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low-growing volunteer with blue leaves and purple stems
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Posted by queerbychoice CA 9a/Sunset 8 (CA) (My Page) on Sat, Nov 14, 09 at 22:44
| What is this volunteer? It's about a year old now, but still less than a foot tall. It's never flowered. I've asked about it here twice in the past, using older pictures of it, and nobody had any guess as to what it might be. The very edges of the leaves are purplish. It's growing in not quite full sun in the Sacramento Valley.
It seems well-behaved - if I knew what it was, I might want more of it.
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: low-growing volunteer with blue leaves and purple stems
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| Maybe some type of euphorbia? |
RE: low-growing volunteer with blue leaves and purple stems
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| Thank you - it was really nice to have a lead to follow up on for a change. That said, my searches for Euphorbias have turned up nothing that resembles this, so I don't think it's actually a Euphorbia. Any other guesses? Anyone? Wild guesses are very welcome. |
RE: low-growing volunteer with blue leaves and purple stems
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I have been having a look around for you but any ideas I had were proved wrong. Perhaps you could answer these questions.
Does it have a smell when crushed?
Are the leaves succulent/leathery/smooth/hairy?...etc.
Is there white sap?
Is the colour true to life?
Has it ever flowered? If so, colour etc.
And add anything else that might prove useful. |
RE: low-growing volunteer with blue leaves and purple stems
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| It smells sort of like avocado. The leaves are hairless and smooth but kind of thick and slightly stiff. It doesn't produce any noticeable sap. The color is pretty much true to life; the only difference is that it looks a little darker in real life than in the photo. Those are California golden poppies next to it in the photo, and the mystery plant is about the same color as them except a little darker. It sprouted last fall and definitely hasn't ever flowered. Thank you so much for any guesses you can offer! |
RE: low-growing volunteer with blue leaves and purple stems
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| Could it be a penstemon? did you plant a wildflower mix in the area? Possibly an evening primrose? |
RE: low-growing volunteer with blue leaves and purple stems
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| Yes, I planted Theodore Payne's perennial native wildflower mix in the area last fall, and also an individual seed packet of Camissonia cheiranthifolia (beach evening-primrose). The native wildflower mix contained the following: Achillea millefollium (Yarrow)
Baileya multiradiata (Desert Marigold)
Eriophyllum confertifolium (Golden Yarrow)
Eschscholzia californica (California Poppy)
Eschscholzia californica 'Golden West' (Golden West Poppy)
Linum lewisii (Blue Flax)
Lupinus excubitus (Grape Soda Lupine)
Penstemon centranthefolius (Scarlet Bugler)
Penstemon palmeri (Fragrant Penstemon)
Penstemon spectabilis (Showy Penstemon)
Salvia mellifera (Black Sage)
Sisyrinchium bellum (Blue-eyed Grass)
Sphaeralcea ambigua (Apricot Mallow) This plant doesn't really look to me like it's any of those, but it does bear a close enough resemblance to the beach evening-primrose that I guess it might be something related to it. I didn't plant any other perennials in the evening-primrose family, though. |
RE: low-growing volunteer with blue leaves and purple stems
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- Posted by bboy USDA 8 Sunset 5 WA (My Page) on
Fri, Nov 27, 09 at 11:13
| I thought of penstemon also, but since it had not been mentioned yet that the area was seeded with a mix containing penstemons did not suggest it. Thought instead it would be something that was popping up on its own in that area. |
RE: low-growing volunteer with blue leaves and purple stems
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| Hmm. To me, this plant doesn't look at all like any penstemon I'm familiar with, and certainly not like any of the species in the seed mix. But I guess I'll spend some time searching for other plants in the same family that might bear more resemblance to this plant. |
RE: low-growing volunteer with blue leaves and purple stems
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| Have a look at Penstemon grandiflorus, there is a similarity. |
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