Howdy, my first post; hope you-all can help with ident of two plants we found in yard of house we just bought. First is a pretty little scarlet flower with yellow center in the rockery. Have decent pics of that and have posted. Second one that's really driving me nuts, is a shrubby-tree that we had to remove from growing up through patio fence trellis. Previous owners insisted on planting things in areas inappropriate for size.... Anyway, this woody-stemmed, 2-meter tall plant has flowers that look like those of certain nightshade plants, the corolla being a purple 5-pointed star, with yellow protruding center (stamens?). The flowers hang in groups of little clusters at tip of a twig. Deciduous. The leaves are non-glossy, medium green, alternate, not sure whether to call them rhomboid or ovate, but have sharp point on end and smooth margins, reaching 4" long or so. Pungent plant; bark wasn't anything special, grayish brown, not very rough, not perfectly smooth. Figure it has to be in Solanaceae but didn't have any idea there were trees/woody shrub version of a nightshade. If this description doesn't do it, I'll try to see if any of the branches are worth taking pic of tomorrow (didn't think to do it earlier today, and it was warm weather so vegetation wilted quick). REALLY REALLY appreciate anyone being able to point me in direction to ID this plant. Thanks, BeachDee
Helianthemum. Another Solanum planted in gardens here is S. jasminioides. A local weed is S. dulcamara.
Appreciate quick responses, chimera and Michael F. Did some Googling, and I would agree that the red flower is probably some variety of Cistus. As far as that Solanum shrub, the pics/descriptions I've found online of S. crispum seem very close, if not it. Common name for that plant is often calling it "vine" and so looking on-line the word vine was throwing me off. I'd definitely think of it as a shrubby tree. Going out this morning to look at the remains (moment of silence) on the patio when tidying up. Thanks for the help!
