25 December 2010

COMMON GARDEN WEEDS

Other than the Mimosa pudica and Acacia auriculiformis that I posted before this, these are some other common weeds in the garden. Weeds are essentially unwanted plants in a landscape and it can be anything, even ornamentals as long as it is not meant to be there. Simply put, a weed is unwanted because it is present at the wrong place and at the wrong time.

How many of these weeds can I identify? Definitely not all because I don't spend too much time on finding out information about them.

The 2nd photo shows an Elephantopus scaber (common name: Elephant Foot, Prickly-Leaved Elephant's Foot; Family: Asteraceae (Compositae)). A link is attached here:


The 3rd photo is probably an Oxalis stricta (common name: Yellow Woodsorrel, Common Yellow Oxalis, Lemon Clover, Sourgrass; Family: Oxalidaceae) and a link is attached here:


There was this Vinca rosea weed growing in the gap of the manhole and concrete floor, shown in photo4, directly below my unit and I think it is probably from the seeds of the mother plant in my planter.

Finally, the rest of the photos are on the Hemigraphis reptans (synonym: Ruellia reptans; common name: Redflame, Waffle Plant, Red Lily; Family: Acanthaceae). Whilst other ornamental Hemigraphis are more showy and are grown deliberately, this unpopular and unattractive cousin is oblivious to its status and is happily spreading itself all over gardens and lawns. It is definitely a very confident plant! 2 links are shown below for reference: