Plants › Dogbane Family

balloonplant

Gomphocarpus physocarpus

Wildlife study photograph from iNaturalist. — (c) archer_lamo, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

All photos28

28 photos

Study shows up to four per card, from different observers, so you learn the species rather than one picture. Heart the good ones and swap any you do not like.

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Easily confused with

Study checks a spoken answer against these, and tells you which one you named.

Where it is recorded

Records by month in South Africa.

South Africa	2,516
Australia	1,142
KwaZulu-Natal	914
Western Cape	823
Queensland	818
Eastern Cape	635
United States	516
Hawaii	462
New Zealand	316
New South Wales	294

Counts show where people looked, not only where it lives.

Traits

Group and habits

Toxic to humansListed as toxic or not suitable as food for humans by a harvested source.Kew World Checklist of Useful Plant Species
Medicinal useListed as having medicinal use by a harvested source. This is not medical advice.Kew World Checklist of Useful Plant Species
Material useListed as being used for materials such as wood, fiber, resin, gum, or oil.Kew World Checklist of Useful Plant Species
Restoration or landscaping useListed as being used for restoration, landscaping, ornamental planting, erosion control, soil improvement, shade, windbreaks, pollution indicators, or wastewater purification.Kew World Checklist of Useful Plant Species
Cultural useListed as having cultural uses such as ritual, religious, psychoactive, contraceptive, abortifacient, smoking, or masticatory uses.Kew World Checklist of Useful Plant Species

Edibility, toxicity and medicinal traits are records from datasets, not advice. Never eat, handle or use a wild species on the strength of an app.

Classification

Kingdom	Plants · Plantae
Phylum	Vascular Plants · Tracheophyta
Class	Dicots · Magnoliopsida
Order	Gentians, Dogbanes, Madders, and Allies · Gentianales
Family	Dogbane Family · Apocynaceae
Genus	Gomphocarpus

Study it in a deck

Or build your own from the species near you.

Sources

Names, taxonomy and observation counts: www.inaturalist.org
Photos and recordings: the creator and source are on each one.
Traits: Kew World Checklist of Useful Plant Species (CC BY 4.0)
How much to rely on each source

Remember the name next time.

Practise balloonplant with real photos from different observers. Say the name out loud, and it comes back just before you would forget it.

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