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White turks cap

Most Turks cap's have red flowers (plant not actual cap). I have seen a couple white ones driving down the road. Does anyone have a white one?
 
I suppose the remote possibility exists there has been a mutation of the North American native Lilium superbum... however, doubtful. The Turk's Cap Lily is reddish orange and I have no knowledge of any cultivars. It is most probable that what you are seeing are Asiatic Lily excapees. If those are in fact Asiatic Lily escapees, please pluck them all as they are obviously naturalizing so you'd be doing the environment a favor. Introduced species that "naturalize" displace and outcompete native species. This destroys diversity. These excapees are doing nothing but wreaking havoc in the environent.  Please consider this, the quality of any wetlands is dependent upon the uplands.

Why don't you post a photo of what you have seen driving down the road and I'll take a stab at telling you what you've found. If I can't identify your "white Turk's Cap Lily", I can forward it to friends who can take a stab.
 
Ive found this...
73835.jpg

here
not sure if thats what youre refering to
 
The photo includes our native Turk's Cap Lily (Lilium superbum). The photo also includes Lilium martagon and L. martagon album.  Both are native to W. Asia although they have both naturalized in Europe and most notably in Britain. They are most unfortunately beginning to naturalize here on the continent of North America.  

http://www.floralimages.co.uk/pic184.htm
 
I think theyre kinda cool! I wouldnt mind finding then along side the road here sure beats all the garbage Ill take pretty flowers any day to trash! But of course Im a girl
smile_n_32.gif
 
He he he! I'm a girl too. I cut the martagon down every time I see them. They last incredibly long in a vase. I always add an aspirin and set them out on the patio. Wonder if that's an old wives' tale to do that. Another plant that I clip is Dame's Rocket. And well, I always nail those Shasta Daisies too. My patio looks like a flower shop sometimes.
 
Yes, best whenever possible to use the binomial as opposed to common names.

Ah, much better.  That photo you posted appears to be some sort of a Malvaceae.  Try looking under Malvaviscus arboreus or M. penduliflorus and see if there is a white variation or cultivar.  There most probably is due to the popularity of that plant. There both introduced species.  They are from Central America and they don't belong dotting the countryside.  

If it is what I'm guessing it to be, it's naturalized so please pick as many as you can as what you are seeing are escapees-
http://plants.usda.gov/cgi_bin....=MALVA3
 
Hope you are one of those people who can laugh at himself.  I just had a friend look at this photo and she said it's a Malvaceae. Whom ever gave you the common name as being Turk's Cap for this sort of screwed up.  One of the common names for this plant is Turk's Turban however. I can see how one could have easily interchanged the Cap and Turban and I'm sure the two common names are in print out there associated with this particular plant on the www to muddy the waters even further.
 
  • #10
I know they are related to hybiscus (sp?). They are for sale in stores here. They back during winter and I am fairly sure some are from the bahamas (sp?). It's kind of hard to pick them being bushes and all. I have a read one and I cannot get it to produce seed do to the fact that it gets too cold and I beleve they are sterile. No naturalized though. I doubt the neighbors would like me going to their yard and digging up these "invasive" plants.
 
  • #11
Hey Tre, I thought you were seeing them driving down the road, assumption being ditches not in people's yards. Of course no one should go digging in somebody else's yard. You need to stop and ask for a cutting of the plant if you want one. The few times I have seen plants growing on private property that I wanted seed of or a cutting, I stopped and asked.  The people were ever so gracious and I recall one man who actually sat and bagged seed for me so that I could share it with friends. Penstemon, I got Smooth Penstemon that had been growing as a remnant along the side of his house that he never mowed. I told him what it was and he was very happy. Next year I brought him some seedlings I had grown from his seed. He was thrilled. Now he has my phone number and even his wife called me to come and look at something. Turns out it was garlic mustard but they still called. I have met some of the nicest people the few times I have stopped.  

Hibiscus is a member of the Malvaceous Family.

