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Lilac?

 
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Róisín



Joined: 30 Jul 2005
Posts: 578

PostPosted: Fri Aug 19, 05 8:17 pm    Post subject: Lilac? Reply with quote
    

I've tried Googling etc but ended up trying here. There's a plant growing all over where I live, it's a wild weed, seems to thrive on any kind of surface. It has tiny purple flowers with orange hearts which are arranged in a kind of cone. Someone told me it's lilac, but she wasn't sure. It's everywhere so I was wondering if I could use it for anything in particular. And of course, I need to know first what it is. Sorry for lack of pic!

Cheers in advance.

nettie



Joined: 02 Dec 2004
Posts: 5888
Location: Suffolk
PostPosted: Fri Aug 19, 05 8:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Hi Roisin, lilac flowers around May and is usually a large shrub/small tree.

The only thing I can think of to match the description of the flower is a nightshade of some kind, do the purple petals sort of curl backwards??

nettie



Joined: 02 Dec 2004
Posts: 5888
Location: Suffolk
PostPosted: Fri Aug 19, 05 8:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Could this be it? Woody nightshade, apparently. Do the leaves look like little versions of potato leaves?

Róisín



Joined: 30 Jul 2005
Posts: 578

PostPosted: Fri Aug 19, 05 8:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Hi Nettie, thanks for trying but that doesn't look like it, no. It looks most like a pale purple version of horse chestnut flowers, in the conical formation, but they droop down rather than up like the horse chestnut tree. Will have another google and see if I can't find some picture that's *like* it.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism
PostPosted: Fri Aug 19, 05 8:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Is it a tree, shrub, bush or plant? How tall and what do the leaves look like? Lilac is a shrubby tree that likes limey soil and flowers in the Spring.

Róisín



Joined: 30 Jul 2005
Posts: 578

PostPosted: Fri Aug 19, 05 9:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

It's a weed in that it grows *anywhere* to really big sizes. I've seen it growing out of walls, growing upright from the ground, growing from cracks in the concrete. It can grow to the size of a tree but I think it's really a big bush. It flowers even when it's just a small plant too, ie one stem coming from a crack in the path.

Sorry to post a question and then be so unhelpful with details!

Bugs



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

PostPosted: Fri Aug 19, 05 9:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Tiny purple flowers, orange hearts, cone shape - sounds like buddleia (spellings vary...I think that's the most common) - https://www.gaelicgardens.com/images/tipspics/Buddleia%20davidii.jpg

Have you smelled it? You can usually smell it from metres away and it reminds me of Sunday tea brown bread and honey (technically speaking it only smells of honey, but I personally equate it with the brown bread as well ).

nettie



Joined: 02 Dec 2004
Posts: 5888
Location: Suffolk
PostPosted: Fri Aug 19, 05 9:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Ha harrr bugs me old mate I reckon you're on to something there....

Bugs



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

PostPosted: Fri Aug 19, 05 9:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

If that is it then no edible uses, according to PFAF - https://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Buddleia+davidii

Actually that pic I posted isn't perfect but have a hunt on Google and see if it matches; there'll be a lot of the darker ones - Black Knight for example - that are popular in gardens, but the pale lilac one fits the description of growing like a weed; a nice weed though, and very popular with bees and butterflies. I do love it - we have several in our garden

Róisín



Joined: 30 Jul 2005
Posts: 578

PostPosted: Fri Aug 19, 05 9:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Bugs wrote:
Tiny purple flowers, orange hearts, cone shape - sounds like buddleia (spellings vary...I think that's the most common) - https://www.gaelicgardens.com/images/tipspics/Buddleia%20davidii.jpg

Have you smelled it? You can usually smell it from metres away and it reminds me of Sunday tea brown bread and honey (technically speaking it only smells of honey, but I personally equate it with the brown bread as well ).


That's it

Thanks Bugs (and all the rest of you! ) ye are stars.

tawny owl



Joined: 29 Apr 2005
Posts: 563
Location: Hampshire
PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 05 4:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Bugs wrote:
Have you smelled it? You can usually smell it from metres away and it reminds me of Sunday tea brown bread and honey (technically speaking it only smells of honey, but I personally equate it with the brown bread as well ).


Really? It smells like cat's wee to me. But then again, I like wisteria, while other people have said that smells like cat's wee too.

Róisín



Joined: 30 Jul 2005
Posts: 578

PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 05 4:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Oh I love the smell of it too! When you said 'Sunday tea and brown bread with honey' I knew you had the right plant straight away, without even looking at the pic.

Bugs



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 05 4:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Quote:
Really? It smells like cat's wee to me. But then again, I like wisteria, while other people have said that smells like cat's wee too.


I mean the buddleia, not the lilac! Although, I do like the smell of lilac but agree it can be a bit potent if you bring it in; and different ones seem to smell different. I do like the smell of wisteria as well though.

I like smelling things.

Lozzie



Joined: 25 May 2005
Posts: 2595

PostPosted: Mon Aug 22, 05 5:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Bugs wrote:
[ Although, I do like the smell of lilac but agree it can be a bit potent if you bring it in; a


Bringing lilac into the house is considered to be extremely bad luck, according to the Oxford Dictionary of Plant-Lore

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