Plant Identification

[Richprins]

[Richprins]

Medium tree, 5m

Marloth

No fruits, but still end of winter!

[Richprins]

Hairy underside of leaves!

[Klipspringer]

Latex test?
When exactly?

[Richprins]

No latex test...

September!

[mposthumus]

[mposthumus]

[Klipspringer]

Blackjack, Bidens pilosa, a naturalized exotic


The common blackjack is an annual plant belonging to the Asteraceae family. In the young plant, the leaves are flat and a dark purple-green. The white, daisy-like, yellow-centred flowers with their distinctively long, thin stems appear in late summer to autumn. They mature into star-like fruiting bodies. The typical ‘blackjacks’ that attach themselves to passing animals and people radiate outwards as 1cm-long seeds crowned by two or three sharp awns.



After fruiting, the plant dries out completely – even the roots become brittle. This is a mechanism to promote ‘zoochory’ – the dispersal of seeds through animal or human movement. If the seeds catch onto a passing animal, the whole plant is easily pulled out of the ground and dragged along. Stems break off and deposit seeds over the whole grazing area. Although Bidens pilosa is generally considered a weed, the leaves can be boiled and eaten.

[Klipspringer]

Another naturalized exotic:
Plumbago zeylanica, Ceylon Leadwort

[Lisbeth]

Maybe I have already posted this one If I have, please delete!

Found somewhere close to Mopani in February