My Unidentified Plant
I have an unidentified utterly exotic almost extraterrestrial plant in my place; it does not seem to exist in botanical databases, except since I don’t know the name I can’t check this conclusively. If I had the name then I might find it. I would like to be able to type into a search site, let’s call it BOTAN: “What’s the name of the plant with finger-leaves and giant stems that sprout up from nowhere and once in a blue moon it produces a bulbous flower at the tip of a leaf,” and BOTAN should respond: “Of course that’s Prilegema circiensis.”
When I submitted this exact inquiry to Google, I actually found a site that lets you send pictures to a man named Dr. Hill who lives in South Carolina. Here are his instructions:
1. Get close enough to photograph some detail. Put something in the picture for scale, such as a coin or pencil.
2. Photograph leaves, stems, and flowers (if blooming) from the top and from the side.
3. Get a shot of the overall plant.
4. Tell us where and when you took the picture and what kind of site you found it on. (Deep shade, wetland, dry site, roadside, etc.)
5. Send photo, slide, or digital image. Close-up prints should be at least 3 by 5 inches. Whole plant shots should be larger.
6. Digital images should be at least 150-250 pixels per inch.
7. Send digital images in JPEG, GIF or PSD format as attachment(s) to an e-mail message, or on a CD-ROM.
8. Please place “SCNPS Plant ID” in the e-mail subject line.
9. Send prints and slides via “surface mail”. Send a stamped, self-addressed envelope if you need your print or disk back.
10. If you have access to e-mail, include your e-mail address to simplify communication.
11. Please be aware that we are unable to identify mosses, lichens, algae, and mushrooms or other fungi.
12. PLEASE SUBMIT NO MORE THAN 4 IMAGES PER PERSON PER DAY. Dr. Hill is availble as a private consultant for hire for special projects with larger numbers of images or plant identifications. Contact him directly to arrange for such projects.
So this is a comforting thing to know. You can always ask Dr. Hill, but not more than four times a day. My plant, though, is so big it will take me a while to document it from all sides, and in the process it will grow even more.
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