identify plants...

Hello,

I have some plants growing and I don't have a clue what they are or where they came from. I've planted quite a few seeds, everything from basil (sweet and lemon and purple) to belle peppers and cucumbers and corn, onion, peas, pole beans, bush beans, watermelon and pumpkin.

The first plant is currently about 3 feet tall, the leaves range in size from 1 to 4 inches long, and 1 to 2 inches in width. The initial stems grow out redish in color and gradually turn green. There are some thorns on the plant. When the plant reaches three feet in height the base of the plant is slightly bigger than one centimeter. The roots seem to be shallow but I haven't dug one of these up. I'm wondering if I got a bad batch of purple basil seeds. Some pictures of the first plant are here:

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second plant is one that I didn't plant, but it's a vine with small leaves that is starting to cover a fence. It is growing some orange cherry sized fruits and it almost looks like some sort of miniature cucumber vine except the fruit appears oval shaped and grows slightly bigger than a cherry. Wasps seem to like it after the fruit has been cracked open. Bees like the flowers, which are yellow in color, are approximately 1 inch in total diameter. Here are the pictures of the vine...
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've seen this vine on other fences in the area and I've seen it in the past in other parts of Florida.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Reply to
Jim Carlock
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The vine is definitely balsam pear (Momordica charantia). HTH -_- how no NEWS is good

Reply to
how

Thanks, "how".

That definitely looks like it's the right one.

I'm going over a couple websites looking up information about it and I'm finding:

1) It's seeds and ripe fruit are toxic...
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Another site indicates that it is used medicinally, that the fruit and seeds are slightly toxic, and there's a ton of information about how different countries use it to lower blood-sugar, and use it in a variety of other manners. This site seems to be a very good repository of information about it.
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've got some cucumbers growing up the fence and the groups are starting to intermix and I'm wondering if any one knows if the two plants can cross pollinate. If any one has done such with and what the results were. In the mean time, I'm going to cut back the spreading of the momordica charantia back.

Thanks much for your identification.

I'm still looking for an identification of:

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second picture shows what appears to be something blossoming... I'm unfamiliar with the terms of what is going at the top of it, so if someone knows what the proper term would be for the fuzzy looking seedy things at the top are, I would be appreciate the help.

Jim Carlock

"how" wrote:

Reply to
Jim Carlock

Resembles a type of amaranth

Emilie

Reply to
MLEBLANCA

Thanks. I was looking at some things on pigweed last week when trying to find out what this is. I don't know where it came from, I haven't seen it in the area before. It's making me wonder... I was just doing some research on Amaranth, and I found "redroot pigweed" listed as an Amaranth:

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article there indicates that it commonly grows on or near corn fields... and while I don't have a corn field I have been growing corn over the last few months. That's really making me wonder about how it got where it got. :-)

It's definitely taking a liking to growing near corn (within a couple feet of corn). It's a nitrogen fixing plant ? I've read that it brings nutrients up to the soils surface.

I think your right about it being amaranth and I'm leaning heavily towards it being "redroot pigweed" (Amaranthus retroflexus L.).

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other site terms "redroot pigweed" as, "Anagallis retroflexus". They must have made that term up, as I can't find another reference to that term via Google.

Some sites suggest that it is edible. I found a cabbage worm hiding in one, and something is eating holes into the leaves.

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site indicates it is only edible if grown in a non-nitrate polluted soil, as the leaves can represent a nitrate poison.
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don't know anything about these. Is there anyone out there that eats amaranth? Is there a way to tell how much nitrate is in the leaves?

A couple of the plants have grown to 4 feet in the last month or so. One is growing in a small pot. It is reported to be a deep-rooted plant. How deep does deep-rooted usually mean? I think I'm going to pull the plant out of the pot and ...

I added the following pictures:

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one in the pot looks like it has some sort of other plant growing next to it. It's too young to tell right at the moment. So I'm going to pass up on the idea of pulling it right now.

NOTE: I have changed the links to the images. There were too many pictures building up and I needed to organize them.

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'm still not 100% positive that it is amaranth. But it looks as if Emilie is correct in the identification.

Thanks once again.

Reply to
Jim Carlock

A .retroflexus looks like a good candidate. There is also A. palmeri which is similar. According to the book Weeds of the West, the two species will hybridize. I haven't eaten amaranth, but the seeds are used as a grain and a flour I believe, I had a good article on amaranth, but I may have thrown it out in one of my cleaning frenzies. Will look for it. There is an Anagallis, but the weedy one that I know of is Anagallis arvensis, the Scarlet PImpernel, and is a tiny, prostrate plant. Anagallis and Amaranth are not even in the same Family. You asked what the flowers might be called: flower spike, or inflorescence, or flower clusters all could describe them. You wondered how they might have gotten there: probably birds that ate the seeds.

Emilie NorCal

Reply to
MLEBLANCA

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