Giant mystery plant in Palmerston North identified as chou moellier

Palmerston North woman Anna Wallace with her giant Chou Moellier.

A mystery plant that has taken over a Palmerston North woman’s vege garden and a bit of her skyline has been identified.

Anna Wallace said Massey University have confirmed with her it is chou moellier, a member of the kale family.

The plant, which smells like cabbage, had self-seeded in her garden earlier this year and become the object of amazement for Wallace, friends and neighbours.

But while other cabbage plants in her garden are below knee height, this one kept growing and was now at least 3m tall. It had simply thrived in her garden environment.

Palmerston North woman Anna Wallace with her giant chou moellier plant.

“It’s like something out of Jack and the Beanstalk,” she said.

“I talked to several people about it, the people at the university and also a friend who was a farmer, and it has definitely been confirmed as chou moellier.”

“It’s flowering now, with yellow flowers identical to cabbage flowers.”

“I wanted to get seeds from it, but of course it will cross-fertilise with the cabbage nearby.”

The rest of the garden looks healthy with produce of normal size.

The plant started life the same size as her other cabbage plants, but kept growing. It has massive leaves and a thick trunk, although she has tied it back to the fence to stop it falling over.

She was loathe to cut the plant down.

“I’m just going to leave it there now, until it dies,” she said.