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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.

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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.

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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.

 
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Sunday - October 12, 2008

From: Portland, ME
Region: Northeast
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Plant identification
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I found gorgeous berries on a tree or large bush (about 10 feet tall) and clipped a little cluster the size of my hand. There are 6 or more, starting the size of a blueberry in lime green and growing to the size of large cherries, turning a bright pinkish red, with orange tones in the mid-size berries. They have bumps which are actually like little 5 sided pyramids, topped with a 4 sided little dimple with a single little needle point in the middle. Birds didn't seem interested in them. It has ovate green leaves that curled up, many tipped with brown (normal fall, dry lately, cold?).

ANSWER:

This sounds like an intriguing plant and Mr. Smarty Plants loves identifying mystery plants; however, I think he is going to need some photographs to do this one.  Please visit the Ask Mr. Smarty Plants' Plant Identification page to read instructions for submitting photos for identification.
 

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