This gangly deciduous shrub ? came from California Rare Fruit Grower's seed bank 10-15 years ago as I recall. Unfortunately the tag was lost long ago. Please help me know if I should take this to the tropics , keep it in a pot in Virginia (in a greenhouse for the winter) or plant it in the ground in zone 8B? I have no clue what it is! Thanks! By the way, Hurricane Irene is hitting us in Virginia Beach, VA USA right now (and I have no idea why we still have power) but thought it was a good time to try to I.D. my two mystery plants...
This mystery plant now has a single interestingly twisted pod. Maybe that will help me track down its name. I'll save seeds if it matures. Please pass on any suggestions. Thanks!
Today I was given 2 possibilities: Helicteres isora and Helicteres guazumifolia. I saw photos on the internet that matched the first, but I was reminded that photos on the internet are frequently wrong....
I would recommend you go to trusted learned sites. This site shows botanical illustration of Helicteres guazumifolia. http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=He...tbnw=133&start=12&ndsp=12&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:12 This shows small tubular flowers, that look very different from your pics.. http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=He...4&tbnw=192&start=0&ndsp=12&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0 http://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/bioinformatics/dfm/metas/view/22475 Compare that to Helicteres isora, which looks a good match. http://keys.trin.org.au:8080/key-se...7080d04/media/Html/taxon/Helicteres_isora.htm http://toptropicals.com/catalog/uid/Helicteres_isora.htm http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=93538&flora_id=2 http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=He...m=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1272&bih=531
Thank you! I agree, H. isora appears to be a perfect match. Thanks for all the great sites and information!
