This popped up in our zinnia bed. I searched my Texas wildflower book and came up with nothing. The flowers are vaguely like Foxglove, but the leaves are huge! I measured one and it is 6" across. Can anyone identify this mystery flower for me? I'm just hoping it isn't something that will shorten my lifespan!
Toni, you nailed it! I am the proud mama of a Devil's Claw. Heaven knows how it got here, but it's leaving soon since it is invasive. Thank you! I don't have that wildflower book, but I'll be looking for it. Thank you for the reference (like I really need another book!) Ronni, oh yes. Ever hear of Belladonna, otherwise known as Deadly Nightshade?
Ronnie, not only Nightshade, Foxglove contains Digitalis, the heart medicine and is poisonous....don't go nibbling on that one either. Oleander is in the Dogbane family of plants and is one of the most poisonous commonly grown garden plants. Jane I also have.... Texas Wildflowers by Campbell and Lynn Loughmiller and Landscaping with Native Plants of Texas and the Southwest by George O. Miller I have had them for years so they may not be easily available, I found mine at Half Price Books. Proboscidea louisianica is in our database lonely and forlorn, forgotten by all and tearing up as I type.....would you mind uploading your photo it's page and any information you know about it. Thanks much.
Toni, will add to the database soon. I have a good photo, but very little information except that it is an invasive plant.
A native can't invade its' own territory. It's a native. That doesn't necessarily mean you want it in your garden, but it's not invading. http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=PRLO
Wow. The things you learn here! I knew Oleander was poisonous (there's a movie starring Michelle Pfeiffer, I think it's called White Oleander, which is where I learned that ) I knew belladonna could be fatal, but I'd never heard of Deadly Nightshade, nor did I know that digitalis was derived from Foxglove. Wow.
Hi Jane. A nice looking plant and it also can be an excitement seeing a totally strange one appear out of the blue. Have had this happen many times and two years ago a lovely deep blue Larkspur appeared in our plot - still with us. I have read that many plants seeds can lay dormant in the ground for years until some disturbance or action will re-trigger their growth. Heres a strange one. We have a very nice tallish water/riverside plant grows here called Himalayan Balsam - has a pinkish helmet shaped flower - looks great as a group. ( Balsamita balsamitoides??) Pal of mine across the road had never ever in the many years he had lived in he's house grown this plant. He had a border all around an area of grass on one side against a wall as a back garden. One Autumn he decided he would burn up some old plantwood and lit a large-ish fire on one part of the border burning the soil surface black. Now the next spring the whole area of where the fire had been was covered with seedlings of the Balsam - the seeds must have been there for years and he figured the heat of the fire set them going again. I have given seeds a period in the Fridge to simulate a cold winter and help germination - Auriculas I think. Just for interest this. Best wishes. Syd.
"Invasive plant" is a name for a species that has become a weed pest, a plant which grows aggressively, spreads and displaces other plants. While invasives tend to be non-natives having arrived from other continents (those are often referred to as exotic, alien, introduced or nonnative invasives), a small number of invasives are "native", meaning they were here before the arrival of Europeans but became aggressive after the landscape was altered. If they are aggressive to begin with and at sometime they are freed from environmental, pest and disease constraints they can become an invader.
Being outside its' native range is part of the definition of an invasive plant. What is an Invasive Species? An invasive plant has the ability to thrive and spread aggressively outside its native range. A naturally aggressive plant may be especially invasive when it is introduced to a new habitat. - https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/plants/main.shtml
