Plant identification

TisMary

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New York
I'm also thinking it's a species of the genus Commelina (Family: Commelinacaea, sometimes called Spiderwort). I can't say which species you have there (there are about 150 here in the states and over 730 worldwide!) In general, take a look at the pictures on this page Know Your Natives – Virginia Dayflower especially the flowers (will have 3 nearly equal-sized petals), the alternate leaves (they "alternate" up the stem vs. being "opposite" each other) that are "sharply folded" (looks like it from your picture) and the base of each leaf wraps around the stem. Also check out this wiki page Commelina and search this forum for Commelina (it's a topic that's come up before).

As you look up entries on lists of safe-to-feed plants, please make sure you are verifying the "Botanical name" for the plant (a Genus and Species within a given Family). Common names (like Spiderwort) can mean different things to different people and in different parts of the world. The only way to be sure that you are talking about the same thing is by using the botanical name.

Good luck!
 

Potato_king

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Feb 26, 2021
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138
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Oman

Potato_king

Active Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2021
Messages
138
Location (City and/or State)
Oman
I'm also thinking it's a species of the genus Commelina (Family: Commelinacaea, sometimes called Spiderwort). I can't say which species you have there (there are about 150 here in the states and over 730 worldwide!) In general, take a look at the pictures on this page Know Your Natives – Virginia Dayflower especially the flowers (will have 3 nearly equal-sized petals), the alternate leaves (they "alternate" up the stem vs. being "opposite" each other) that are "sharply folded" (looks like it from your picture) and the base of each leaf wraps around the stem. Also check out this wiki page Commelina and search this forum for Commelina (it's a topic that's come up before).

As you look up entries on lists of safe-to-feed plants, please make sure you are verifying the "Botanical name" for the plant (a Genus and Species within a given Family). Common names (like Spiderwort) can mean different things to different people and in different parts of the world. The only way to be sure that you are talking about the same thing is by using the botanical name.

Good luck!
Thank you very much for the feedback, it is very informative.
the flowers here Know Your Natives – Virginia Dayflower are a little bit different from the flowers that I have. mine have two equal-sized petals and the third one is smaller and has a different color. Also, the Filaments are bluish, not white.

372AAB40-8F27-4174-A12E-D988E1A1F54A.jpeg
 

TisMary

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New York
Now you're getting into the details! That's good Potato_king. If you start learning the distinguishing patterns of individual plant Families, you'll soon find that you can pretty accurately identify the Family of plants you come across. For example, plants of the Mint Family have square stems and the leaves are attached opposite each other on the stem. If you crush a leaf, it will usually be aromatic. If you know which Family you've got, you can focus on getting more specific information (genus, species, etc.)

According to the book Botany in a Day if you start getting familiar with the patterns of these 8 Families, you will begin to recognize the correct family for more than 45,000 species of plants worldwide: Mint, Parsley, Mustard, Pea, Lily, Grass, Rose, and Aster. The weeds in my yard have never been more interesting!
 

Potato_king

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Oman
Now you're getting into the details! That's good Potato_king. If you start learning the distinguishing patterns of individual plant Families, you'll soon find that you can pretty accurately identify the Family of plants you come across. For example, plants of the Mint Family have square stems and the leaves are attached opposite each other on the stem. If you crush a leaf, it will usually be aromatic. If you know which Family you've got, you can focus on getting more specific information (genus, species, etc.)

According to the book Botany in a Day if you start getting familiar with the patterns of these 8 Families, you will begin to recognize the correct family for more than 45,000 species of plants worldwide: Mint, Parsley, Mustard, Pea, Lily, Grass, Rose, and Aster. The weeds in my yard have never been more interesting!
Wow ? this comment is more informative tthan hours of searching in google. I will write the 8 families on my my notebook and try to identify all the plants that i have!
Thank you very much for the great help!
 

TisMary

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Messages
160
Location (City and/or State)
New York
Wow ? this comment is more informative tthan hours of searching in google. I will write the 8 families on my my notebook and try to identify all the plants that i have!
Thank you very much for the great help!
If the plant is in bloom, start by looking at the flower(s) - their sepals and petals. Page 24 of BIAD has a worksheet you can use to help you describe the parts. Based on the "profile" you create, you can start zeroing in on a Family. Plants within a Family are surprisingly consistent when it comes to things like the shape of the flower, the number of petals, etc. Even though one plant may be huge and another very tiny, if they are genetically in the same Family, they will have lots of things in common.

I must admit that when I started doing this, I would sometimes start with a plant I already knew, look up its Family and go backwards through this process to understand why the plant belonged to that Family (some call this "cheating" - I think of it as "reverse engineering" ?)

If I can help with your identification exercise, I'd be happy to. Good luck!
 

Potato_king

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Oh so identifying a plant from its flowers is much easier, its very amazing how thousands of plants with distinct shapes and colors belong to the same Family.

im still new to plants identification, but i will follow your "reverse engineering" method because its very interesting and will cover everything i need to know about the plant?

during the year, new plants pop up in my garden, some of which i have never seen before ,Honestly im enjoying it very much. if i found a new plant in my garden i will come to this fourm first to hear your identification.

Thank you very much ?
 

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