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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 - August 30, 2009

From: Lombard, IL
Region: Midwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Identifcation of flower in a bouquet
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

My boyfriend bought a bouquet and I'd like to know the name of the kind of green flower that looks like a mum but the petals look like rich, full grass or like a tall shag carpet. It has a stem with leaves so I imagine it is a flower but it is green.

ANSWER:

From your description I don't recognize this as a flower from a North American native plant.  Our focus and expertise at the Wildflower Center are with plants native to North America.  The fact that this flower is in a bouquet that your boyfriend bought at a florist also leads me to believe it isn't a native plant.  I suggest that you either take the flower, or take a picture of the flower, to a local florist.  They are likely to know what it is.  If you think it is a native plant, however, please take photos and send them to us—we will do our best to identify it.  To read instructions for submitting photos, please visit Mr. Smarty Plants' Plant Identification page.
 

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