Help me identify this plant

[Someaddedsugar]

We recently got some of the M&S little garden pots, and, as a rainy day activity a few weeks ago, DS and I planted the lot, and were quite excited about the micro cress that would take 2-3 days to start growing.

We're now four weeks on and this is the plant that has grown. It clearly isn't micro cress and doesn't look the same as the parsley plant that we've grown - does anyone have any idea what it could be? We've planted one of each type of all of the other plants and none look to be the same as this one.

Parsley?

Oh sorry. You said not parsley but it does look like it. There are different varieties. Have you tasted it?

@Mrsmorton that's what my sister said - it looks very different to the other parsley plant that we're growing - this is probably a very silly question but are there lots of different types of parsley species?

It looks like coriander, I think

@Mrsmorton apologies cross post. I did and it tastes very bitter - not what I expected at all!

Could be flat leaf parsley and the other one you have grown is curly leaf.

Coriander has a vaguely soapy taste and is very aromatic. Parsley wouldn't be bitter. I'm stumped I'm afraid.

This is the other plant if that helps (the one that says it's parsley!)

Coriander (boak) has quite a characteristic taste. What a mystery. FWIW I can't stand parsley either so I'm no help on the taste test!!

@Maypole245 it doesn't take like coriander - DP had suggested that one. In all honesty it didn't really taste like any herb I'd had before - it was very bitter and almost bordering on a 'should I have eaten this' taste!

@Mrsmorton it really is a mystery - not a very good first plant experience for DS I must say! I thought it would be easy with them being from M&S and all labelled up 😂

Ah man, that’s the first time I thought I had a chance of getting one of these plant ID questions right!

Ah well, it’s a mystery then!

@Maypole245 😂 thank you for your suggestion though! I'm now wondering if it could be rocket but it just looks the wrong colour...

I don't think rocket grows like that. Get o to M&S and ask them!! Are you on Twitter?

I just had a look at the seeds they were doing... if it doesn't taste like food, there's a chance it could be a pansy/viola!

@Mrsmorton I'm not on Twitter but I'll email them in the hope they'll be able to tell me! Rocket doesn't look anything like the leaves either when I've been looking online.

We have a viola growing but not a pansy @milleniumhandandprawn - that might be the mystery solved!

I think they might be radish leaves.

They're both parsley as far as I can tell - there's two main varieties, flat-leaved and curly; I think curly tends to taste a bit stronger, could be described as bitter.

Thanks @WhenItIsOver and @onalongsabbatical - I'll keep an eye on them over the next few days to see if either plant changes or whether new leaves start to come in!

Does curly leaf parsley tend to start with non-curly leaves? There are some very tight balled up leaves at the centre of some of the newer shoots.

Definitely a herb.

Yes to it starting off non-curly. I've looked again at the pics, I'm reasonably convinced that the mystery one is curly parsley and the other one is flat.
I eat a lot of parsley! Love the stuff!

You can't always rely on the labels. I planted what I bought as a plum tree in the garden. After a couple of years it gave us an impressive yield of apples. Which I would have appreciated more if we hadn't already got four other apple trees...

I would have said parsley until you described the taste, Even flat leaf parsley tastes like parsley to me, although I always pick it out of Greek and Turkish salads.

So looking at the different types of leaves I went with radishes.

Radishes don't have complex leaves like that.

Download a plant identification app as they can help. You take a photo and the app analyses it and comes up with the name.