I take a sample to Betty's Azalea Ranch in Fairfax (near Rte. 29 and the FFX County Parkway).

Paco said...

Finally! Somebody with some plant knowledge. Thanks.

Paco said...

Anon: Actually, though, I checked on the swamp hibiscus, and that's something also know as a Texas star. I have a bunch of those growing in another section of the yard, and the leaves are similar but definitely different. Thanks anyway.

Anonymous said...

Deborah Leigh said....Paco, has Willie Nelson been in your neighborhood? Looks suspiciously like a new species of....I've only seen pictures, mind you. Always gotta do it bigger and different in TX!

mojo said...

http://toptropicals.com/pics/garden/m1/Podarki3/Hibiscus_coccineus077_016OlgaB.jpg

JeffS said...

Hard to compare your photo with Paco's, mojo (different scales), but I'd say not -- the leaf(?) pattern is different.

Then again, I'm notorious for my black thumb. I can barely keep my lawn alive.

RebeccaH said...

I'm with Deborah Leigh. My first thought was a subspecies of a particular plant that usually grows in the middle of deserted cornfields and woodlands, usually guarded by attack dogs and booby traps.