What's that plant?

October 13, 2009 11:22 AM

What is this weird-looking flowering plant?

This neat alien plant thing has been sprouting along the sidewalks in my neighborhood. Sometimes one long "stalk" will randomly pop up in one of the large flowerpots my neighbors favor, so I don't think they're intentionally planted. It seems like they come up around mid-to-late summer. I'm bad at estimating measurements, but I'd say that they grow to about a foot in height.

I live just outside Boston, MA. I've lived in the area nearly all my life, and I'd never seen these things until I moved to my current neighborhood!

posted by giraffe to home & garden (7 comments total)

We used to call them wild spider lilies. They showed up all of the sudden where we lived in the Ohio River valley in the early '80s.

I tried to google for wild spider lilies, but couldn't find them though, so it may be colloquial.

They will spread like wildfire, though. So uproot them or at least pull and destroy the pods if you don't want them to take over.
posted by Tchad at 11:27 AM on October 13

Cleome
posted by jerseygirl at 11:29 AM on October 13 [1 favorite]

Jerseygirl has it - Cleome.
posted by Tchad at 11:50 AM on October 13

That was fast! Thanks jerseygirl and Tchad!
posted by giraffe at 11:57 AM on October 13

Must be a new hybrid as I don't remember them being that colour. Usually pink cleome grows 5' or so and about as wide.
posted by x46 at 12:11 PM on October 13

The plant that giraffe was asking about is probably closer to 3-4 feet tall. I'm not sure how she got 1 foot, they're definitely above waist-height at their peak. Cleome looks right.
posted by explosion at 12:57 PM on October 13

Cleome can grow up to 5 feet, easy. I have white, pink, purple and variegated strains. I would kill for a blue one.
posted by nax at 4:35 PM on October 13