The MGS Forum
Plant identification => Plant identification => Topic started by: Hilary on September 30, 2011, 05:18:55 PM
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I went out this morning looking for plants which I had not yet photographed and came across these
1 I have quite forgotten the name of this one.
2 Is this Heliotrope europaeum?
3 Is this Tribulus terrestris?
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Yes, both names are right and the first is Portulaca oleracea.
By the way Portulaca oleracea is edible and very good adition to a green salad.
later note added by Alisdair: further thoughts on its use in salads here (http://www.mgsforum.org/smf/index.php?topic=472.msg2801#msg2801).
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Many thanks for the identification.
As soon as I posted the last one I remembered what they call Portulaca oleracea in Greek,Glistrida.
They say that if you eat it your tongue is loosened and you talk a lot
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Though we all call it heliotrope, the actual name is Heliotropium europaeum.
And - Oron and Hilary - does the Portulaca make you (even) more talkative?? ;)
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We eat the Portulaca, I have not registered any change in my tongue so far, it works freely without any help.
The third one is a Tribulus terrestris, my most hated weed here. It looks nice, but the fruits are vicious. they are like small hand grenades with spikes. They stick to your shoes (penetrate the soles) and to rugs and carpets, and it is extremely painful if you walk on them barefoot or sit on them. The plants are very sprawling, they can be gigantic.
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With the heliotrope are there two different plants in the same picture? There appears to be a small flowered plant in the background which I would guess is H. europaeum. This should have no scent. The large flowered plant may be H. hirsutissimum which should have scented flowers?
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P. oleracea is quite a weed. It will easily lay dormant after hoeing and will re-root when some moisture comes along. It is one of the few weeds "resistant" to glyphosate.
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Yes, I agree that the Portulaca may be a weed, but it is benign compared to the Tribulus, they are easily weeded by hand and you are not hurt when you handle them
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Re Tribulus terrestris:
Jorun - "my most hated weed here" - I can empathize with that - the number of wheelbarrow tyres I have had punctured by these blasted things!
Re H. europaeum and H. hirsutissimum:
1. Thought I'd hit pay dirt here:
'Micromorphological and anatomical comparison of two Heliotropium species, H. europaeum and H. hirsutissimum (Boraginaceae)'
in Acta Botanica Hungarica; Volume 49, Numbers 1-2/March 2007; pp.1-11
by Ö. E. AKÇÝN, G. ÞENEL and H. BAKÝ
http://www.akademiai.com/content/f4022770768h062u/
But I don't know what it says! (the abstract could be more revealing)
2. Meikle, Flora of Cyprus; selected aspects of key on p.1121:
- stem with short subadpressed hairs and long spreading hairs --> H. hirsutissimum Grauer
- stem with short subadpressed hairs -->
- calyx with long spreading shaggy hairs --> H. europaeum (and only <500ft altitude)
- calyx with subadpressed upward-pointing hairs --> H. dolosum
(Cyprus also has H. supinum)
There is also Heliotropium hirsutissimum Vatke. (hmmm)
No mention of scent.
Butterflies love these.
3. Re Israel in particular: several species: some pictures:
http://www.wildflowers.co.il/english/search.asp?searchString=Heliotropium+&color=1&type=1&family=1&x=0&y=0
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On 12th September George Sfikas led a walk through the marshland and the beach at Skinias to commerate the anniversary of the Battle of Marathon. One of the few plants in flower was Heliotropium curassavicum, an accidental import from South America now naturalised, which has the telltale slightly succulent leaves of a sand dweller. It was a warm moonlight evening and while some people skinny-dipped the rest of us let our imagination free as Makis Aperghis told of the hundreds of Persian triremes drawn up on the beach and anchored off shore, the days of waiting as the Athenians kettled the enemy in hope of the arrival of reinforcements, and the final bloody battle.
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Sounds idyllic!