Comments on: Is it zombie-Thyme?

Question: Is it zombie-Thyme?

Rallon — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 16:08:17 -0800

What is the mystery plant growing in what used to be my (indoor, potted) thyme? (Pics inside)

Earlier this year I bought a little thyme plant to keep inside on my windowsill. The thyme did terribly, and almost all of it died pretty quickly and just sat there as a bunch of dried-out stalks. A few bits of it were still alive, though, so I kept watering - likely long after even those holdouts gave up the ghost.

Imagine my surprise when we found a bunch of tiny plants sprouting under the dead thyme plant! The little plants sprouted and grew quite quickly, and started to climb the dead thyme, which I finally pulled out of the pot a few days ago as there was starting to be a big tangle in the pot. We've put some little wooden "stakes" in the pot and the mystery plant doesn't seem to be climbing them all by itself, though.

So far I don't see any sign of flowers or blossoms, and the leaves don't smell like anything when I rub them between my fingers. So what is this mystery plant?

Pictures

By: straw

straw — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 16:20:48 -0800

I can't tell scale, but have you pinched off a leaf and tasted it? If that's the same scale as the original plant (ie: tiny leaves), it could be thyme! I've thought I've killed thyme plants before and been wrong...

By: Rallon

Rallon — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 16:23:38 -0800

It's still growing larger, but it's already way, way bigger than the thyme. The largest leaves are probably an inch or so long and 1/2" to 3/4" wide.

By: MonkeyToes

MonkeyToes — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 16:39:58 -0800

Are the stalks of the mystery plant a little fuzzy and a bit spiky, by any chance?

If so, my vote it weed, kill it with fire. I have such a thing growing wild and it tries to smother any plants around it. I have been told (by a completely unreliable source) that it's a nasty weed.

By: fancyoats

fancyoats — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 16:57:40 -0800

If it smells like thyme, it is thyme. But that doesn't look very much like thyme to me, because thyme often has stems that are more woody with smaller leaves. I think your plant looks a little like chickweed.

By: purpleclover

purpleclover — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 16:59:12 -0800

Uh, I think it's chickweed.

By: Rallon

Rallon — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 17:13:40 -0800

Chickweed looks right - thanks MeFi!

By: pla

pla — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 19:06:49 -0800

By: Kibby

Kibby — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 20:55:02 -0800

Are you in the US? If so, look closely at the stems. If they have a strip of white hairs running down one side of 'em, it's chickweed. And chickweed is a tasty, nutrient-rich salad green.

By: oneirodynia

oneirodynia — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 10:55:20 -0800

Sorry, but that ain't chickweed. A weed, yes, but chickweed has a much more dense arrangement of leaves, arranged in diametrically opposed pairs at right angles to each other. It also has an ovoid-shaped leaf, rather than a cardioid-shape as in your pictures.

There's a few different weeds called "chickweed". You might be thinking of Cerastium vulgatum or Cerastium arvense. The plant I know as "chickweed" is Stellaria media, which is what this plant looks like to me.

Just don't eat plants that look like this if they have milky sap, because then it's Euphorbia ssp., which is poisonous.

By: pla

pla — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 15:19:06 -0800

Ah, I learn something new every day! Thanks, oneirodynia!