Mystery (to me) plant

Anniekay

Well-known member
Location
Quitman, Ga.
Hardiness zone
9a
The flowers on this plant are actually true red. My old device doesn't have much of a camera. It's growing in quite dry shade under the tree canopy and can't take more than morning sun in my zone 9a climate.

I got it as a tiny bedding plant (2" pot) in 2021, at the Ace Hardware Store. It was the only one on the display rack out front that was still alive, so I had to have it !!.😀
IMG_20240725_075952_burst_01_kindlephoto-577810323.webpIMG_20240725_080017_kindlephoto-558584430.webpIMG_20240725_075952_burst_01_kindlephoto-577810323.webp
It blooms spring to frost, doesn't die back in winter here, just stops flowering, and has spread to cover approximately a 2' square area in the shade garden.

Can anyone tell me what you call it?
IMG_20240725_080017_kindlephoto-558584430.webp
 
It's Malvaviscus, or commonly known as wax mallow. I haven't seen it grown here, but it has medicinal uses, and is edible so I understand. I think it's tropical and grows also in Thailand.
 
It's Malvaviscus, or commonly known as wax mallow. I haven't seen it grown here, but it has medicinal uses, and is edible so I understand. I think it's tropical and grows also in Thailand.
Oh yay!! Thank you Tetters. People always ask me what the name of it is and now I can actually tell them . 👍
 
As a point of interest (maybe) I was reading about this plant earlier, and evidently it is also sometimes known as ''Turks cap'' which is very similar to @Meadowlarks ''Bishops cap''
 
"Whateveryacallit" is my nickname for it. 😄

It's such a happy spreader I just wish I could get more in other colors. The foliage stays very healthy and seems unattractive to bugs, slugs and disease. What else could anybody ask for, really !! Thanks everyone !!
 
The similarities are quite remarkable to me.


View attachment 1164 View attachment 1165


The above left is internet photo of Turk's cap. The one next to it is my "Bishop's Cap". I honestly can't tell the difference now. ❓❓
Those do look identical, but my plant doesn't have " the droopies", it's just five petals with a very small yellow frill of (whateveryacallit) the thing that holds the pollen. Leaves are different on my plant too. * shrugs*.
 
1725043236780.webp This is a picture of Mitella diphylla, or ''bishops hat'' which is a common name for the plant. 1725043340226.webp

There is also a cactus that uses the name as a common one. That plant looks like this......
1725043668517.webp This is an Astrophytum myriostigma which does resemble the hat a bishop would wear.

This will be where the confusion lies between the two names, and @Meadowlark has the same flower as @Anniekay which is commonly known as Turks cap, and its name is Malvaviscus.
There really is a very good reason to use Latin plant names, as they don't lead to the confusion.
I really think you two have the same plant. Malvaviscus - commonly ''Turks cap''

I think I had better enrol as a trainee rocket scientist 😁
 
To "all y'all (in Southern vernacular), I don't think that Meadowlark and I do have the same plant. Mine has no droopy part coming out of the middle.
 
1725047109105.webp Ah ha!!! Is your plant more like this flower Annie? If so, 1725047864331.webpI didn't see the first post clearly enough, because this one is called Ruellia elegans.

PS. I just decided that I'd better get some new glasses before enrolling for the rocket science course 🥴 Not only that, I need one plant at a time to try and ID, because I'm getting very old now, and easily confused.
 
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View attachment 1177 Ah ha!!! Is your plant more like this flower Annie? If so, View attachment 1178I didn't see the first post clearly enough, because this one is called Ruellia elegans.

PS. I just decided that I'd better get some new glasses before enrolling for the rocket science course 🥴 Not only that, I need one plant at a time to try and ID, because I'm getting very old now, and easily confused.
💃💃💃💃 😄🤗🤗 You got it Tetters !!!

Ruellia Elegans is it !!
Thanks Tetters, and the rest of all y'all for working so hard to identify Ruellia Elegans !!
I think I'll nickname her "Rue". 😀
 
Yeah..... but Rue is a different one....... 😪 1725054718591.webp it's a herb. It can make you itch! How about Ellie - short for Elegans.
At least we know Meadowlark has a Malvaviscus.
 
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