Identify ground cover

[David Hare-Scott]

I have a volunteer ground cover that I cannot identify. I also do not have a functional camera in order to post a picture. Given the size of the features I would need a pretty good macro lens to show them.

It has a very low spreading habit rising no more than about 2cm (1inch). The stem is up to 10cm (4in) long but that is arbitrary as it roots constantly as it spreads. The stem is soft, about 1mm (1/20th in) thick and pale green. The leaves are in adjacent pairs. Each is 7-10mm (1/4 - 3/8in) and oval in shape about 1/2 to 1/3 as wide as it is long. The leaf is matt finish mid green and some have a dark reddish patch in the centre. It branches at some nodes and produces reddish flower buds about 2mm (1/10 in) in diameter. Most of the flowers are not open (it is autumn here) and the petals are only visible through a magnifying glass, they are pink. It has no smell. The habit is vaguely like thyme laid very flat instead of clumps but the stems are leaves are soft and juicy where thyme is tougher.

It is growing well in an enriched clay soil garden that is watered when it doesn't rain. The climate is warm temperate.

Any advice is welcome, even a guess so that I can start looking for images.

David

[David E. Ross]

This sounds like spotted spurge, an agressive weed. By the time it's big enough to see and remove, it's already dropped its tiny seeds. And if you leave a short piece of stem, it will take root and continue growing.

Its only "fortunate" feature is that it's an annual. But if you leave it when it dies in the fall, you will find many new ones under it in the following spring.

Depending on the botanist, it's either Chamaesyce maculata or Euphorbia maculata.

[gardenlen]

g'day david,

you are in australia is that so?

would the flower resemble a clover type flower?

if so check out lotinomus (spelling?)

might be way off the mark but worth a shot, any chance of a pic?

On Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:51:00 +1100, "David Hare-Scott" wrote: snipped

[David Hare-Scott]

Yes

No

No

Thanks anyway

David

[David Hare-Scott]

Thanks that is it.

David

[Loosecanon]

That grows here in WA too and isn't restricted to clay. It loves our grey sands, grows in between paving bricks and will come up in new potting mixes. Our Californian friend gave some good info on the seeds being broadcast because it is rampant in its spread. The large euphorbia's, that are called spurge as well, have explosive seed pods and can launch seeds significant distances. It wouldn't surprise me it that does too.

The other we have is purslane which I thought may have been what you had but not.

We also have a form of oxalis that gets red clover like leaves and another with green clover like leaves both have small yellow flowers. I am told this has a bulb but have never seen one. Maybe so small or to deep to find. i think this is what Len maybe thinking of.

[David E. Ross]

Ornamental oxalis has a bulb-like root, much like the roots of raddishes, beets, and other such vegetables. However, oxalis is a dicot while true bulbs are all monocots.

The oxalis weed (same genus as the ornamental) has a taproot that sometimes has a slight swelling. Its seeds are in pods that launch explosively. If you wear shorts while walking through a patch of oxalis when the pods are ripe, you might think small bugs are attacking your legs. Worse, the seeds are sticky and thus can be carried a distance by walking through a patch of oxalis.

I see both spotted spurge and oxalis in my garden. I dig the oxalis out with a paring knife whenever I see it. I'm going to spray spurge with RoundUp. However, the most numerous weed in my garden are the seedlings from my evergreen ash tree. If I knew then what I know now, I would have insisted on a male tree, ash being a genus (Fraxinus) that has separate male trees and female trees.

[David Hare-Scott]

However, the most numerous weed in my garden are the

Is the female also self-fertile?

David

[David E. Ross]

No, but there are many, many Fraxinus uhdei (evergreen or shamel ash) around southern California. It's a popular shade tree. So I'm sure there are sufficient male trees nearby to pollinate my tree.