Native Plants
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Friday - March 27, 2015
From: Port Charlotte, FL
Region: Southeast
Topic: Plant Identification, Vines
Title: Identification of ivy-like plant with large purplish leaves.
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
Can you ID this ivy-like growing plant with a big purplish elephant ear type leaf and a big green stem pouch?ANSWER:
This doesn't sound like any North American native (our focus and area of expertise) that I can think of, but I will see what I can find. Here is one suggestion:
Colocasia esculenta ('Black Leaf' Taro) is native to Southeastern Asia. Here is a photo and information from Floridata. This isn't, however, a vine.
You can also look through the photos of plants with purple leaves on GardenPhotos.com.
Your best bet for identifying your plant is to take photos of it and then visit our Plant Identification page to find links to several plant identification forums that accept photos of plants for identification. Please be sure to read at the end of the page the "Important Notes..." about submitting photographs.
More Vines Questions
Unusual vine in San Diego County, California
May 12, 2012 - Dear Mr. or Ms. Smarty Pants,
I came across an unusual vine winding through a young Zumaque growing off the edge of a mesa in San Diego (coastal sage scrub). The small (fingernail-sized)leaves rough...
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Distinguishing native Celastrus scandens from non-native C. Orbiculatus from Lexington MA
June 08, 2014 - Dear Mr. Plants,
I maintain a wildflower garden with the Lexington Field and Garden Club in Lexington, Massachusetts.
Every year, I pull up sprouts of Celastris orbiulatis. I want to plan...
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Poison Ivy in Semi-wetland Massachusetts
June 27, 2013 - You answered this question for Tennessee, but I would like an answer for a Massachusetts semi-wetlands area: What can I plant to discourage poison ivy, or at least make it very clear that it is poison...
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Looking for an evergreen vine to grow on trellis as a privacy screen
July 11, 2015 - Hello,
I'm looking for an evergreen vine to grow on a free standing trellis. It is used as a screen on our back porch, so ideally we would not like to use anything that flowers due to the insects ...
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Identification of vine in Ohio
March 26, 2010 - We were in our school's back yard and we found a vine that has green leaves and has a purple stem and we were just trying to figure out what is was? Can you help us out with that!
view the full question and answer
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