Two plants growing alongside stream...

Ive been puzzling over these two plants for a while now trying to figure out what they were as neither are in any of the wildflower books i have (or i just haven't seen them :P)



So this is the first plant. It can get rather large leaves on it but they tend to be medium sized with small bristles going all the way up the stem and on the under side of the kidney shaped leaves, latter on in the year it has small pink flower spikes with a sweet popcorn like scent (not very accurate but the best i could come up with...) i found it growing near a small stream, although i have previously seen it growing all over the cliff tops of ventnor on the isle of wight (near to were i live)

some more close up photos...


Now this one is a real mystery all i know is that there are loads of them were i used to live and it was great fun to make dens in, and hiding places amongst the rather tall stems (i was about 8 or 9 at the time) it has flecks of brown on the otherwise green stems which are hollow and full of watery sap





And as you can see it is a wonderfully sunny day in shanklin on the isle of wight. Thanks for any help with them:D

 

Not sure about the first but the second one is Japanese Knotweed and is a biological hazard here is a link to Defra http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside/non-native/knotweed.htm

 

really? wow there is lots of it if not acres of the stuff in ryde

 

Oh and just for fun i had a look at some of the other non-native species of plants and it appears that the rather pretty flower i have been seing down on the stream bank (which there is even more of than the knotweed) is in fact the Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera)

 

Hello kalmia and welcome to GC.

I too will be interested in the first plant as I've seen them here dangling down into the river up in the hills.

Lucky you living near Ventnor and the Botanical Gardens .... I owned in Bonchurch from 1999 - 2006 .... a truly beautiful part of the UK.

Enjoy the forum.

 

Thanks lady of leisure i think i might of found out what the second plant is...i think it might be a butterbur or to be more precise Petasites hybridus although I'm not to sure what does everyone else think? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petasites_hybridus) oh and just to let everyone know i reported the Japanese knotweed and the Himalayan Balsam to the council as i think its growing on there land

 

I think the knot weed and the balsam are far too well "dug in" in the Uk to be eradicated now, but thats just my thoughts.

I think you are right KL with the butter bur, but it flowers very early I think so it maybe worth a visit in late winter, its quite scented in the winter sun.

 

Well i think that it could be eradicated if more people were willing to remove it. the councils view is that its a plant so why are we spending money on this and not something more important? :( although there is a good chance the plants will get get removed as they are very close to a nature reserve (if you call carrier bags and a rusty trolley nature )

 

There is a place around here where building work has stopped until a patch of Knot weed is killed off, presumably the earth works would spread the roots.
I guess they are going to have to wait until there is enough top growth to apply a systemic weed killer, had the job been done in the winter, no one would have been any the wiser.

As to the balsam , it grows like crazy from seed each year, you would need to pollute every water course in the country to eradicate it.
It dont look too bad either.

I'd rather see the trolley removed, myself.

 

The Himalayan Balsam is pretty (and fragrant too) - but completely obliterates all other native plants in it's wake - nothing else grows under it once it's taken hold :(

 

Funny you should mention building work and the like i was reading somewhere only a few hours ago about knot weed at the London 2012 Olympic games site ah yes here it is http://www.hortweek.com/news_story.cfm?ID=2054 :eek: yes i know what you mean about the balsam i always thought it looked very pretty the clump near me ranges from a lovley white speckled pink to a dark purple

 

well the environmental department of the local council got back to me about the plants they basically said that they would add the patch of knotweed to the gardening contractors work rota and that they would take a look at the Himalayan Balsam although they were less inclined to remove this (to much hard work )

 

The round leaved plant must be Butterbur- you've got a collection of invasive plants there, as this one can spread like mad as well. It's a pity as they are all attractive plants in small quantities

 

A bit like people, eh liz.:D

 

LOL and after all that the round kidney shaped leaf plant wasn't butterbur :P it is in fact 'Winter Heliotrope' (Petasites fragrans) although a very close relative to the butterbur

More Info