# Name this plant, please **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 16, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-plant-please/599834 "2011-10-16T19:06:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-plant-please/599834/1 "2011-10-16T19:06:17Z")
Being interested in botany, I’ve seen many weird plants and flowers but this one leaves me dumbfounded: [http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/3108/006gw.jpg](http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/3108/006gw.jpg) It was purchased in a commercial garden center. Can you help ? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-plant-please/599834/2 "2011-10-16T19:14:12Z")
Wow. No clue. Have any small animals disappeared near it? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-plant-please/599834/3 "2011-10-16T19:30:07Z")
Is there only one plant in that pot? It almost looks like you have a small succulent plant of some kind (sedum perhaps), then a seedling of something else (possibly a weed) alongside it. The part with all the tendrils is unfamiliar to me - but it has the look of something that that is producing tendrils in place of some other structure, perhaps as a result of mutation. Or maybe it’s just something I’ve not seen before. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-plant-please/599834/4 "2011-10-16T19:37:12Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Is there only one plant in that pot? It almost looks like you have a small succulent plant of some kind (sedum perhaps), then a seedling of something else (possibly a weed) alongside it. > > The part with all the tendrils is unfamiliar to me - but it has the look of something that that is producing tendrils in place of some other structure, perhaps as a result of mutation. Or maybe it’s just something I’ve not seen before. No, those are new shoots. You can see some on the plants itself. And the filaments are not tendrils. They are “flowers” (or inflorescences). Those were quick responses, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-plant-please/599834/5 "2011-10-16T19:39:25Z")
The floral/fruit structures and the succulent leaves suggest it is some kind of [Peperomia,](http://www.hear.org/starr/images/images/plants/full/starr-020925-0104.jpg) or at least in the same family, Piperaceae. I’m not sure which one yet. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-plant-please/599834/6 "2011-10-16T19:40:14Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Wow. No clue. Have any small animals disappeared near it? It isn’t a carnivorous plant. And my cat is still sleeping nearby. ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-plant-please/599834/7 "2011-10-16T19:41:02Z")
The one with the tendrils sort of looks like [Sweet Pea](http://www.google.com/imgres?q=sweet+pea&hl=en&biw=1257&bih=702&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=4AJaK1-zewyflM:&imgrefurl=http://www.acorndesigns.org/index.php%3Fmain_page%3Dindex%26cPath%3D90&docid=8ukG1BZLqqxJ2M&imgurl=http://www.acorndesigns.org/images/sweetpea%252520thumb.jpg&w=450&h=628&ei=NzKbTpXQIumYiQLMrYidAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=985&vpy=340&dur=88&hovh=265&hovw=190&tx=117&ty=144&sig=118215155405246775264&page=9&tbnh=134&tbnw=96&start=149&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:19,s:149). ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-plant-please/599834/8 "2011-10-16T19:42:52Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The floral/fruit structures and the succulent leaves suggest it is some kind of [Peperomia,](http://www.hear.org/starr/images/images/plants/full/starr-020925-0104.jpg) or at least in the same family, Piperaceae. I’m not sure which one yet. That’s it, **Colibri**. Many thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-plant-please/599834/9 "2011-10-16T19:46:56Z")
> [@Cheez\_Whia](#): > > The one with the tendrils sort of looks like [Sweet Pea](http://www.google.com/imgres?q=sweet+pea&hl=en&biw=1257&bih=702&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=4AJaK1-zewyflM:&imgrefurl=http://www.acorndesigns.org/index.php%3Fmain_page%3Dindex%26cPath%3D90&docid=8ukG1BZLqqxJ2M&imgurl=http://www.acorndesigns.org/images/sweetpea%252520thumb.jpg&w=450&h=628&ei=NzKbTpXQIumYiQLMrYidAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=985&vpy=340&dur=88&hovh=265&hovw=190&tx=117&ty=144&sig=118215155405246775264&page=9&tbnh=134&tbnw=96&start=149&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:19,s:149). I’d have known it. I have some in my garden. Thank you all ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-plant-please/599834/10 "2011-10-16T19:49:49Z")
> [@Gymnopithys](#): > > That’s it, **Colibri**. Many thanks. There are [more than a thousand species](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peperomia), so it may be tough to pin it down. The other big genus in the family is Piper. (Note the correct spelling is Peperomia, which I fixed in my original post.) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-plant-please/599834/11 "2011-10-16T20:27:06Z")
> [@Gymnopithys](#): > > And the filaments are not tendrils. They are “flowers” (or inflorescences). Ah - that makes more sense now. A plant with that much reproductive tissue isn’t out of the ordinary. It seemed an abnormal amount of them, if they had been tendrils. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-plant-please/599834/12 "2011-10-16T20:28:58Z")
> [@Gymnopithys](#): > > It isn’t a carnivorous plant. And my cat is still sleeping nearby. You’re sure your cat is still alive? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-plant-please/599834/13 "2011-10-16T21:24:05Z")
> [@Gymnopithys](#): > > It isn’t a carnivorous plant. And my cat is still sleeping nearby. You sure it is still your cat and not a pod-cat? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-plant-please/599834/14 "2011-10-16T21:25:34Z")
I name it Bethany. Hello, Bethany Plant! ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2011, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-plant-please/599834/15 "2011-10-17T09:21:49Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Wow. No clue. Have any small animals disappeared near it? For a while I thought this plant was a chimera (“an organism containing genetically different tissues, formed by mutation etc.”). **Canadjun** , for your info, the cat is still alive this morning and eating the plant. Il **mange tout**. You’re all very reassuring, thanks 😃 **Maggie,** couldn’t you suggest something a little more unusal ? “We have found 7 people in the UK with the name Bethany Plant.” (Wiki).