I googled this and found that your plant, if it looks similar to the image you linked to only in white, might be a hybrid of the native species and the introduced species- Malvaviscus arboreus penduliflorus Alba
I found it here-
http://toptropicals.com/cgi-bin....us_alba
There is a native version that is being referred to as Turk's Cap Mallow that is white but the leaves are somewhat different.

I am not all that familiar with plants that are indigenous or that have naturalized at the expense of native flora and fauna in Forida. You may need to get a hold of a native plant society down by you and ask for help on the ID but take a photo with your own camera if at all possible so that the leaf and flower to the exact plant you want identified will be able to be seen by people trying to help you. So many look so much alike it isn't even funny.  Incredibly frustrating though.

They are definitely not sterile. Many hybrids have been released that were thought to be sterile that definitely weren't.  Classic example is the Bradford Pear. Once they began introducing more Caleryana cultivars to the market, they began hybridizing wildly. The offspring were anything but sterile.

Best wishes to you.
 
  • #12
Thanks Laura. I am not very good at IDing garden plants scientifically yet. FYI that is the plant.
 
  • #13
Well, that makes two of us.  I had "experts" ID a plant for me over here that was allegedly an introduced species that was highly invasive. I was all set to start ripping it out based on all the photos I found on the web that appeared to a be a dead match until it began to unfurl itself. The way it did so was inconsistent with the exotic species. Lord knows I did enough digging in herbarium records to gather that data. Turns out I may actually have the native species here at my home as a remnant. The native species is not even being found locally and hasn't for decades.  aprilh over here at Terra spotted it and commented and I took a look at the photos for the plant she suggested it was and what can I say... looked like the exact same plant. Most are not so difficult as this and Thank God or I would be ripping my hair out and throwing in my shovel!

By the way, aprilh was the one who I had look at your photo when she stopped in after shopping at a native plant sale earlier today. Sheeeeeeeeee's goooooooooooood! Considerably better than me!
 
  • #14
Yeah I go to native plant sales to find Cps and orchids (fro my friend if he's there) I don't really bother with the native plants. I experiment to find what works well in flowering and butterfly food plants. The turks cap is good for hummingbirds so thats why I wanted another. I have a very nice Bamboo orchid gowing outside that survived winter that I hope will flower this year enough to attract some other interesting butterflies.
 
  • #15
Here's one list-
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/UW062
Scroll down toward the bottom to get to shrubs which is probably what you're more interested in.

This list is used by many down in your neck of the woods. It does list Fraxinus though. Fraxinus is very beneficial to wildlife but sadly I suspect it will be wiped off the continent in the very near future. Containment of the emerald ash borer has been for all practical purposes... unsuccessful. Ash trees are going cheap these days as nurseries try to unload them on the public.  Many firesales out there and the public is planting them like mad. The EAB (Agrilus planipennis) will ultimately do more damage to all Ash than what DED did to American Elms and what Chestnut Blight did to the American Chestnut tree.  At this point, I couldn't in good conscience tell anyone to pay good money to plant any Ash.  The EAB is non descriminating in that it doesn't just attack stressed Ash, it goes after them all. The EAB was introduced to us from- ASIA. The state of Michigan is claiming victory against the borer however if they were so "victorious", I am having difficulty understanding why the EAB hit Illinois 3 years earlier than its anticipated arrival and it most certainly is now documented as being here.  If you are interested in conservation issues, check this out-
http://www.indiana-arborist.org/pdf....SH'

Here are a few other sites for plants for your hummingbirds and butterflies-
http://www.backyardbrevard.com/plants2.html
Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa), which is recommended at the above site, is a butterfly magnet!
http://www.fnps.org/pages/links/plant_links.php
Some interesting links here
http://www.biophilia.net/
Absolutely one of the best sites on the web and if you contact her looking for help in attracting hummers and butterflies, she will help you.

I am glad you are trying to help out the hummingbirds and the butterflies.  Don't forget a few plants to help the moths, they're struggling too.
 
