I saw this plant growing at my friends yard and I was surprised to see this new plant in her flower bed. I had not seen it there last year. We did not want to pull them out until we are sure what it is, can anyone identify it? Is it a weed? Thanks, Clemen
Here is another picture
It has a peculiar odor if you rub a leaf real hard between your fingers, right? It is a weed; destroy it! We call it the Hootenanny plant because we can't pronouce the Latin name: Houttuynia
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2164/
It is number 4 on the All Time List of DG THUGS.
This is a serious plant because roundup only kills some leaves, the roots stay vital. I bought some in about 1987 and finally got rid of it 10 years later, but not really. I still see a couple of leaves and a stem pop up occasionally! After all this time!
Suzy
Ditto what Suzy said. I planted it in a bed years ago. I'm still trying to get it out and now it's broke free of the bed and into the lawn.
Throw it away...throw it away...throw it away....preferrably in the yard of your worst neighbor... on Main Street...in another city....in another state...*BSG*
P.
Suzy and P, you got me real scared! I'll tell my friend to pull them out. I am actually going to her house on thursday to help her with her yard. And I thought the leaves were so pretty that I got a baby for me! Thanks for the warning! Clemen
Yes, I was so excited when I bought 3 gallon pots for $10.00 each. It was actualy the very first time I splurged and got three big plants of anything new that I had never heard of, and it was also the last time! The foliage is so pretty -- all those colors, plus it grows in shade! I was astonished that such a pretty plant could turn out to be so very, very invasive and hard to kill.
Good luck convincing your friend it is a bad thug, It is my experience that people asking me for help rarely take it. Like my sister and the mint plant. She wanted mint so she could Martha Stewart her iced tea....I told her to put it in a pot, but she knew better. Now it is everywhere and I personally pulled up about a mile or runners for her and know I didn't get the whole bed done.
You do what you can do, and if the friend is a good one, you can always say, "I told you so." LOL!
It's a DG's Thud is an accurate description, however it isn't the cv. Chameleon. It's worse than that it's the real McCoy species whatchimacallit. lol. Peggy I thought we were friends, if you want it threwn to other States I'm in the vincinnity. lol.
Here IS what that plant actually is.:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/73839/
Lily,
you is my friend! I said someone you didn't like in another state...LOL
Well, don't worry, she happens to listen to anything I say about plants, believe me I will pull them out for her LOL. Lilly, I think you are right on the species, that is the one she has! What ashame, I guess I can not even grow it in a pot, it is so scary! Does it spread by the roots like the mint? Can't you just pot bounded? I guess better not! Clemen
These spread by underground runners worse than mints, eitherway they're both extremely difficult to irradicate, on the other hand they make a nice ground cover with their white flowers in the summer. lol.
Peggy, I'm just kidding with you. I knew you were just expressing how invassive the plant is.
Maybe in a pot with no holes and if no part of the plant is allowed to touch the ground. This plant can thrive in most all conditions. It's run amok in the dry shade under my huge pines and I've also grown it as a marginal pond plant before I knew better.
Lily,
I know. I was LOL with you.*S*
Guys, I will just trow it away. Thank you again for the info! Clem
This is an important Traditional Chinese Medicinal plant used in China and throughout the world. http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/newsletter/TYH/archives/2005/2005-02-15.php
and
http://askwaltstollmd.com/archives/seba/391635.html
for some uses.
I do understanding wanting to pull it up. Too bad the herb co.'s can't use them!
The #1 plant people most likely curse is kudzu. It's another important medicinal plant. The root starch is $8 for a tablespoonful at health food stores!
K, well , the weather has been so terrible. too much rain and cold cold, that I have not been able to get to my friend's house and pulled "the weeds", now I fel guilty, and she has been sick with polyps growing all over her body, maybe this is a sign to take a little tea of this..........let you know, thanks for your advise, Clem
