Our Mystery Plant and the Detective Who Solved It
It could be a perfect world
It’s August in the garden. Rain and wind have dampened July blossoms, making fresh new ones all the more delightful. Weeds are in their heyday. Lush foliage everywhere is storing up sun for shorter days.
Milkweeds and other pollinator plants have been waiting for weeks for the arrival of monarch butterflies, as I have. The monarchs’ big month is August, so we’re worried that they’re late or have been waylaid by a North American climate in turmoil.
We feel protective of the lone swallowtail family that has grown up this summer underneath the large leaves of our Dutchman’s Pipe vine.
I’m waiting, too, for the hot-weather reward of fresh okra. But for now we’re bringing in handfuls of small cucumbers, a lavender-and-cream striped eggplant, newly dug potatoes, and tomatoes. Time to take out the kitchen compost!
The other day in the garden compost bin we discovered a pair of unusually large, slightly glossy leaves, large even for pure-compost volunteers. We had no idea what they were, whether a vegetable or a flower garden plant.
Each leaf is about 5” or 6” wide. They grow on two short slender stems that branch out from a single short slender stalk, like a “Y”.
We have two plant identification apps on our phones, so we tried them first. (With Google now, our gardening books have taken root on the bookshelf.)
The PlantNet app is easy to use on your laptop as well as on your phone. I haven’t studied it, but their website says “it is organized in different thematic and geographical floras.” I uploaded my photo of our mystery plant. The app told me it was either an India buckwheat, a begonia or a trillium.
The other app we tried was Seek, by iNaturalist. I uploaded my photo twice. The first time it said, “Dicot”. The second time it said, “You observed a new species! Sweet Potato.”
Still curious about our mystery plant, I decided to see if a North Carolina Extension agent might offer an online plant identification service. Within seconds I discovered “Plant ID” at NC State.
The NC State University Herbarium provides free-of-charge plant identifications.
Email images to Alexander_Krings@ncsu.edu. If a specimen is required, he will let you know.
Right away I emailed my photo to Alexander Krings along with a description of its geographical location (compost pile at 3300’ in the Western North Carolina Mountains), the measurement of the leaves, and the “Y” shape of the stems.
That very same day I received a reply that I’d like to share with you.
I think this is likely a morning-glory (Ipomoea, Convolvulaceae). Seedling leaves in the genus typically exhibit this bat-wing-like character. To me, the shape is closest to scarlet morning-glory (Ipomoea coccinea; common throughout NC), but flowers would of course clinch any ID.
I hope this helps. If I can provide any additional information, please let me know.
Best wishes,
Alexander
I was elated. This is how the world is supposed to work!
Some people are plant experts and work at Universities that operate on public tax money and other funding. University research centers serve the public as well as help train young people for careers. Home gardeners can check with an expert there to learn about volunteer plants. Hikers can send in their photo of a new wildflower found along the trail, and learn more about the botany of their region.
Someday I hope we’ll all be living in a world where a healthy ecosystem is enough. Where human ambition is satisfied by solving the mysteries of medical, population, economic, educational, transportation and food problems, and that is enough.
Oh, I should show you what our super-sized morning glory plant looks like today, a week later. A new leaf has appeared. I can’t wait to see the flower!
P.S. Our identification apps have worked well for many plants and flowers. I’ve especially enjoyed the one that identifies birds by their calls and songs.
Another postcard full of education! Thank you, Deda ...you are an excellent teacher.
Love this post. I also have many mystery plants in my compost. I always identify them--eventually; often it is the flower that eventually appears that confirms an earlier guess. I do love the apps and I once called into Rudy Mancke of SC Public Radio's Nature Notes--I live near Landrum and listen to NPR on SC radio. Naming the plants helps me to look at them more closely than I otherwise would. My first guess on your plant was morning glory. I have several types of morning glory that tend to reseed at my house and I let just a few grow to maturity. Right now a very large white morning glory is blooming as it climbs the carport.