Monday, July 09, 2007

Unknown flower, Cannas and mushroom


These flowers came in a container of wildflowers. I like the look of the tiny purple/yellow flowers but don't know the name of it. Does anyone know what it is? I would love to get more to sow in the empty areas of the planting beds. And there in the left lower corner is a poke weed seedling. We've had a tremendous amount of these sprouting everywhere in the yard. Poison Ivy sprouts are everywhere too.



These are miniature Cannas and they have just started to bloom. They turned out to be a very nice color so I'm hoping the others we bought will be as nice.



I saw this solitary mushroom in the grass. It looked so delicate and finely figured, I couldn't pass up the chance to photograph it. I think it's the Japanese Umbrella Inky mushroom, Coprinus plicatilis and according to my mushroom field guide it's edible but you would have to collect a tremendous amount to make a meal as the one pictured is only about the size of a dime and gossamer thin.

14 Comments:

Blogger figz said...

Unknown flower == Snapdragon?

6:59 AM  
Blogger DeeMom said...

Awesome SHROOM

9:05 AM  
Blogger sixty-five said...

They're johnny-jump-ups.

12:27 PM  
Blogger sixty-five said...

Oh wait - I think maybe torenia! JJU's would have a broader leaf.

12:32 PM  
Blogger Ki said...

Hi figz,
I thought it could be some kind of snapdragon too but it doesn't have the protruding lip so I don't think it is a snapdragon.

-------------------------------------
Hi deemom,
Doesn't it look like a Japanese parasol? It's quite translucent too.

-------------------------------------
sixty-five,
It sort of looks like johnny jump-ups but it's definitely smaller. I looked at Torenias and they all seem to have broad leaves and I checked out Mimulus but the flowers don't look anything like the photo. I guess the closest guess would be some kind of viola but maybe not.

-----------------------------------
Thanks all for your guesses.

6:35 PM  
Blogger Ki said...

I searched through my wildflower book, looked at the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center site and did many Google image searches. I think it may be a Toadflax (Linaria Maroccana) sometimes called baby snapdragon.

Here's a site with flowers that resemble the one in the photo.

http://biotech.tipo.gov.tw/plantjpg/
1/Linaria%20maroccana.jpg

Also this website:

http://images.google.com/imgres?
imgurl=http://www.s-weeds.net/
familjer/tubiflorae/
scrophulariaceae/pix/maroccana03
.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.s-weeds
.net/familjer/tubiflorae/
scrophulariaceae/maroccana.html
&h=450&w=600&sz=37&hl=en&start
=36&um=1&tbnid=Blj1vcqg2MziiM:
&tbnh=101&tbnw=135&prev=/images%
3Fq%3DLinaria%2Bmaroccana%26start%
3D20%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26um%
3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

What do you think?

7:02 PM  
Blogger figz said...

Looks like it. Good detective work!

5:55 AM  
Blogger Ki said...

Hi Figz, you were partially right if it indeed is Linaria Marocanna as it is also known as baby snapdragons. Thanks for the input. I have another tiny orange flower that I will post later. It was blooming earlier but I don't see any flowers now although there are buds. That one also came with the bunch of wildflower seeds and I think it will be a real challenge to identify.

9:36 AM  
Blogger kate said...

Now that is one cool mushroom picture! I like the colours of your Cannas too ... very subtle and pretty!

10:12 PM  
Blogger Ki said...

Hi Kate,
Isn't that mushroom photo cool! It has an inner glow. I like it more every time I look at it. The Cannas were a nice surprise too.

4:06 AM  
Blogger Sweet Home and Garden Carolina said...

I'm with Kate. That's the coolest mushroom photo I've ever seen. YOur Cannas are also gorgeous.

5:07 PM  
Blogger Ki said...

Hi Carolyn Gail,
The amazing thing is that the mushroom is no larger than a dime. What wondrous structural detail and color in something so small. The colors of the Cannas are not the usual bright colors I associate with the plant and they're subtler yet bright at the same time. I really am enjoying them. Thanks for the comment.

6:15 PM  
Blogger lisa said...

On that Lady Bird Johnson website, you can email pictures to the folks at "Ask Mr. Smartyplants", and they will ID it for you. They have helped me on numerous occaisions. They like it if you have decent close-ups of both flower and foliage.

11:29 AM  
Blogger Ki said...

Thanks for the tip Lisa. I was going to post it on the Gardenweb wildflower forum to see is anyone could identify it but I'll remember the LBJ wildflower center site too.

8:59 AM  

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