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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 21, 2009 4:33:53 GMT
So frustrating ~~ you have a favored plant, but can never say, "Oh I love my _ _ _", because you don't know what it is. Or your neighbor has a plant you covet, but you can't ask for it by name at the nursery. Let's see if we can help each other out on this thread. Post items you'd like identified, and check out what others need to know. Here's one that's making me crazy. I've had it for a couple of years and only know (I think) that it's a member of the gesneriad family. It goes dormant but comes back bigger and stronger than ever. It's hard to get a picture of it because the yellow in the flowers is so excessively bright in a photo. The two photos were taken a couple of weeks apart. The earlier one (1st) more clearly shows the purple underside of the leaves. Help, please!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2009 10:57:37 GMT
It does look to be in the gesneriad family,one of the episcias (like an achimenes,which go dormant and come back strong). What are the stems like,is it a creeper? We'll figure it out yet.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 21, 2009 14:05:34 GMT
No, it's a strong upright grower. Here's a picture more or less natural size. The stems are somewhat like those of coleus, but not as definitely squared. The strap-like leaves are clivia.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2009 16:28:40 GMT
It looks poisonous.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 21, 2009 16:37:31 GMT
Huh? *looks up with mouth full of chewed leaves*
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 21, 2009 16:49:41 GMT
My initial thought was episcia because of the leaves. What's throwing me though are the bracts, the way the flower stalks emerge from the leaf axils, and the way they're clustered.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2009 17:29:39 GMT
I'll be pouring over EXOTICA until I find it. Another compulsion in my life.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2009 14:35:35 GMT
Am working on it Bixa
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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2009 4:11:37 GMT
I went through ALL of Exotica today,found some remote possibilities but need to explore further online.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2009 18:47:54 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 30, 2009 0:59:20 GMT
You are not going to believe this!!!!!
I was walking down the street in Zaachila today and saw this growing on a vine. I took a picture so I could ask for identification! I haven't been home very long, so haven't loaded the photos onto the computer yet.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2009 1:04:34 GMT
I thought for sure you would know what this was!! Surely it's something edible and a seed fell from these fellas lunch. How weird! You've never seen it before?
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Post by onlymark on Feb 27, 2010 12:19:42 GMT
The following pictures are of my hedge. A section of it is dying but first I have to identify what it is. Any ideas?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2010 17:00:45 GMT
Hmmm... I've seen those flowers before, but I am not the gardener here.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 27, 2010 17:37:26 GMT
I don't know that plant at all. The die-back part is dramatic. It almost looks as though it was sprayed with something. Do you know if someone around where you live was using a weedkiller? Mark, if you have a good plant nursery in your area, you could take a piece of the flowering section, along with a sample of the part that's dieing. They might be able to help you. If you like, I can move this to the Putting Down Roots board, where maybe an informed gardener will be able to advise you. (besides, that board needs a plant identification thread) Lemme know.
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Post by auntieannie on Feb 27, 2010 17:38:08 GMT
Gosh! Mark, I dreamt of creating such a thread! Do you have access to my brain? I have definitely seen these all around the mediterranean. Can't think of a name, though.
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Post by onlymark on Feb 27, 2010 18:35:33 GMT
bixa - move at will, I have no problem wherever it is. Nobody here uses weed killer so I know it's not that. The funny thing is that at one time I had the impression that soon after the parts that flowered, errr, flowered, they then died off. But I can't say that for sure at all and it seems a bit unreasonable. I'm closely watching those bit that are now in flower though. Nurseries are few and far between here, it's not exactly a national pastime or a lush area. But I'll see.
annie - I have to admit it now. I can read your thoughts. And I'm not easily frightened, but oh boy. I never thought you were like that.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 27, 2010 23:13:50 GMT
Coming soon ~~ hot nights and steamy days of a "nice" Swiss girl ....... brought to you by onlyMark, the man who revealed what baboons get up to when they think no one's watching!
Thanks, Mark (not for the above, I am a nice girl). The thread should stay more alive and be easier to find down there in the garden area. I am going to try to find some answers, too.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 27, 2010 23:25:57 GMT
I found this, although their website is no more. Looks like they could definitely sell you something to kill the poor hedge:
Export of ( Indoor, Out Plants, Fruit Trees, Fresh Fruits, Vegetables, Cut Flowers ), Agent And Major Import of Agricultural Chemicals ( Insecticides, Pesticid And Fertilizers )
EGYPT GREEN FARMS. (CENTECH) 6, Zakaria Risk St., - Zamalik,, Cairo 90 EGYPT
Tel: +20 227 37 03 71 faxFax: +20 227 37 03 76
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Post by onlymark on Feb 28, 2010 7:39:28 GMT
Something has got twisted somewhere. I don't want to kill the hedge, you knew that didn't you? I want it to live and I was eventually trying to see what it's lifecycle is/was so I know if what is happening is natural or man made. But if I do need fertilizer they'll be the ones to contact. Where they are, Zamalek, is way in the town centre from me and anywhere between a 1 and 2 hour drive depending on traffic. I also suspect, knowing Zamalek, that it is only an office., not a nursery. It could well help though and thanks.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2010 11:52:11 GMT
I am able to affirm that it is not Egyptian privet. That's a start.
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Post by onlymark on Feb 28, 2010 14:12:43 GMT
Aha! Funnily enough I was looking at a web site to identify the leaves, and the closest I thought was privet. Not that then?
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 28, 2010 14:57:12 GMT
I was being facetious about the killing, Mark. It's always sort of disgusting to see companies that make a killing, as it were, from promoting the joys of nature in order to sell stuff that murders it. I don't really know what plant exporters do, if they'd have an on-premises nursery.
Your best bet for identification is probably the flowers, since there will be too many plants with similar leaves.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2010 16:07:30 GMT
This is Egyptian privet.
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Post by onlymark on Feb 28, 2010 16:49:48 GMT
Yes, I can see the difference. It's not quite right. But it's pretty close, close enough that I think it must be part of the privet family. And henna is a big thing here still. I just need to look into this further. It would seem logical that it is part of that group. You're a good detective.
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Post by onlymark on Feb 28, 2010 16:50:49 GMT
bixa, yes the flowers may hold the key.
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Post by happytraveller on Mar 1, 2010 12:44:58 GMT
The leaves look like Oleander but the flowers don't... but I too have seen this plant around the mediterranean many times !
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2010 13:10:43 GMT
Yes, now I'm thinking that it might be part of the oleander family -- which is laurel.
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 1, 2010 15:03:41 GMT
Yes, now I'm thinking that it might be part of the oleander family -- which is laurel. Um ......... no. Oleander is sometimes called "rose-laurel", but it is definitely not a laurel. Always be wary of common names, which can be very misleading. When this plant is finally identified, part of its name might be something like "neriifolia", meaning that it has leaves resembling an oleander (Nerium oleander). However if you look at a close-up of oleander, you can see the leaves don't even grow from the stem in the same way as Mark's plant: www.goldmedalgrowers.com/images/NERIUM%20OLEANDER.JPGAlso, the flowers on the mystery hedge appear to be papery bracts -- radically different from the oleander flowers. I wish the Fazes would look in here -- they might well recognize it and they are keen on botanical identification.
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Post by onlymark on Mar 1, 2010 16:21:20 GMT
I am still grateful for all your efforts. I've been out to get my computer back from the repair shop and had difficulty sorting a couple of the settings out. If anyone needs any more photos I'm all to willing to oblige.
One thing I noticed today is with the flowers. They have three petals in a perfect triangle set up. What I mean is if you imagine the middle of the flower, each petal is at 120 degrees from the other, like a three bladed propeller.
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