Host an Event Volunteer Join Tickets

Support the plant database you love!

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?

Share

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Search Smarty Plants
See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

 
rate this answer
Not Yet Rated

Tuesday - September 02, 2008

From: kingston springs, TN
Region: Southeast
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Mystery Iris-like plant in Tennessee
Answered by: Joe Marcus

QUESTION:

What is this flower? It came up and bloomed for about five days then died. It was a beautiful white trumpet shaped flower. It had one stem with four flowers. It came up like an Iris but we nver planted this. After it died I noticed some olive sized seed-like nuts at the base of the flowers in the "head" of the flower. can I plant those? Sorry I didn't get a photo but it was gone with the first rain. Thank You

ANSWER:

Unfortunately, we cannot identify your plants from the description given.  Usually, however, we can identify mystery plants from good digital images.  If you can get some good, detailed pictures the next time it flowers, we will probably be able to help.

Please follow the instructions below to get help with a plant ID?

1. Tell us where and when you found the plant and describe the site where it occurred.

2. Take several high resolution images including details of leaves, stems, flowers, fruit, and the overall plant.

3. Save images in JPEG format.

4. Send email with images attached to [email protected]. Please enter Plant ID Request on the subject line of your email.

 

More Plant Identification Questions

Plant identification of purple flower in Washington state
July 19, 2013 - I need help. I am a 10 year old girl who just happens to have a brother. He has a deep purple flower with small, oval shaped petals. We would like to know what it is. We planted it in a garden thing a...
view the full question and answer

Plant identification site
May 17, 2010 - Is there a site I can use to identify plants by photos of leaves, flowers, berries etc? I found a plant in my yard I cannot identify. The nursery near us could not identify it. It has some groups/clus...
view the full question and answer

Wild cranberries in Pennsylvania
September 27, 2013 - Where are wild cranberries located in northwest PA, near Brookville?
view the full question and answer

Bermuda, not the only option in Memphis
November 04, 2014 - I'm building an energy efficient home in Memphis and want to extend that strategy to the landscaping. I'd like to plant native grasses, but this lot is surrounded by lots sodded with Bermuda grass....
view the full question and answer

Plant identification
October 09, 2008 - I have a random flower growing out of my rabbit's grave and I can not identify it. Nothing like it grows around us and I didn't plant anything there. The petals are white. There are five of them. Th...
view the full question and answer

Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today.