Can you identify this plant?
Here’s a pic.
I picked up a planter someone left in the alley last year. I chopped up whatever was growing in it with a garden trowel. I don’t remember what it looked like. So as far as I knew this spring, it was simply a big box of dirt.
I planted zinnia and pansy seeds and they’re growing nicely.
But this other plant has emerged.
—It has thick leaves like a succulent
—It’s an annual that survived a Chicago winter
—The stems are red and the leaves are dark green
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14 Answers
Isn’t this it?
Yellowcress or Prostrate Spurge (Euphorbia maculata)
I found it here, and this discusses it extensively.
@Tropical_Willie got it right. Purslane is the scourge of all weeds. You can yank it out of the planter but next week there will be more. Personally I would dump the entire lot of durt and start from scratch.
I don’t know what it is, but I’m not sure either one of you are right. Both were good attempts, though.
It does look like purslane to me, though I’m not an expert.
I will also say that purslane is absolutely delicious, though. One of my favorite greens, sauté it lightly in olive oil.
No… it is a weed. Pluck it out and plant something nice.
I see that purslane is edible. But the the yellowcress looks right, too. I’m going to keep it, and, if I can make a positive ID, eat it.
The planter is big, there’s plenty of room for it alongside my flowers
Thanks, all.
Wanna hear something funny? When I first read this question, I read it as ‘Can you identify with this plant?’ I’m thinking… sheesh! I really have to check out this plant! Maybe I do!
I think once the baby cuteness is gone, @Call_Me_Jay, it’ll be easier to ID.
Honestly, I did a Google image search for both yellowcress and purselane and I couldn’t tell the difference from the pictures. To the point that I believe some of the pics are mislabeled. Some of the purselane had leaves that looked really succulent, others just like leaves. Some of the purselane appeared to grow up, some appeared to spread on the ground.
Yellowcress has average thickness leaves, and is basically a ground spreader.
@ibstubro Now that you mentioned the differing photos, I think I would trust your University of Minnesota Extension link. In their picture the yellowcress looks flat-leaved. Also here’s a USDA picture gallery.
The Michigan State Extension purslane photos look like my plant. Also they say “Be cautious about look-alikes that may not be edible” so I’m not putting this thing in my salad just yet.
I’m keeping it to fill out my flower planter, as long as it gets along with zinnias and pansies. It’s cropped up now in one of my basil pots, that won’t be tolerated.
It’s too confusing. The USDA picture is nothing like what I have. And the names I linked to from U of M don’t show up on the USDA database.
In your picture, the stems look more red than pink, and the leaves look more flat than fat, to me.
This is why I only eat wild morel mushrooms. Too much of the information depends on the angle and lighting of the photo.
The USDA name for purslane is little hogweed (Portulaca oleracea). The spurges are Euphorbia. The USDA lists a ton of varieties under “spurge”, too many for my use.
Spurge is now out as a suspect, though. The stems are smooth.
And the U. of Minn. extension says, prostrate spurge “stems are reddish in color and covered with tiny hairs”
Common Purslane “stems are purplish-red, thick, fleshy, succulent and hairless”
Ah, well, I did notice that on your spurge link, common purslane is listed as a look alike.
I walked out back and looked, but it’s almost dark here and I didn’t see any. I was going to check for hairy stems.
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