HEMIGRAPHIS REPTANS

There are quite a number of weeds here but what stands out is the bed of Hemigraphis reptans. Can it someday be an ornamental groundcover, I wonder?

UNKNOWN

This is a Hemigraphis-lookalike weed possibly from the Scrophulariaceae Family.Yes, this interesting purple-leaved weed was growing well in this bag. So I kept it around and we planted it in the garden with the hope that someday this ground cover can be introduced as an ornamental plant into our gardens.


Oh, on a separate note, my boss whispered to me today that he heard I have a blog on weird plants. Weird plants? Seriously? Or was it a weird blog on plants? Absolutely not. I would prefer to think I have a blog written on beautiful plants. I am curious to know who was the informant.

WEEDS

This is a weeds galore. Weeds and more weeds! It is the order of the day.

Like I mentioned before in a previous post, I don't know everything. But the familiar ones include Hemigraphis reptans, Phyllanthus urinaria and Oxalis. The other recognizable ones include a Ficus next to a drain grating. And the trio of small lovely flowers are from the Hemigraphis.

Isn't it simply amazing how some of them can just grow from a minor wedge in the ground and obtain its sustenance from the small gap for survival? They have all such a strong will to live despite all odds. I guess we should all learn from them to survive under dire circumstances.

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:

http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Elephant%20Foot.html

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:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxalis_stricta

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:

1. http://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Hemigraphis_reptans
2. http://www.hear.org/pier/species/hemigraphis_reptans.htm