Hello. I just joined this forum; I'm happy someone directed me here. I hope that you can help out. A friend of mine has forgotten the name of a plant that she is growing. I have done some research for her, but have come up empty-handed. The person who told me about this forum, said that if it can't be identified by the members, it is unidentifiable. My fingers are crossed... Description of plant: Clump forming, about 12 - 18" tall, maybe 10" around. Long lived, grass like, non-invasive. Seeds are tiny and black and numerous, will start within 2 days indoors but does not self seed all over. Does quite well in full sun and dry conditions. Growing in a Zone 3 garden in Calgary. Photos: The plant in the garden. The clump, dug out of the ground. The flowers and stems. Close-up of the flowers. Thanks, in advance, for any and all guesses!
Sisyrinchium striatum isn't hardy below zone 7. And I don't think Iridaceae is the right direction, either. Check out the flower structure...five petals. I think it's in the Caryophyllaceae. It reminds me very much of Gypsophila, but I know of none with quite so grass-like leaves.
I think you're right with the Gypsophila, and it is likely Gypsophila paniculata. The grass-like foliage in the one photograph is from a grass planted in front of it, I think.
Appears to have 3 styles or one style with a three branches. This seems to point to Arenaria or Minuartia? I can't really make out whether the petals are notched? If so Silene might be a possibity. Harry
Again I posted without reloading the page. I do think that the Gypsophila paniculata is correct. (Black shiny seeds, scarious sepal margins.) I assume the style or stigma count was due to my poor eyesight. :) Also I was misled by the scale. Didn't think the flowers 1/16" to 1/8", but if that truly is a grass leaf then it fits. Harry
Thanks for all the suggested names. I have a few more photos and description: Petals - 5 rounded, not markedly notched or heart shaped. Hard to tell if it is 3 styles or 1 with 3 branches, starts as what appears to be one (1ml) at most, but separates at the ovary, even under a magnifier it is hard to tell. Flowers fully opened are 7ml or 1/4". No obvious coloration or striping on the petals. There are 9 stamen but only 6 with obvious anthers, I counted many times just to make sure. The foliage is linear but could be considered strap shaped, almost serrated when rubbed the wrong way, very faint but it is there.Leaves are about 3" long. Inflorescenses most definitely panicle. Erect and clump forming growth habit. Seed starts at warm, fresh or up to a couple years old. Seed is fast germinating: seed sown today will be up within 36 hours. Could this be Arenaria capillaris or Arenaria congesta??
Not A. congesta as it's seed color is reddish brown. Also the inflorescence is a compact umbel. (Cow parsnip = umbel) Yours is much more open, or at least appears to be to me. Could be A. capillaris. The link is to the Burke Museum page from UW on it for comparison. Note the tiny hairs on the pedicels (flower stems). Can't tell from your photos if your plant has such. It does have the scarious edges (translucent tissue paper) to the sepals, at least it appears that way from the photographs at the above link. Also I would think typical stamen count for this type (yours) of plant would be 10. The reasons for there only being 9 are many, from misadventure to mutation. Most likely the former, but many plants are variable in how they develop. Harry
Arenaria procera? Can someone with books check on this one? Harry? You suggested Arenaria earlier. The pictues on Google are pretty close but I can't find any more info online.
Hi Ginger Blue, Sorry, I only have a couple of books both local, and they don't mention A. procera. Most of my work is done on line. Probably why I am in error so much of the time. :) A. procera does look very similar. Hi Cailinriley, When you made the stamen count, did you count the stamens on more than one flower? If so then might actually be another genus. (Also can you get a measurement on the longest leaf at the base of the plant?) I see you actually have the measurement above so forget the last. Harry
I'd love to join in on this one, but I'm a thousand miles away from my reference books. I like the direction being taken with Arenaria, though.
Thanks to everyone who has been trying to identify this plant for my friend. She, and I, are grateful for your help. Harry, I can't say how the stamens were counted, as I'm just relaying my friend's information. She is very knowledgeable about plants, so I'm sure she only counted them on one flower. Daniel, the more I research Arenaria, the more I'm convinced we're on the right track, too. Someone, on another forum, suggested Arenaria graminifolia. The photos I saw on the internet look very similar. Any comments? http://images.google.com/images?cli...ia graminifolia&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi
You got the wrong gist from my question. Not that if the stamen count was from a single flower but that she got the same count on more than one flower. One of my floras in a general description said 10 stamens, frequently fewer; so stamen count proably matters not. So I too still think Arenaria. Couldn't find anything on Arenaria graminifolia (graminifolia = grass leaved). It could possibly be named Minuartia graminifolia. It's a Southern European species and so someone from that neck of the woods might be able to say yea or nay. The few pictures on line did look similar. Harry
I've had a go through The European Garden Flora, and came up with Arenaria procera. The steps I followed: 1b: Tufted or cushion-forming plants with more or less erect flowering stems, or solitary flower. - 5 5b: Tufted or loosely cushion-forming plants with few-flowered inflorescences (rarely reduced to a single flower). - 9 9b: Petals white. - 10 10b: Leaves lanceolate to linear. - 11 11a: Basal leaves 4-20cm, grass-like. - Arenaria procera To get to Minuartia graminifolia (in the same key), you have to accept that 11b: Leaves not more than 4cm, not grass-like - and then a few more steps. And a few links: Arenaria procera and Arenaria procera from Botanischer Garten, alle Rechte vorbehalten
I'll also add that the word procera means "tall" or "long", which is fitting. Pat on the back for Ginger Blue, methinks.
