Interesting plant features/behaviours - eg. mulberry

[AnonYMouse]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Be careful with Trapa. They can become a serious invasive pest in many North American climates.

No worries, no intention of growing them (drought prone area). Saw them and I had to google it.

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by AnonYMouse

No worries, no intention of growing them (drought prone area). Saw them and I had to google it.

You can put a few in 6" / 15cm of soil in a 5 gallon / 21 liter bucket full of water. Same with the standard water chestnut you can buy in Chinatown.

[AnonYMouse]

Originally Posted by estación seca

You can put a few in 6" / 15cm of soil in a 5 gallon / 21 liter bucket full of water. Same with the standard water chestnut you can buy in Chinatown.

I should also mention I have no yard.

---------- Post added at 11:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:49 PM ----------

Originally Posted by DirtyCoconuts

wait, what???!?!

i am trying to find the name of this plant in my parents front yard that grows these huge balls od seed - like a giant spiked flail and then- pop- the shoot these enormous 'corn' shaped seeds...this plant is MASSIVE though, could never be indoors

Could they be trumpet flowers (Datura)?

[WaterWitchin]

Originally Posted by estación seca

You can put a few in 6" / 15cm of soil in a 5 gallon / 21 liter bucket full of water. Same with the standard water chestnut you can buy in Chinatown.

We used to sell standard water chestnut as a "novelty" plant in the water garden store.

---------- Post added at 10:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:20 AM ----------

Originally Posted by AnonYMouse

Were the worms eating the berries? Silkworms eat mulberry leaves (exclusively? Almost exclusively?).

Water Caltrops (Trapa). I saw them at the Asian market.

No idea. I just know they were tiny, and in the berries. Definitely not silkworm.

---------- Post added at 10:23 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:21 AM ----------

Originally Posted by estación seca

...
There are Passifloras from high and from low elevations. The high-elevation ones tend to have brilliant pink and red flowers, and will not survive high temperatures (regularly over 100 F / 38C.)

The purple ones grow readily here, and self-seed like mad. I have to beat them back by August. The fruit isn't good though.

---------- Post added at 10:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:23 AM ----------

Originally Posted by DirtyCoconuts

So the tree I am talking about is a screw pine or corkscrew pine..I am getting a pic of my parents tree as it is amazing but the seed pods are wild!

I was gonna guess bitterbark, sandbox, or kapok tree. Rats!

[Bulbopedilum]

Originally Posted by WaterWitchin

I was gonna guess bitterbark, sandbox, or kapok tree. Rats!

Kapok trees get very big. They also have thorns all over them, and the seed flies everywhere. I imagine if you were to plant one in a residential area it would be a mess when it bears seeds

[Bulbopedilum]

Just a comment, but those stilt roots of the "screw pine" are indeed spectacular. Aren't they related to Pandan as well?

Speaking of stilt roots, something came to mind. I remember this one species of palm called the "walking palm", Socratea exorrhiza. It's thought that when a tree topples over, it can put itself back up with the original roots rotting away, so the tree will move a good distance every time it topples over.