  • #16
Ok, Laura, since I saved your rare Orchid from the spade, may I have one of them?  
smile_m_32.gif
  Just kidding, as I don't have the correct habitat for it here.  Leave the little darlings where they are!  Protect them from Bambi.  

Tre, native plants will attract lots of butterflies, but for different reasons. In order to have lots of butterflies, you have to have larvae..and if you provide food for their larvae, you will have lots of butterflies! That is where native plants come in.  Native plants host the larvae of lots of butterflies.  After all, they have evolved together over time immemorial.  

For instance..a cool vine called Dutchman's Pipe. Very showy, with unusual blooms.  A native plant. It is the larval food for the Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly, which, in this area, is a threatened species.  

Aprilh
 
  • #17
April, that's Carol's link up above. Biophilia. And yes, you can take what ever thou little heart desireth.

Here's a native stand of May Apples (Podophyllum peltatum).
03c4c606.jpg

This is over to the right of the driveway. The May Apples you saw in the backyard to the right in the woods were planted there by me a few years ago. One is a remnant stand and the other stand was created by moi! Those will work for you if you want some.
 
  • #18
Yes I know Carol (the owner of biophila). Yeah I would have more milkweed but all the monarch caterpillers ate mine (including the sxeedlings) so I am not sure nay got to adult hood. I have two more plants now so I have 7 altogether. They are so expensive though. IF I have caterpillers of the white gulf frittery I can trade Carol next time I see her (I mean trade fro plants).
 
  • #19
How about I list all the native stuff I have being that it may be native or not:
Passiflora
Dutchman's pipe/Pelican Flower (few flowers hopefully more this year)
Milkweed (A. tuberosa in yellow and orange)
Red Turks cap (both the lilly and the bush)
Orange Tree (good food source for giant swallowtails)
Lantana (for flowers, not actually native and banned from import)
Worm-wood (not the tree some other low varigated anenimaie (sp?) lokkng leaves)
Ice palnt (for flowers)
Many Iris (dito)
Mexican Petunia (dito)
Coreopsis (need I say more)
Orchid tree (bush form w/white flowers)
Wildflowers everywhere.
Parsely (sp?)
 
  • #20
You don't need to trade for milkweed, germinate it on your own. It does require cold stratification of about 60 days which you can easily do.  Just wrap them in a damp paper towel, toss them in a ziplock baggie, and toss them in your veggie drawer of your refrigerator for 2 months. I do it differently but then I'm in a different area.  Here's where you can get some kick milkweed seed- http://www.milkweedfarm.com/

Tre, I couldn't begin to have the time to go through your list based on common names.  There's a few things sticking out at me but you really need to use their binomials.

Let's take the Iris for example.  There are many well behaved exotic introduced iris out there. There are many native iris out there too and all of them are well behaved.  Most exotic introduced iris, like hosta, are pretty well behaved. I happen to like iris. I have a few thousand native iris here. Tee he, I also have several hundred non native iris here and non of them are invasive. There is one introduced iris that seems to be extremely popular which is doing a considerable amount of damage, it is the Yellow Flag Iris (Iris pseudacorus).  It has naturalized in many swampy moist areas.  This is not good.  This is where many of our native carnivorous plants like to put down their roots and colonize. Now the Blue Flag Iris (Iris versicolor) is a native and it is not aggressive at all and generally coexists quite nicely.  Which iris of the thousand out there do you have?  If it's a native, I'd probably be able to recognize it from a photo.  If it isn't native, your guess is as good as mine. Regarding the Mexican petunia- I don't need to say much there ;)

Is there a local native plant or wildlife group you could join in your area?  I think you are a prime candidate based on your interests.  

You really gotta use binomials Tre.  Keep your plant tags when you buy plants. Photograph the area where you plant.  Create your own stakes and write the binomial on them.  That's what I do. After a while, you will become more familiar with your own plants. The use of common names can be a logistical nightmare.
 
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