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

Wednesday - June 13, 2012

From: Saint Louis, MO
Region: Midwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Identity of bulbs from digging in an anthole
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I was digging in an ant hole and it collapsed and as I dug it out, I found around 50 white bulbs that did not have a smell or roots. They resembled onion bulbs. I have a picture of these and they are actually a little more slender than your traditional onion bulb. What are these?

ANSWER:

That's a really tough question because: 

1)  You didn't say where you digging.  Was it in the woods?  in a flower bed? in your lawn?

2)  Did the bulbs have any other living plant material with them?  a stem?  leaves?

3)  What size were they?  an inch in diameter?  half an inch?

The toughest part of the question is, however, that even if you had provided these facts, there really isn't a database for identifying bulbs.  Also, there are several bulb-like structures—corms, tubers, tuberous roots, rhizomes—that are confused with true "bulbs".  Many plants in the Family Liliaceae (Lily Family), Family Iridaceae (Iris Family) and Family Orchidaceae (Orchid family) have bulbs, but there are many other plant families that have bulbs as well so there isn't really a good place to start a search for what type of bulbs they might be.  Here are the plant families that the Pacific Bulb Society lists as having bulbs.  You can see by their page "What is a Bulb" that their definition is not as strict as the one given above.

If the bulbs you dug up were in a flower bed or a lawn, they are very likely a bulb from a non-native plant and, since our focus and expertise are with plants native to North America, we aren't like to be much help in identifying them.

If you found them in the woods or where other native plants grow naturally, it is more likely that they are the bulbs from native plants.  If you normally visit the area, do you remember seeing plants growing where you were digging?  That would give you a clue as to what they are.

Either way, your best bet to find out what they are is to either plant the bulbs you dug out and see what grows from them or watch the area where you dug them to see what sort of plants show up there.  When you have a plant to associate with the bulbs, take a photo of it (wait for it to bloom, if possible), then visit our Plant Identification page to find links to several plant identification forums that accept photos of plants for identification.  You could try submitting a photo of the bulbs you found to one of these forums, but I think it is very unlikely that anyone could identify them.

 

 

More Plant Identification Questions

Identification of plants seen at Disneyworld
May 11, 2007 - I was hoping for the answer to a certain plant that i have been trying figure out the name of and where i might be able to purchase this particular plant. I have seen it in the Bahamas, Hawaii, and re...
view the full question and answer

Plant identification
September 21, 2009 - NEAR ABILENE STATE PARK GREEN RODS SHOOT UP PURPLE BLOOM MID TO LATE SEPTEMBER LONG AND SLENDER WITH GREEN SPIKES ALMOST LIKE A PINE OR EVERGREEN COMES EVERY YEAR NO MATTER HOW MUCH RAIN WHAT IS IT?...
view the full question and answer

Identification of Cercis canadensis or Cornus florida
July 03, 2007 - I have what I think is a dogwood tree of some sort but I'm not sure. I wondered if I sent you a picture you could identify it. So far no one has. It's different because of its branches. They are red...
view the full question and answer

Plant Identification
May 01, 2009 - Curious about the identification of the foxglove-looking plants flowering along the railroad tracks that parallel Lancaster in Handley. Some are white while others are purple. Leaves are about 2-3 inc...
view the full question and answer

Dodder, rootless, leafless, parisitic twining plants
May 29, 2006 - Hello, I have been studying wildflowers in California for many years. Yesterday I came across a surprise and I am thus far unable to identify it. As it is raining today, I cannot get a photo, but I...
view the full question and answer

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