Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum

Plant Identification => Plant Identification Questions and Answers => Topic started by: Lauren on December 04, 2006, 08:16:29 AM

Title: Mystery volunteer flower
Post by: Lauren on December 04, 2006, 08:16:29 AM: Hi again all! This is my first post on the 'new & improved' forums. Lets see how I go.

This mystery flower came as a hitchhiker in a pot of Epimediums, and I decided to put them in their own pot when it came to re-potting time because they looked like Primula rosettes. But now they they are flowering, I'm not so sure. The flowers don't look very Primula-like to me, but then I have fairly limited experience with Primulas. The colour is a pretty shell pink & the flower spikes (which came out of the middle of the 20cm-wide rosettes) are fairly tall, about maybe 40cm? Or something. They are blooming now, early summer down under. There are two photos.

Thanks all! :-)

Lauren
Title: Re: Mystery volunteer flower
Post by: mark smyth on December 04, 2006, 08:37:24 AM: It's a Verbascum sp. Welcome to the new forums
Title: Re: Mystery volunteer flower
Post by: Paul T on December 04, 2006, 11:06:33 AM: Lauren,

I'd definitely agree with mark. And a rather nice individual it is too. How does it "look" in the garden? Is it thin enough that it gets lost, or does it stand out a bit amongst everything else? I love the Verbascums, particularly the small yellow species which can reputedly become a weed in the garden. It flowers now here and provides a welcome splash of colour. If you are liking your little volunteer I hope it seeds and/or propagates for you so that you can enjoy it in future years. Good Luck!! 8)
Title: Re: Mystery volunteer flower
Post by: Lesley Cox on December 04, 2006, 08:37:03 PM: Nice that you've joined us all Lauren. Keep it up.

Your verbascum looks like one of the large range of Verbascum phoeniceum hybrids. They come in pinks, reds, all shades of purple and I have a lovely soft pearly grey as well as white and flushed whites. They're all good and reliable and will produce copious seed, coming more or less true unless you have several colours planted together. If you dig a well established plant and leave a bit of root behind, that will sprout up too. They look best in a group of either single or mixed colours.
Title: Re: Mystery volunteer flower
Post by: Geebo on December 07, 2006, 08:02:59 PM: Hi There All,
I got this plant last Summer but the lady who gave it to me was not sure to give it a name,she tought to be a smilacina ?? I have tried to find out wich
plant it is but are not sure as yet,could it be Maianthemum.
Please help !! :) :)
Title: Re: Mystery volunteer flower
Post by: mark smyth on December 07, 2006, 09:26:54 PM: My guess would have been Tricyrtis aka toad lily
Title: Re: Mystery volunteer flower
Post by: Maggi Young on December 07, 2006, 10:47:23 PM: Hi, Geebo, welcome to the Forum. I'm with Mark.. I reckon Tricyrtis.
I like your pencil sketch ID, by the way !
Title: Re: Mystery volunteer flower
Post by: Paul T on December 08, 2006, 02:48:32 AM: Howdy,

It's a bit thin-stemmed for a Tricyrtis I would have thought. My Smilacina doesn't have any of the hair. The fine stem and leaf arrangement could also be something along the lines of Disporum perhaps, although can't remember if there are any hairs on that genus? How tall is the plant? Does it flower?
Title: Re: Mystery volunteer flower
Post by: Geebo on December 08, 2006, 08:33:37 PM: This is a different picture of the plant,dont think it is a tricytris,when I got the plant there had been tiny white or cream flowers on the tip,they produced no seeds though.I have read "The Explorers Garden" by Daniel J.Hinkley from the famous Heronswood Nursery and get fairly near to Smilacena,just cant find him mention a variegated plant.The plant is now completely in its dormant state, and I will have to wait until spring to see if it survives :-\ Thanks for all your research.
Can anyone tell me how to use the buttons on top??
:) :) :) ;)
Title: Re: Mystery volunteer flower
Post by: Maggi Young on December 08, 2006, 08:41:13 PM: Hi, Geebo, well, I'm not any further forward on your mystery plant though now I'm leaning back towards Smilacina!
If you are asking about the Home Help Search Admin Profile My Messages Calendar Members Links Logout buttons at the top of the page, I suggest you click 'em amd see what happens! If you can do something with them, a window will open for you, or not, as the case may be!! The HELP button has got useful tips about all sorts of things to do with the forum and its uses... also have a read of the General threads on the front page of the forum... that's the first topic of all, not the General pages that are part of the open forum. There's handy hints there, too. Hope I have managed to make this clearer than mud.. if not, ask again!
Best Wishes,
Maggi
Title: Re: Mystery volunteer flower
Post by: Geebo on December 10, 2006, 11:10:27 AM: Hi Maggi, :D :D,
Thanks for the info,but im still in the mud about the use of the toolbar just above the emocotions,when clicking on them I cant see the use of them.by clicking on insert image only get printing in the message??? ??? ???
Got a nice new digital camera from Santa so im off to get this set up and go,hopefully I get a few new pictures to post soon,have seen a few Hellebores seen showing buts,looks promising.
The weather is realy awfull here for the last few weeks rain and storm.
Geebo.
Title: Re: Mystery volunteer flower
Post by: mark smyth on December 10, 2006, 02:28:46 PM: a plant ID really changed when the whole plant is seen

