“They know, they just know where to grow, how to dupe you, and how to camouflage themselves among the perfectly respectable plants, they just know, and therefore, I’ve concluded weeds must have brains.”
~ Dianne Benson, Dirt, 1994.
There are many trees, bushes, and plants in our backyard whose true identity is a mystery to me. They were already here when we bought this house or have sprung up as volunteers. Up until now I have not paid them much attention. I have used the internet to successfully identify some of my succulents, cacti, and clover-like ground cover, ( aka Wood Sorrel). I mentioned my search to my daughter and she told me I could get an App for my phone, take photos of the plant/tree, and get it identified. I was a bit frustrated in my first attempts using the App. But yesterday I asked the opinion of The Horticulturist, a feature of the App, and got the answer. I was really off on the wrong track in my identification of some of the bushes. I thought they were Chokecherry. I got off on a tangent with the Chokecherry. It has a long history in North America and strong ties to Native Americans who harvested the cherries. Turns out they are not Chokecherry and they are two separate species. One is Heavenly Bamboo and the other Brazilian Pepper. We have a large Brazilian Pepper at the front of our house as do other neighbors. I have always liked the Pepper Tree in front. I knew it was a Pepper Tree but the one in the backyard looks more like a thicket or bush. It probably volunteered in our backyard with the help of birds who eat the peppers and then spread the seeds to other locations. The Heavenly Bamboo was probably spread by the birds as well because there are two smaller bushes of it in other locations in our yard. Now we have to figure out what to do with the Pepper trees because it can be invasive and I don’t want a backyard full of them. At least the Heavenly Bamboo is not invasive. 🙂
One Liner Wednesday is hosted by Linda G Hill.
Notes Tied On The Sagebrush 