On 16/06/2013 22:19, David Hill wrote:
Thanks for the suggestions Sacha. The 3rd isn't parsley or any herb for
that matter. It's tasteless. I haven't tasted the 5th one yet. I will
do so later. Not sure about the 1st one being Catalpa...thingy. The
leaves aren't quite the right shape unless there are a lot of
variations. It is growing fast as are the others. I know it isn't
Morning Glory now as it isn't a climber. The stem is stiff. The
lookalike parsley isn't growing fast so maybe it won't be a big plant.
Still not had a definite ID on any of them. They need to grow a bit.
Best to get more photos in a few weeks and post again. It's certainly
turning into a mystery for me. I'm a bit nervous of number 4 and what
to do with it. I don't want to destroy it as it might be a very nice
plant that isn't cannabis.


Right, you're not happy because no one has been able to say with
certainty what the seedlings are.
Now lets see if you can actually give us some help.
You have said that 2 of the seeds came from the hotel car park in Madeira,
Just where did the other 3 come from?
Wild collected?
Packets that you threw away after sowing or where?

If you still don't believe my identification of sorrel have a look at
this link.
http://www.turf.uiuc.edu/weed_web/re...rel_plant2.htm
David @ the damp side of Swansea Bay

I am very grateful for everybody's input. It's not that I'm not happy, I am finding this rather fun actually as to me it is like trying to solve a mystery which it is anyway. I have looked at Google images until my eyes have gone square. Some are very like the plants I have but not exactly. The castor oil plant and the tetrapanax are very similar.

As for where the seeds came from, I am a bit fuzzy over it now. The plant which is like the morning glory I dug up from my garden. I have found two more small seedlings now from roughly the same place. The cannabis type plant also was dug up from my back garden. The castor oil type plant, I can't remember but not from Madeira. The other one which looks like a little fern is from Madeira. The sorrel was from Madeira too.

If it's from your garden, it almost certainly won't be an Ipomea. They're not native to the UK, and they don't survive our winters. That said, I do have one in our gravel terrace which has just reached the cotyledon stage which looks remarkable like an Ipomea (they have strange double-barrelled cotyledons).

Have you looked at buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) of one of its relatives?

Not directly relevant, but I bumped into this interesing site:
Non-Native Plant Species - URS
- it has pictures of seedlings as well as mature plants

If it's from your garden, it almost certainly won't be an Ipomea. They're not native to the UK, and they don't survive our winters. That said, I do have one in our gravel terrace which has just reached the cotyledon stage which looks remarkable like an Ipomea (they have strange double-barrelled cotyledons).

Have you looked at buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) of one of its relatives?

Not directly relevant, but I bumped into this interesting site:
Non-Native Plant Species - URS
- it has pictures of seedlings as well as mature plants

Yes, the Fagopyrum esculentum is a very good match for my plant (no.1) Shouldn't be long before it flowers and that will clinch it. Where do you think would it come from? Do farmers grow it and what is it used for? We have lots of fields round us.

It's OK, I Googled it to find out what the uses are.

I think it's a UK native, so it will appear as a "weed" every now and then. The seeds are used as a cereal - you used to be able to get them in wholefood shops, and I think they're coming into fashion again as an alternative to rice. And aren't blinis made of buckwheat flour?

Thanks Kay. Just to let you know, you were right about the wild bird seed. The plant (no. 4) is indeed hemp and there is hemp seed in the mixed bag of seed so mystery solved on that one.

Thank you once again. I don't feel so nervous now. I will continue to grow it on. The girl at the seed supplier said they wouldn't be allowed to put cannabis seed in the mix. She was very helpful in explaining just what the mix contained.

Never had blinis so wouldn't know what the ingredients were.

Yep. It's sorrel allright. Thank you.