# Can anyone identify this plant? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 23, 2009, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-plant/503939 "2009-07-23T00:06:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-plant/503939/1 "2009-07-23T00:06:32Z")
My sister has this growing in a pot outside. The plant was not there originally and she doesn’t remember planting an additional plant in that pot. It is growing very fast. The center stem is green with purple ribs and the leaves are green with a purple edge. I have pics but they’re really small and I can’t resize them without totally blurring the details, which can’t be seen anyway. lol Anyway, I’m in very upstate NY, across the lake from Burlington and fairly close to Canada, if that makes a difference. I realize this is pretty vague but any guesses would be helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-plant/503939/2 "2009-07-23T01:29:30Z")
That sounds vaguely familiar – very vaguely (former Jefferson County native here). Describe the leaves more – smooth or serrated edges? fleshy or thin? “Leaf-shaped” (like an ash tree) or different? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-plant/503939/3 "2009-07-23T01:37:35Z")
[Perilla](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perilla)? There are _lots_ of [color variants](http://images.google.com/images?q=Perilla&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi). ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-plant/503939/4 "2009-07-23T03:29:42Z")
Forgot I have a scanner. Can’t really see the purple here but it goes all the way around the edge, a very thin line. [http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AR-b1zt8NVSWZGNyNTdjc3dfMWc1ZnRiNWc5&hl=en](http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AR-b1zt8NVSWZGNyNTdjc3dfMWc1ZnRiNWc5&hl=en) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-plant/503939/5 "2009-07-23T05:54:09Z")
Do you need to sign in to see your google.doc item? I’m just getting the ad with a login screen. Have you checked whether your plant is a burdock? What are the shapes of the leaves? Smooth? Toothed? Lobed? Size? Individual? Clusters? Compound (pairs of leaflets extening off a single stem)? Branches opposite (pairs starting from stem opposite each other)? Branches alternate (each branch is by itself on the main stem with the next one higher or lower on the opposite side of the stem)? Any flowers? ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-plant/503939/6 "2009-07-23T10:51:35Z")
I thought I had changed the sign in. I just did it now so you should be able to see it. It’s definitely not burdock. It’s about 2’ high at the moment and it only started growing about 2 months ago. The plant that was actually living in that pot doesn’t grow nearly that quickly. I am your typical city raised girl. Even though MA has lots of trees and plants, nature education was not a part of my upbringing. I can recognize magnolia, lilac, forsythia (if they’re in bloom) and weeping willows. That is the extent of my tree knowledge. I am even worse with leafy plants. Something about this plant though, makes me think it’s a tree of some sort. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-plant/503939/7 "2009-07-23T14:11:58Z")
It’s sometimes hard to identify plants - especially trees - when they’re young and little, partially because the proportions are so different. (Twenty feet tall? Sure sign it’s a tree. Twenty inches tall? Whole nuther story.) Try standing near the pot, then looking all around you in every direction. Look at smaller shrubs as well as the big trees. Does anything have a similarly shaped leaf, similar coloring? Anything in a neighbor’s yard? Something popping up in a pot is usually from a wind-blown seed, and would probably have come from a nearby parent, although squirrels certainly like to plant oaks and things in random spots for you. 🙂 Wish I could help with something more specific. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-plant/503939/8 "2009-07-23T18:59:01Z")
I just took a look around. We have quite a few trees behind our house - no shrubs though. Nothing looked similar. However, there is now another of the same plant starting to grow in the same pot. The very small plant is only a couple inches high. The center stem is red. The larger plant has a green stem with purple ribbing. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-plant/503939/9 "2009-07-23T21:11:10Z")
Are the stems hairy? ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-plant/503939/10 "2009-07-23T21:43:06Z")
Not that I can tell. They’re not completely smooth. There’s a slight rough texture but I wouldn’t say hairy. ---
**Author:** ![Mallory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mallory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallory)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-plant/503939/11 "2009-07-23T22:01:29Z")
Looks like it could be a type of lambsquarter. [http://www.veggiegardeningtips.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/Lambs-Quarters.jpg](http://www.veggiegardeningtips.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/Lambs-Quarters.jpg) It’s a weed, but apparently it’s also edible. Never knew that before. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-plant/503939/12 "2009-07-23T22:51:27Z")
Considering they sprout in a pot they may not even be native to the region. Anything can hitch a ride in potting soil sold in a bag or used in a greenhouse. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-plant/503939/13 "2009-07-24T01:46:01Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > Considering they sprout in a pot they may not even be native to the region. Anything can hitch a ride in potting soil sold in a bag or used in a greenhouse. Or birdseed. I’ve seen millet, corn, and a horror called the stinging nettle sprout. And every year sunflowers of all sizes, everywhere! Got two dozen growing randomly now. …Sorry I can’t guess at the plant in question, but I’m curious and keep reading to see if anyone can ID it. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-plant/503939/14 "2009-07-24T01:53:32Z")
A picture of the whole plant would probably help in identification. I can’t tell from the single leaf that’s for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Bewildebeest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bewildebeest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bewildebeest)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-plant/503939/15 "2009-07-24T11:34:47Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > [Perilla](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perilla)? > There are _lots_ of [color variants](http://images.google.com/images?q=Perilla&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi). Does it smell kind of like basil, and have opposite leaves (in pairs, one on each side of the stem like: …| o-|-o (Assume the dots aren’t there.) …| instead of like: o-| …|-o )? Are the stems square? ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-plant/503939/16 "2009-07-24T16:46:05Z")
Should not get the answer here got to [Gardenweb.com](http://Gardenweb.com). They can suggest names that can be checked with you plant and images.google. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-plant/503939/17 "2009-07-24T16:54:14Z")
Hmm, I know I responded to this yesterday. Anyway, it was lambsquarter. Thank you all for your help. I wonder where that other post went??