RE: Soliva pterosperma

Peter was quite right about this plant being a weedy little sod
but I'm totally amazed as to why anyone would even say they grew it.

Its a real pain, quite literally, to any gardener unfortunate enough to have
it in their lawns.  Its a fairly bland little plant with small fern like
leaves and tiny
nonscript flowers.  When it sets seed though, boy does everyone know! 

Kids all have to wear shoes on the ovals (playing fields) and in real bad
patchs
my old dog just refuses to walk as you can pick up just hundreds of the tiny
seed
each with a needle sharp prickle pointing straight up.  She looks mournfull
enough with just one prickle in her paw let alone a few dozen.

Just in case you've been sent a completely bad name the seed should be
small, papery
and slightly cupped about 2-3 mm across and a brown woody colour with one
needle 
spine about the same length again that may have broken off in transit.

I'm still shaking my head,

Rod

> ----------
> From: 	tim@eddy.u-net.com
> Reply To: 	tim@eddy.u-net.com
> Sent: 	24 October 1999 5:23 PM
> To: 	medit-plants@ucdavis.edu
> Subject: 	Solvia?
> 
> This is hardly a Mediterrranean query in any strict sense but maybe
> somebody can help with it - perhaps one of our Aussie members or Nick
> Turland if he's listening.
> 
> I've grown a plant which came to me as Solvia pterspernum (sic). It
> came as seed, the seed came, via a UK friend, from Australia, and the
> Australian friend who grew it there said that it was originally a S.
> American and he thought a Brazilian plant. 
> 
> I need to check out its name and I've got two problems. 
> 
> One, I can't find any info. even about the genus. Anybody able to
> help? It doesn't figure on the Tropicos database.
> 
> Two, the species name doesn't seem to make sense, according to
> Stearn's Botanical Latin. What could -spernum mean? At the moment I'm
> working on the assumption that what I have is a series of
> transcription errors leading back to what was originally
> pter(o)sperM... (ie, with winged seeds) being thus distorted. Given
> Solvia as the genus name, though, wouldn't the termination be -spermA
> rather than spermUM?
> 
> TIA to anyone who can rescue me from this teasing little puzzle.
> 
> Tim
> Solway Coast UK
> mild moist cool, winter minima c. -3C
> but at the moment radiant autumn and everything thinking we're back in
> late spring/early summer - ceanothus and callistemon and clematis all
> reflowering...
> 
> 
> 
> Tim Longville
>
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