Geebo the buttons are quite simple

B is for bold text
I is for italics
U is for unlining text
~~S is for scoring out a word~~
M is for scrolling marquee
A is for font/text size
The world add a link http://www.snowdropinfo.com (http://www.snowdropinfo.com)

I haven't tried the rest yet
Title: Re: Mystery volunteer flower
Post by: Maggi Young on December 10, 2006, 04:09:49 PM: AH, I see what you mean, now, Geebo. You will not see the emoticons etc displayed in your post, they only show properly in the actual page. The other stuff Mark is talking about just shows as code in your preview post. Bit confusing, I suppose!
Glad Santa has come already to Tipperary... I expect it's because he has so much to do, he has started early!! Hope he doesn't miss me out!
Title: Re: Mystery volunteer flower
Post by: Geebo on December 10, 2006, 08:42:11 PM: Hoi,Mark
Its the rest im after,just cant to work that out.
The middle line just above the emoticons,the squares he. ;) ;)

Hello Lauren,
Going back to your Mystery plant,I think its one of the "Verbascum Chaixii" I had that plant growing some time,and is knowing to self seed sometime to easy.Nice plant though.

Geebo.
Title: Re: Mystery volunteer flower
Post by: Maggi Young on December 10, 2006, 08:54:18 PM: Geebo, I wouldn't worry too much, I doubt you'll ever need those buttons when posting a reply!!
This Help page may help! http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=help;page=post
All these symbols that we see when clicking to open a posting are explained there.

The first one is to add a Flash ...which I think is a kind of movie clip file!
The second is for adding an image from elsewhere on the web
The third is the Globe: as Mark showed, that's for adding a hyperlink to a website
The fourth is to insert from an email... again I think!!
And so on... frankly, I have only the slightest notion what the rest are for, but I'm not letting it bother me... I don't know how the television works either, but I get a lot of fun from that, nonetheless!!
Cheers,
Maggi
Title: Re: Mystery volunteer flower
Post by: Geebo on December 11, 2006, 09:22:52 PM: Hi Maggi.
Thanks for the sound advice,sometimes I need that push :o :o
Hope you dont think im a complete computer dummy ;) ;) ;)

See you Soon,
Geebo.
Title: Re: Mystery volunteer flower
Post by: Maggi Young on December 11, 2006, 09:33:50 PM: Nae probs, Geebo, as we say in these parts!
We still haven't got an ID for your plant, though, have we??!! :-\
Title: Re: Mystery volunteer flower
Post by: Gene Mirro on December 12, 2006, 05:14:11 AM: I'm pretty sure it's Smilacina stellata. http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?stat=BROWSE&query_src=photos_flora_sci&where-genre=Plant&where-taxon=Smilacina+stellata (http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?stat=BROWSE&query_src=photos_flora_sci&where-genre=Plant&where-taxon=Smilacina+stellata)
Title: Re: Mystery volunteer flower
Post by: Geebo on December 13, 2006, 10:07:18 PM: Hi Gene,
Seen the pictures of Smilacena Stellata,We can be sure I have a Smilacena,but not to sure about the stellata,my own plant is heavy marked with yellow stripes over the whole lengt of the leave,also the stems are heavy covered with hairs,I do like the Stellata though.
Cheers,Geebo. ;)
Title: Re: Mystery volunteer flower
Post by: Geebo on December 17, 2006, 08:35:26 PM: Hi All,
Have been Googeling under "Maianthemum"Found Racemosum most matching my plant only the variegation is missing in the leaves.