Somebody in a horticulture facebook group I’m in posted a clear photo of a Globularia they spotted in the wild in Maryland a few days back. I got curious because I had never seen that plant before, which makes sense since they aren’t native to the US. However, I only see one US observation of Globularia. It’s from 2 days ago, in New York.
Do you think this genus is well established in the states/used as an ornamental plant and it’s just underdocumented here on iNat, or is it just getting a foothold on the east coast? I’m more of a bug person so my knowledge re:plants is pretty lacking!
I would not surprised to hear about a garden plant spreading on its own. As far as I know, this species is neither a significant horticultural plant nor are there records of it naturalizing. I did a search for herbarium records in New Jersey, where I’m based, and nothing has come up. I’ve also never seen it anywhere I’ve been on the east coast, at least.
To be fair that observation you linked to was taken in a botanical garden and may not be wild/naturalized.
everything about the plant from the fb group suggests globularia. I noticed some old mulch in the photo though on closer inspection and now I’m wondering if she didn’t see it in a derelict garden bed or something. Certainly an unusual plant to find!
It does not seem to be sold in stores around here (I can only find it available through mail-order) and does not seem to be available from the big seed companies either. So it probably is not very common in the eastern US, even for garden use. It’s possible that observations exist but linger in “casual” without identification, since most instances would likely be obviously planted.
I can say, as someone who gardens, there are a few sources of Globularia, but only from mail order type places known for rare plants/seeds, since I was curious in growing one myself. The only seed company I can remember is Plant World Seeds, which is located in UK anyway.
My guess is the one in the iNat link is not wild, as Mertensia pointed out.