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Mystery plant identification

sampullmansampullman Posts: 30
in Problem solving
Hi everyone and I hope you are all enjoying the exceptional month of May. Last year I had a mystery plant grow fairly rapidly in a large tub that I had previously grown sunflowers in.

The sunflowers self-seeded and I was surprised to see so many grow but in the middle was this fast growing mystery plant.

It started off as a green sunflower like stem which now looks woody (almost tree like) but if I scratch the surface it is still green underneath.

At the end of last year it managed to stay alive with absolutely no intervention from me. It kind of dried out in October and the green seed pods went brow and had tiny black seeds inside. It came back to life in March with small yellow flowers (bees loved them) and now as we move into June the flowers have dropped off and it's covered in bright green seed pods again.

It's not the most attractive thing in my garden but it is the most enduring and I love a fighter. Does anyone have an idea what it could be? Maybe a clue is that it has grown near to a bed of wild flowers that I grew from scattered seeds 2 years ago.

Any ideas would be gratefully accepted.
Thanks







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Posts

  • herbaceousherbaceous Posts: 2,318
    It looks like a brassica but I'm not clever enough to say which one, maybe rape?
    "The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."  Sir Terry Pratchett
  • sampullmansampullman Posts: 30
    Wow that was a quick answer, thanks @herbaceous and I think a very clever one. I can see many similarities with Brassica from a quick Google search. Brilliant start thanks a million for the suggestion! Would be great if it was edible.  :)
  • herbaceousherbaceous Posts: 2,318
    Foraging has it's place certainly,  but there is always the shadow of Darwin  :D 
    "The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."  Sir Terry Pratchett
  • sampullmansampullman Posts: 30
    HAHA, Thanks @herbaceous I'm Welsh so we are used to evolving outside of the box! Your suggestion of Brassica is ticking a lot of boxes especially the fact that snails loved it and ate the leaves in very quick time. I'm tempted to grow more from the huge amount of seeds this is producing but the snail attraction is not something I relish in my garden. Me no Frenchie foraging fellow!
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Looks like rapeseed to me.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • sampullmansampullman Posts: 30
    Thanks @Obelixx kind of you to answer. Good luck with the rain dance :)
  • WilderbeastWilderbeast Posts: 1,415
    The keen eye of a farmer's son means I can confirm rapeseed, very likely to self seed if allowed to 
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Wilderbeast said:
    The keen eye of a farmer's son means I can confirm rapeseed, very likely to self seed if allowed to 
    And this farmer’s daughter agrees with you 👍 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • sampullmansampullman Posts: 30
    Thank you @Wilderbeast is it worth looking after and can it (or the leaves) be eaten? It required no help to grow and I'm impressed at how it became established so well. I was considering scattering the seeds along my roadside border. Can you tell me if it will thrive without cultivation? Thanks again  
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited May 2020
    It lines the verges all over East Anglia ... spillages from trailerloads of the harvested seed from the thousands of acres grown  here means that it grows like a weed  everywhere. 
    It’s edible ... it’s very like the mustard group of brassicas ... but it’s only relatively pleasant to eat when it’s young and tender before it’s flowered. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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