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Old 06-07-2020, 03:28 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening
David Rance[_3_] David Rance[_3_] is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jun 2011
Posts: 307
Default Another ID request, please

On Mon, 6 Jul 2020 13:12:32 Jeff Layman wrote:

On 06/07/20 12:34, Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote:
On 06/07/2020 10:32, David Rance wrote:
I'm still trying to identify some of the shrubs my late wife tended and,
last winter, I thought this might be lemon verbena:

http://rance.org.uk/chameau/IMG_0451.jpg

... but now it's in leaf and in flower I can see that it isn't.

Could someone help, please?

David

I couldn't place it any closer than a lamiid, so I fed it into
PlantNet
Identify. Its top result is Caryopteris x clandonensis, which looks a
reasonable hypothesis. The next two results were Vitex agnus-castus,
which has palmate leaves (not shown in PlantNet's dataset) and Hyssopus
officinalis, which lacks the fimbriate labellum. After that we get low
probability obviously wrong suggestions of Phacelia tanacetifolia,
Mentha pulegium, Mentha cervina, Succia pratensis, Mentha longifolia,
Hebe salicifolia and Veronica spicata.
I think I'm reasonably confident that it's a Caryopteris, and the
hybrid
is the dominant taxon in horticulture.


I also thought of Caryopteris when I saw the OP's photo. But it also
seemed that it didn't really look quite like x clandonensis itself, as
the leaves seemed a little too narrow. Having another look, I wonder if
it could be Caryopteris x clandonensis "Dark Knight". See photos at
https://www.gardenersworld.com/plant...onensis-dark-k
night/ and
https://www.ballyrobertgardens.com/p...-clandonensis-
dark-knight

FWIW, I grow both /Aloysia citriodora/ and /Vitex agnus-castus/, and
it's neither of those.


Thanks, Stewart and Jeff. That's most informative - and quite a
surprise, not having heard of it before!

I think that Dark Knight in the second URL (ballyrobertgardens) is
pretty close to what I've got, though the serrations of the leaves of my
plant seem more regular than in many of the other photos:

http://rance.org.uk/chameau/IMG_0452.jpg

It has been in a concrete pot for the last five years (possibly longer
as I don't know when my wife planted it). It hasn't grown very much as
I've not paid it any attention until the last few months. I thought it
was a self-set weed but thought I would check it out before I did
anything.

Thanks again, both!

David

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK