Mystery plant
- To: m*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: Mystery plant
- From: K*@aol.com
- Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2000 20:13:43 EDT
All:
I recently rediscovered a packet of seed that I surreptitiously collected
last fall from an unlabeled plant at the Atlanta, Georgia botanical garden.
(Am I the only one who does that?) As I remember it was a smallish
composite, about the size and habit of a dandelion. It had basal rosettes of
very attractive, broadly obovate, gray-felted leaves splashed with maroon
spots. The acid-yellow dandelion flowers (3-4 cm across, produced singly or
in twos and threes on thin, maroon-colored 12-15 cm stalks) contrasted
wonderfully with the foliage. It was growing in a gravel-covered slope in
the "rock garden" section. It had obviously self-seeded around, and looked
like it would do well in a Mediterranean climate, given similar conditions.
Anyone have any ideas what it might be?
Also, some of you may remember me asking about the Turkish native Papaver
tauricola, which I found last year at a nursery in Berkeley or Oakland (True
Value Hardware?). It sat in its pot and did nothing for an entire year, but
I'm happy to report that it has just now started to send up a single
flowering stalk with several buds on it. Obviously a biennial, eh? I can't
wait to see what it looks like! Thanks.
Kurt Mize
Stockton, California
USDA Zone 9
