Two plants to id please

This is a houseplant that my cousin gave to me years ago and neither of us the name, it dies down over winter and comes back to life in about May.



And this is a grass plant that I blagged from my neighbor, as you can hopefully see it has these lovely flowers about three quarters of the way up the stem.

 

No idea what the flowering plant is Stingo but it is lovely and a beautiful colour too.

The grass is what we have in various places around the pond - if only I could remember the name!!! Once it gets settled in it can get invasive, so keep an eye on it. I'll get back to you when I remember what it is called or someone else will come along and tell you in the meantime.

 

Thanks Kedi, I have the grass in a pot at the moment thankfully.

 

Water reed looks like juncus articulatus a native bog plant of britain as Keddi says it can be invasive.

 

Just a thought top plant could be one of the gloxinias not sure which one, they are related to african violets.

 

Hi there Stingo, your houseplant is an ACHIMENES aka The Hot Water Plant !

 

That's it Walnut. I looked in Wikipedia but the English version only had a picture but it does show it in detail Stingo -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juncus

The Deutsch version shows how nice it looks when it grows into a large (invasive) clump.

 

The second plant is definitely one of the rushes - there's a wild one, Soft Rush (Juncus effusus), that we used to call "Monkey on a Stick" when I was a kid in Lincolnshire... Given the fairly small flower heads, this one looks like Baltic Rush (J. balticus) - but it's hard to be sure as the flowers are still green - they should turn brown later. Don't think it's J. articulatus as that has a much more open flower head. Some of them are a right pain to tell apart, though!

This is J. articulatus:

http://www.plant-identification.co.uk/skye/juncaceae/juncus-articulatus.htm

And this is J. balticus:

http://www.laspilitas.com/plants/719.htm

[ 20. June 2007, 03:27 PM: Message edited by: Hyla arborea ]

 

Thank you everyone very much :D

I think the rush is j. balticus as I can remember the flowers being a darker colour in my neighbors garden.

Wonder why the houseplant is called the hot water plant gogs? I'll do a search on that after tea.

Stingo

 

I believe the hot water plant is called that because its' tiny fir-cone like corms germinate easily in hot moist conditions. Many years ago my dad was given some of these, and having no luck in the house he chucked them onto his compost heap, where they all promptly sprouted. We had them for years! Also known as Friendship plant as it gets handed round, but there are several plants called this for the same reason.

 

I had a few at one time & was told by someone to use warm water,but probably its as Liz says re-hot/moist conditions.

 

They can stand it on my window ledge in the direct sun, doesn't faze them at all, now I know why :D