I am trying to remember the name for a very small ivy that grows on rock walls. It has very tiny light purple flowers. I found it near canals or stone walls at farms.
Hmm, I allow Cymbalaria muralis (Ivy Leaved Toadflax) to scramble around the corners of my paving & pond surround. Sounds like it might be that. gb
Agree, it does sound like Ivy-leaved Toadflax Cymbalaria muralis. It isn't really an ivy, just looks a bit like one. Some pics: http://www.floralimages.co.uk/pcymbamural.htm http://ip30.eti.uva.nl/BIS/flora.php?selected=beschrijving&menuentry=soorten&id=3605
I think that the picture looks like what I am trying to find. But usually it looks more dried up as it grows through cracks in the walls with little moisture. But I know there is a more local name for it so if others recall other names it is called that will help too. Thank you for the quick replies!
Just found the local name: Kenilworth Ivy found at: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/153829/
Ivy con't I agree but I was looking for the local common name. And thanks for the pictures and helpful comments from this resourceful as it is hard sometimes to locate plants on the internet simply by description. Many times I like to speak to the farmers and wives to see what they grew up calling a local plant or wildflower. It's interesting! BTW I have had trouble transplanting this a few times to my stone walls, are there any helpful tips out there?
...aah common names...we're off again. You can call it what you want informally & locally (as I do), but we do need to use that universal scientific name so we all end up on the same page! :) I will go & look at my Christmas Roses & see if my Geraniums have been bitten by the frost & trim my Heavenly Bamboo which is obscuring my Irish Moss...go figure! gb
Re: Ivy con't That's the trouble, "common" names often have a history, romance or delightful dialect associations. Look at the "Chinese Plant" thread - who'd have thunk it? We keep on using them, BUT when I want to actually communicate with others clearly about what it is - I use the botanical name. They have become a habit with me over the years. They can have a poetry & mystery of their own at times. For example, the little flower in my posts is, I believe, Veronica beccabunga - how the heck did it get that second name? I have been meaning to look it up for years - oh well. Of course, I call it V, cowabunga x dude. Not helpful in serious company. I bet some people don't even know about surfers & the Ninja Turtles. Their loss. gb
Re: Ivy con't More true to reality to think in terms of "a" local common name rather than "the" local common name. Some plants have tons of them, with regional peculiarities not necessarily present.
