Say my name, say my name - volunteer mystery plant ID

April 27, 2018 8:58 AM

This plant has popped up in my garden after winter rains. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and I think my zone is 9. It's about 2 feet tall now and looks lovely, but I'm hoping to ID it before it takes over the garden in case it's a terrible weed. Thanks, plant friends!
posted by quince to Home & Garden (11 answers total)

I don't have an immediate answer for you other than to contact your California Master Gardener program. This is the sort of thing they exist to help with.

I took the Vermont Master Gardener program, and it isn't design to help make one a better gardener so much as it is to create an army of people to help answer questions, especially about potentially aggressive or invasive species.

Also, maybe try an app?
posted by terrapin at 10:59 AM on April 27, 2018

The Reddit crowd mind is usually pretty good at this thing.
posted by msbutah at 11:18 AM on April 27, 2018

It looks like an artichoke, but if you aren't sure, odds are it's a weed :)
posted by k5.user at 11:47 AM on April 27, 2018

Looks like some sort of Datura to me, maybe D. stramonium, in which case it is pretty poisonous.
posted by Fuchsoid at 12:04 PM on April 27, 2018

Would it be possible to post another photo showing more of the stem and underside of the leaves?
posted by DSime at 2:48 PM on April 27, 2018

It looks a lot like a papaya tree seedling. We use papayas in fruit salads and discard the seeds. Every summer, we get a ton of plants that look remarkably like your photo in our compost bin (in West Virginia). They get 5-6 feet tall.
posted by WyoWhy at 7:18 PM on April 27, 2018

Seconding an artichoke or other cardoon.
posted by ananci at 10:42 PM on April 27, 2018

Best answer: Huh? Weird, but it looks very much like an NZ native - Solanum lacianatum: http://www.terrain.net.nz/friends-of-te-henui-group/trees-native-botanical-names-r-to-z/poroporo.html
Which seems to be spreading thru the Pacific. Fruit very toxic when green, edible when yellow, and yes it will happily become the only plant in your yard.
posted by unearthed at 11:11 PM on April 27, 2018 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Here's a link to the underside of the leaves
posted by quince at 10:44 AM on April 28, 2018

Best answer: I have to agree with unearthed, I think they hit the nail on the head. I'm not familiar with the plant at all but the photos are a dead ringer - even down to the unique vein pattern on the leaves.
posted by DSime at 4:49 PM on April 28, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I've just found a us national park service weeds newsletter, Early Detection News https://www.nps.gov/articles/early-detection-news-august-2017.htm with a 2017 article on spread of poroporo in Marin County.
posted by unearthed at 7:35 PM on April 28, 2018 [1 favorite]