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Please help me i.d. this plant (ground cherry)

 
Posts: 79
Location: Suburbs Salt Lake City, Utah 6a 24 in rain 58 in snow
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I'm in the suburbs with a small yard. Every inch of ground is precious! Along my back fence, on the south end of the yard, bindweed and grass creep in. To slow them down, several years ago, I put down a bunch of brush, bark, and other yard debris. I chuck soil/dirt on the pile every so often, and scatter seeds on it too. Very few things have sprouted there. But this year, this is growing. I just want to know what it is, and whether it's invasive or not. Any ideas?

Thanks!

20170602_075849.jpg
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steward
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I'm just taking a shot here but it kind of looks like milkweed to me.  Can you break off the end of a leaf and see if white sap leaks out from the leaf veins/ribs?
 
pollinator
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That was my thought too Mike.
 
Laurie Dyer
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Shoot, no white sap .
I am posting another photo from a different angle...
20170602_090633.jpg
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Mike Haasl
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Oh well, hopefully someone from your region will know what it is.  I used to live in Ogden but I wasn't into plants back then.  Good luck!
 
Laurie Dyer
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Thanks so much for your help!
 
pollinator
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You may want to send a shout-out to Joseph Lofthouse who lives up in Logan, but probably knows a lot about the local or even introduced flora that grows along the Wasatch.  
 
Laurie Dyer
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Great idea, John, thanks!
 
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I don't immediately recognize the species. Based on it's vigorous growth, I'd guess that it sprouted from a rhizome/root, so is a biennial or perennial. If a cross-section of the stem is square, I'd guess something in the mint family which is usually accompanied with some sort of distinctive smell. It's often easiest to identify plants when they are flowering.

The most problematic wild herbs in my garden are the perennials. I'm much more willing to allow an unknown annual to grow in my garden than an unknown perennial.
 
John Weiland
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Joseph Lofthouse wrote:
If a cross-section of the stem is square, I'd guess something in the mint family which is usually accompanied with some sort of distinctive smell.



Yeah, having the flower would make it much easier.  I'm thinking not a mint, just cuz the leaves don't seem to be in opposing pairs.  The day is not far off when you can pinch a piece of leaf tissue, submit it to a desk at the local Walgreen's over the lunch hour, and DNA typing will have your answer faster than you print photos there now.
 
Laurie Dyer
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Joseph Lofthouse wrote:I don't immediately recognize the species. Based on it's vigorous growth, I'd guess that it sprouted from a rhizome/root, so is a biennial or perennial.



Thank you Joseph, I too think it's from a rhizome. I am going to leave it be, and see what it turns out to be.
 
gardener
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John Weiland wrote:The day is not far off when you can pinch a piece of leaf tissue, submit it to a desk at the local Walgreen's over the lunch hour, and DNA typing will have your answer faster than you print photos there now.



We are almost there. This link was in a local pharmacy ad. It's for humans and plants. But far over my head. LINK

As far as the plant ID, keep watching it. Someone here may be able to recognize it in flowering.
 
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it looks a bit like a poblano pepper --  maybe some capsicum masquerading weed?
 
Laurie Dyer
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Hmmm.... it doesn't look like a pepper to me, but I could be wrong! I will just hafta wait.
 
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It almost looks like a Jerusalem artichoke to me! (Grain of salt: I haven't grown them in about ten years, so I might be misremembering them.) I seem to remember the stems being faintly prickly and going from a vibrant green to a slightly purplish shade at the bottom, like this plant does. For comparison, here's a link to a series of photo showing some growing from tiny to big: https://groundtoground.org/2012/08/18/jerusalem-artichoke-ultimate-perennial/
 
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...evening primrose maybe?  Ours begin as a rosette of leaves and then by the time they bloom the flower stalks have stretched to more than five feet tall.  Our donkey has eaten all of the tops out of ours, otherwise I would attach a picture.

Here's a link to some online images...with some possibly similar leaves to yours?  the leaves vary some but yours look broader than most of these.
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=hFmM3T6b&id=DBD9E00510406372E66A2E0CB16DBB0BF29573FF&thid=OIP.hFmM3T6bXrVFWlQhDg-nzwEsDh&q=evening+primrose+images+of+leaves&simid=607991843921526818&selectedindex=12&mode=overlay&first=1
 
Laurie Dyer
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Thanks for the ideas, now I'm getting more and more excited to see what it turns out to be.
 
Laurie Dyer
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It's blooming, but I can't tell what it is!
20170621_130918.jpg
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20170621_130939.jpg
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That's a nightshade (Solanaceae Family) for sure. Looks quite close to a tomatillo or cape gooseberry.
 
Viola Schultz
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...now you just need a few poblano peppers and you'll salsa away!
 
Laurie Dyer
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Jonathan D Davis wrote:That's a nightshade (Solanaceae Family) for sure. Looks quite close to a tomatillo or cape gooseberry.



Yes, I think it must be a ground cherry!
 
pollinator
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Physalis hispida is a possibility. Physalis is the ground cherry genus. So I searched for the genus on USDA plants. Looked at pictures of each species (using yahoo search on my phone) found in the subordinate taxa tab on USDA plants that had a range map showing them in Utah until I came to one that seemed to have the unusual entire leaf margins which I haven't seen before on a Physalis.

Euell Gibbons used to eat all ground cherries according to his books.

I should say almost entire especially in some of the earlier photos shallow teeth along the leaf margins are visible. Still interesting leaves for a Physalis!
 
Laurie Dyer
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Oh wow, William, thanks for that info! It's so interesting. Google physalis hispida and it really does look similar to the photos. And I usually have ground cherries volunteer every year; descendants from Aunt Mollys... but the leaves have NEVER looked like this before.

In any case, it's certainly exciting!
 
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I dont know about the ground cherry but it's definitely in the nightshade family like peppers, potatoes, tomatoes and lobilia.
 
Laurie Dyer
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Definitely ground cherries!
20170726_182200.jpg
[Thumbnail for 20170726_182200.jpg]
 
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Longleaf Groundcherry (Physalis longifolia)

AKA wild tomatillo
 
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I know I’m late to the party here, but did you’re groundcherry keep coming back? I believe this is Physalis longifolia, which is basically a perennial tomatillo! If you allow it to, it’ll come back every year and give you delicious tiny little tomatillos (ground cherries).

 
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