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| DO YOU RECOGNIZE MYSTERY FLOWER NUMBER 2? | |
| Published: August 12, 1997 | |
It grows in coastal regions, its related to the pineapple and it hangs on treesIf you said Tillandsia usneoides, or more likely, Spanish moss, you were correct. Spanish moss produces very small green flowers which are seldom seen by any of us. This epiphytic plant grows best in a moist humid environment, as we well know; and it tends to be more prevalent on live oaks and cypresses where it can reach lengths of 15-20 feet. It is highly sensitive to air pollution.Spanish moss uses other plants only as a support and doesnt invade plant tissue as mistletoe does. When very thick it may damage the host plant by blocking sufficient light; however, this is unusual. From Ann:The Lifestyle staff has been extremely fortunate to be able to illustrate many of the Gardening in Acadiana columns by drawing on the huge collection of color slides of plant materials photographed by Ellis Fletcher. When questions come in and we cant photograph an existing plant, weve been able to call on Dr. Fletcher almost at a moments notice and he comes up with gorgeous color shots. Other notable photos have been our two mystery flowers, aspidistra and Spanish moss.We want to take this opportunity to thank him for past and future use of his pictures, and also for helping to identify plants for us and for sharing his wealth of plant knowledge with our readers. Identifying plants from old gardensQ:I have many childhood memories of plants from my mothers and grandmothers gardens. Can you help me to identify some of these? One is a vine that grew on an arbor. It had lavender, trumpet-shaped flowers. Another is a shrub that had intensely fragrant small white flowers and may have been called Duke of Tuscany. Another was called Lady-of-the-Night and had fragrant, white trumpet-shaped flowers. The last was a shrub with white flowers and berries that was very fragrant at night.A:Based on Charlotte Seidenbergs research of old New Orleans gardens, Im going to guess that the vine with lavender flowers was bignonia (Clytostoma callistyegioides), an evergreen vine still available from nurseries. The Duke of Tuscany (Jasmine sambac), also available from nurseries, is sometimes called Maid of Orleans. Lady-of-the Night is listed as (Brunsfelsia americana), a relative of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow that blooms at night with fragrant white flowers, no record of its being available. And the plant with white (or cream colored) flowers and berries is almost surely night-blooming jessamine (Cestrum nocturnum), usually available in nurseries.Internet sites for finding gardening informationThe National Garden Bureau has sent us a list of addresses of gardening information sites. Call if youd like us to mail you a copy. Many are seed company web pages, others are commercial sites. Four that sound like fun for the home gardener are: 1) The Virtual Gardener (http:/ /www.pathfinder.com/vg) which contains magazine-type articles and regional growing tips; 2) Garden Escape (http:/ /www.garden.com) contains gardening articles, answers questions, is a source for ordering seeds, plants, supplies; 3) Garden Web (http:/ /www.gardenweb.com) provides for exchange of questions and answers on a gardening bulletin board; and 4) Garden Gate (http:/ /www.prairienet.org/ag/garden/homepage.htm) which contains helpful articles and gardening "tours" via photos and text. |