Are they growing off a running root?

DaisyI said:Are they growing off a running root?

If you mean something like a rhizome, no, I don't think so. They seem to have individual root systems, which I suppose means propagated by seeds (?).

As you keep adding your initially unknown details what is clear that it is a native species found in your county. It appears under very different plants. So, its not RRD nor a hemiparasite ( mistletoe). I intended to search further by using the Calflora site:
https://www.calflora.org//
but you are in a much better condition so as to provide and discard details.
Arturo

Your symptoms aren't any I've ever seen on RRD sites, and when we had weird stunted feathery growth and new heavy thorns, a experienced rosarian Master Gardener assured us it was not RRD, but suspected Round-up drift damage. Two years later, the growth is normal except for thornier canes than before on some cultivars.

Also, UC Davis Agriculture Extension welcomes samples to test for the mites, as well as the University of Texas. Look up their websites to see how to pkg. samples. One homeowner in our area tested positive for RRD at the University of Texas, but when they sent a follow-up sample to UC Davis, no mites were detected that cause the RRD, so they were told they could keep their landscaping roses. It's the mites that are carried on the wind that infect other roses in the area. It's possible that some rootstocks were affected at various nurseries at some point, but it no mites are present in the grafted rose and they are not a threat.

I think you can find some links for more information in past posts if you do a search.

Perhaps this thread should be moved to the Plant ID forum. Can a Moderator do that? Can I do that?

Thanks,
G D

reh0622 said:UC Davis Agriculture Extension welcomes samples to test

With help from the manager of the UC Davis Botanical Conservatory, a curator with the UC Davis Center for Plant Diversity identified this plant as Psilotum nudum, common name whisk fern (because it looks a bit like a whisk broom).

She said, "It's considered native to Arizona and northern Mexico, so [the northern San Diego coast is] just outside of its native range. It appears to be often introduced through horticulture to subtropical gardens, but does not appear to be considered harmful or particularly invasive." And, "…there are six specimens in natural history collections from San Diego County, all from horticultural locations, such as the San Diego Zoo. So you have an unusual volunteer in your garden!" She also said, "…this as a "primitive" fern relative from the Devonian…[but] recent DNA evidence is casting doubt on this idea, they might be derived from an ancestral true fern."

So this plant has no direct, botanical connection with roses.

I turned up a few more interesting facts online:

"The Psilotales are the least complex of all terrestrial vascular plants…[and] are the only living vascular plants to lack both roots and leaves."

"Psilotum nudum belongs to the taxonomic division of plant life called Psilophyta. Today this division has only 10 living species representing it, but in the past members of Psilophyta made up a significant portion of the vegetation in North America, Europe, and Asia. Fossil evidence, first uncovered in Scotland in the 1800s, indicates that Psilophytes were thriving over 400 million years ago, appearing much the same as Psilotum nudum does today."

Daisyl asked if they were growing off "a running root," and I said I didn't think so, but I was wrong about that. They are fed by rhizomes.

These sprouts have not changed in any way -- not grown, not developed at all -- since I first noticed them in early January.

An interesting blog page:
http://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/semi...

G D

Good job on the follow-up report and research!

ctcarol said:Good job on the follow-up report and research!

Thanks!

G D

ctcarol said:Good job on the follow-up report and research!

Arturo

hampartsum said:

Arturo

Thanks, Arturo.

Roses are sprouting nicely (we don't have frosts here, so they seem to always think it's spring), but the Psilotum nudum is on hold.

Eight months later, these primitive plants have continued to grow and have spread to many areas of my garden, including a planter where a Ficus grows about 100 feet from the rose garden and on the other side of the house. I wish I knew if the Psilotum nudum had sprouted in my neighbors' yards, but if so, their gardeners would have pulled them up as weeds.

We have lots of the Whisk Fern (Psilotum nudum) here in Florida and it really is a cool plant.

I find it growing on palm trees


It also pops up in my container plants


We bought our current home in 2015 and I found a large pot of the Whisk Fern that the former homeowners left in a wooded area of the property; it's still here somewhere, I'll have to go search for it tomorrow.

plantladylin said:We have lots of the Whisk Fern (Psilotum nudum) here in Florida and it really is a cool plant.

I find it growing on palm trees


It also pops up in my container plants

Thank you for posting these photos. Your Psilotum nudum is much larger than any of mine have managed to get.....yet.

GrowDammit said:Eight months later, these primitive plants have continued to grow and have spread to many areas of my garden, including a planter where a Ficus grows about 100 feet from the rose garden and on the other side of the house. I wish I knew if the Psilotum nudum had sprouted in my neighbors' yards, but if so, their gardeners would have pulled them up as weeds.

An Update:
The rose where I first discovered these plants was dug up and discarded yesterday. It was planted in 2014, and a couple years ago, had started sprouting from its root stock (Dr Huey). Before digging it up, I tried to transplant the Psidium nudum, but it was so embedded in the root of the rose, it had to be discarded, too.

However, there are now dozens of these odd plants all over my garden -- under all variety of plants (not embedded in roots) and in many containers, including those in full sun. I think it's here to stay.

I'm jealous; I want some too.