Help Identifying this Plant (moonflower?) - Ask Extension
This is a mounding plant that is growing in a parking lot. It has been blooming all summer long. The blooms are typically out in the morning to mid-mo...
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Help Identifying this Plant (moonflower?) #204526
Asked August 04, 2014, 2:39 PM EDT
This is a mounding plant that is growing in a parking lot. It has been blooming all summer long. The blooms are typically out in the morning to mid-morning, but sometimes when I drive by (like today) they are closed. They are huge white flowers with a single round petal.
I found it in Midland and there is no irrigation system, so it must be drought tolerant to survive here in West Texas. The closest thing I found was that it may be is a "moonflower", but websites I found said those require moist soil, which this certainly does not have. The moonflowers are supposed to close their flowers when the sunrises and I've seen these flowers opened into the afternoon before.
It is about 3 feet tall in a mounding fashion, and the closed flowers are at least 4 inches long. The underside of the leaves have green spiky fruit.
If you know what plant this is, do you also know if it canbe propogated by cuttings or if grabbing the seeds from a couple of the spiky fruits when they fall off would be better?
I found it in Midland and there is no irrigation system, so it must be drought tolerant to survive here in West Texas. The closest thing I found was that it may be is a "moonflower", but websites I found said those require moist soil, which this certainly does not have. The moonflowers are supposed to close their flowers when the sunrises and I've seen these flowers opened into the afternoon before.
It is about 3 feet tall in a mounding fashion, and the closed flowers are at least 4 inches long. The underside of the leaves have green spiky fruit.
If you know what plant this is, do you also know if it canbe propogated by cuttings or if grabbing the seeds from a couple of the spiky fruits when they fall off would be better?
Midland County Texas
Expert Response
This plant is called Angel's Trumpet. It is a great ornamental landscape plant. For more information see: http://bexar-tx.tamu.edu/homehort/archives-of-weekly-articles-davids-plant-of-the-week/angels-trumpe...
The flowers finally opened up yesterday. Here is what they look like. They are about 4 inches across.
Yes, this is angle's trumpet. The plant readily propagates from seed, or another way to say it, it is a heavy re-sending plant. If you plant this, you will have seeds germinating all over the place. I am sure you can propagate it from cuttings too.
