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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 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!

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Saturday - September 19, 2009

From: Boulder, UT
Region: Rocky Mountain
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Identification of plant at 6500 ft. in Boulder UT
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

Located at 6,500 feet in Boulder, Utah..not Colorado in sandy soil with irrigation, we have discovered a deep green leafy (unfurls from the center) plant with six lobes on each side of the leaf stem. It produces a longer stem with a small pinkish rimmed seed head with yellow hairs that contain tiny seeds. Could it be a rue of some kind? I have looked in all my invasive weed books. I appreciate any suggestions!

ANSWER:

Much as Mr. Smarty Plants loves to identify plants, we are going to need some more information, and a photograph. Please go to our Mr. Smarty Plants instructions to submit a photo and we will try to figure out what it is.

 

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