hello fellow gardeners,
i am wondering if any one out there will recognise a plant that i have growing, which is driving me crazy. i have spent hours googling, asked all the keen gardeners i know and still i am no closer to finding a name for this plant.
i naively bought it from poundland, it was supposed to be gypsophilla however it must have been packaged wrongly as it is not even close

it is about 60cm tall (was 10cm when i planted from a cutting last august).
the plant remained dormant until this spring when it shot up all of a sudden.
the leaves are crossed parallel to each other and they are long narrow oval shaped. the whole plant is dark green with a red tinge to the stem.

it has recently shot out 5 stems from the top which i expected to have flowers but leaves on more long stems keep multiplying from the centre of the leaves below. there is a yellow piece in the middle of each leaf which looks like it will oneday flower. arrgh sorry it is very hard to describe

i have uploaded a few pics to photobucket if anyone could kindly take a look.
i am beginning to lose sleep over the mystery plant and i am impatient to see if it will ever flower. it is very interesting looking!

Pictures by lauraliam - Photobucket

thanks for reading, hoping someone wiser than myself has the answer

Looks like Mole Spurge: Euphorbia Lathyris.

I love it - weird looking thing, as it is. But be warned, they go to seed and you get them everywhere.... and it's hard to get the adults out as they grow long, long roots.

Oh, and as far as flowering goes: that's it, it's doing it now.

Rachel

On Mon, 2 May 2011 14:26:03 +0000, lauraliam
wrote:

'Pictures by lauraliam - Photobucket' (http://tinyurl.com/3lwe8cw)

Euphorbia lathyris

Be careful as it is an irritant, is poisonous and it spreads very
quickly.

It took me years to rid of it.

Steve

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"lauraliam" wrote

i am wondering if any one out there will recognise a plant that i have
growing, which is driving me crazy. i have spent hours googling, asked
all the keen gardeners i know and still i am no closer to finding a name
for this plant.
i naively bought it from poundland, it was supposed to be gypsophilla
however it must have been packaged wrongly as it is not even close

((BIG SNIP))
i have uploaded a few pics to photobucket if anyone could kindly take a
look.
i am beginning to lose sleep over the mystery plant and i am
impatient to see if it will ever flower. it is very interesting
looking!

'Pictures by lauraliam - Photobucket' (http://tinyurl.com/3lwe8cw)

thanks for reading, hoping someone wiser than myself has the answer


Are you saying you bought a Caper Spurge in Poundland? Bought one!
In fact a very architectural weed but they do seed around so get it up
before it does and wear gloves, the white latex type sap is nasty on the
skin and worse in the eyes or anywhere delicate. Take care.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

thank you very much rachel for putting me out of my misery!
and also thanks for warning me about it having the potential to spread so much. i have had a quick google and it mentions that it is toxic/irritant to skin, so i have decided to get rid as i dont want the baby eating any somehow.
so unfortunately, as interesting as it was i have put it in the compost bin.
thanks again

But if you're in the north of England it's OK, because it's biennial - you don't have to worry about the adults.

My problem is making sure I leave at least one of the babies to become next year's adult. It's something that has always been in the garden, both my garden now and my parents' when I was a child. It wouldn't seem right not to have at least one of them around ;-)

On Mon, 2 May 2011 15:00:01 +0000, Rachel 101
wrote:


lauraliam;919716 Wrote:
hello fellow gardeners,
i am wondering if any one out there will recognise a plant that i have
growing, which is driving me crazy.

Looks like Mole Spurge: Euphorbia Lathyris.

I love it - weird looking thing, as it is. But be warned, they go to
seed and you get them everywhere.... and it's hard to get the adults
out as they grow long, long roots.

Oh, and as far as flowering goes: that's it, it's doing it now.

Rachel

I agree; I know it as caper spurge, as the seeds LOOK like capers. It
is also known as the mole plant and said to deter moles but I
understand it is not the little black furry creatures, but moles on
the skin which were treated with the irritant sap.
Bundle it up and take it back to Pundland, with the original packaging
if you have it, and ask for your money back

Pam in Bristol

lauraliam wrote:
hello fellow gardeners,
i am wondering if any one out there will recognise a plant that i have
growing, which is driving me crazy. i have spent hours googling, asked
all the keen gardeners i know and still i am no closer to finding a
name for this plant.
i naively bought it from poundland, it was supposed to be gypsophilla
however it must have been packaged wrongly as it is not even close

it is about 60cm tall (was 10cm when i planted from a cutting last
august).
the plant remained dormant until this spring when it shot up all of a
sudden.
the leaves are crossed parallel to each other and they are long narrow
oval shaped. the whole plant is dark green with a red tinge to the
stem.

it has recently shot out 5 stems from the top which i expected to have
flowers but leaves on more long stems keep multiplying from the centre
of the leaves below. there is a yellow piece in the middle of each
leaf which looks like it will oneday flower. arrgh sorry it is very
hard to describe

i have uploaded a few pics to photobucket if anyone could kindly take
a look.
i am beginning to lose sleep over the mystery plant and i am
impatient to see if it will ever flower. it is very interesting
looking!

'Pictures by lauraliam - Photobucket' (http://tinyurl.com/3lwe8cw)

thanks for reading, hoping someone wiser than myself has the answer

It looks like euphorbia lathyris. I asked what it is on this newsgroup I
think two summers or so ago.

We've finally managed to eradicate all the b*stards from the area now, we
think. They were growing all over two abandoned gardens adjacent to mine. It
spreads like anything, and the sap is nasty stuff. Wear gloves and goggles!


Ian

Must like it where you are. Over the last 20 years, I've had it turn up uninvited a couple of times, but, although I just left it, it didn't return the following year.

On Mon, 2 May 2011 23:47:46 +0100, Janet wrote:

In article , nospamigg1937
says...

I agree; I know it as caper spurge, as the seeds LOOK like capers. It
is also known as the mole plant and said to deter moles but I
understand it is not the little black furry creatures, but moles on
the skin which were treated with the irritant sap.

No, that is inaccurate. The spurge which may prove to be useful in skin
treatments UNDER MEDICAL SUPERVISION, is euphorbia peplus , not Caper
spurge (e lathyrus). And in any case, e.peplus treatment is about non-
malignant and non-mole forms of skin cancer, never for skin moles such as
malignant melanoma.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12275507

snip

Well we must blame Bob Flowerdew for the misinformation. I heard him
say it on GQT a few years ago.
I certainly does not deter moles (the animal).
It is generally referred to as "mole plant" round here.


Pam in Bristol