I had wanted to write a post about this particular plant, a weed actually, that grows at the empty lot at the back of our house. I had taken numerous photos of them in the past, some as far back as May of 2021, keeping them in my gallery files despite memory space challenges, sure that I will be able to use them in the post I was eventually going to make. Well, more than a year has passed and the post was not even started yet. I always thought there will be enough time to do so later on.
But lo and behold! A Hiver I follow, @ewkaw, beat me to it. She posted about a plant, the Galinsoga Parviflora, that looked exactly like the one I had. In case you missed her post, you can read about it here. I was thinking then, while reading her post, I should have made mine sooner. No point in making my post now that someone wrote about it already. Well, at least I can start erasing my photos and free up precious memory space in my phone. However, I noticed that there appeared to be a difference between our plants. If there really was, then there still could be a chance after all to actually do the post and use the photos I have stored. To illustrate, the photo I took below is of the plant growing at the back of our house.
Now the photo below is that of @ewkaw's as it appeared in her post.
Galinsoga Parviflora photo by @ewkaw.
Source
Do you see any difference? Although the flowers are exactly the same, the leaves are quite different. Mine had smaller and thinner leaves while hers were larger and rounder. I immediately searched the internet to determine if there is another look-alike plant or specie and, if there was, then maybe I could still do my flower post and finally make use of the myriad photos I saved. This is what I found.
Galinsoga Parvifolia and another close cousin, Galinsoga Quadriradiata, also called Quickweed or Gallant Soldier or Shaggy Soldier, are considered prime pot herbs. The tastiest part are the leaves which can be cooked and eaten as greens or dried and used as flavoring. The whole plant can actually be eaten except for the roots.
Photo by @ewkaw
Source
And voila! There indeed is a toxic look alike!! The Tridax Procumbens which is more viny and low growing except for its flower stalk. It is also called Coat Buttons.
Now since one plant is edible while the other is toxic, correctly identifying each is extremely crucial as a mistake can cause one to be ill. Both the Galinsogas and the Tridax Procumbens have identical flowers and it would be very difficult to tell which is which just by looking at the blossoms or flowers. Here are some of the tips I discovered that can help distinguishing one from the other.
Tridax, is ground hugging except for the flower stalks. The entire Galinsoga plant grows upwards including the flower stalk. The Tridax grows low except for the flower stalk which grows up. Galinsoga leaves are also rounder and wider than that of the Tridax. Do not eat the Tridax.
There is also another remarkable feature I discovered with the Tridax flower. When it withers, it looks quite cool. Something like icicles around a small ball. Take a look.
Well, I guess this is where I end. I'm just so happy to have been able to finish this post which must have been 18 months in the making. Thank you for visiting and I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did making it. Stay safe everyone and may you all have a great week ahead.
(Unless otherwise specified, all photos are mine.)
I appreciate your work and your post has been manually curated by Botanic team @oscurity on behalf of Amazing Nature Community. Keep up the good work!
Thank you very much 😊
thanks for sharing
We appreciate your work and your post was manually curated by @none! from the DNA team!
Reach us on Discord to learn more about the project!
Appreciate your support. Thanks 👍
Amazing how 2 different plants have flowers so exactly alike. And yours turned out to be toxic, so you could make it a warning post.
Hi. Happy New Year to you. It's been quite a while since we touched base. How are you? I hope you are doing well. I have been lying low the past few months doing maybe 3 posts a week or even less. Been very busy. The last month, totally inactive with zero posts. Hopefully, I can get back to posting regularly again. We'll see.
Yes, this could be a warning post as well. That explains my title Toxic Twin. It's quite remarkable how identical the blossoms are, really. Thanks for the visit and it was sure nice to talk with you again. Keep safe and warm. It's the winter season 😊
I'm dealing with long Covid and recovering from a fall down the cellar stairs. But slowly I get stuff done, if not every day. Having a snowstorm today, so that will make life interesting for a day or so. Mostly, we've not had much snow here in Western Mass. Very odd winter...
I'm so sorry to hear that. I do hope you recover soon. Weather here in our area is cloudy with intermittent rain. Not normal during this time of year. I have some friends from Chicago visiting here and could hardly follow their tour itinerary because of the rain. They're scheduled for island hopping tomorrow but forecast is rain. Just don't know how they'll manage.
Anyway, thanks for the update on your situation. I do hope you get well fully soon. Have a blessed week ahead 😊