Native Plants
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.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
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.
rate this answer
Sunday - June 17, 2012
From: St. Augustine, FL
Region: Southeast
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Identity of garlic-like plant in Florida
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
Please tell me what this plant is. It is not Society Garlic and it is not Meadow Garlic. It has THREE curling purple leaves and lots of bulbs flowering from the same stalk. The pointy leaves are edged with purple when young. How do I send a photo? Thanks!ANSWER:
About the only North American native plant I can come up with from your description is Allium tricoccum (Ramp). The leaves themselves aren't purple, but the stems are maroon or purple. Here are more photos and information from The Forager Press, Illinois Wildflowers, and Connecticut Wildflowers. It is entirely possible it is an introduced non-native plant but our expertise and focus at the Wildflower Center are with plants native to North America.
I am sorry but we no longer accept photos of plants for identification. We don't have the number of staff or volunteers to keep up with the overwhelming volume of photos we received. As you can read on our Plant Identification page:
"We would love to spend all day identifying native plants for you folks! However, we already spend all day (and most of the night) answering your native plant questions. Luckily, there are some excellent forums available to help you identify those mysterious unknowns."
You can find links on our Plant identification page to those plant identification forums that will accept your photos for identification.
More Plant Identification Questions
Ground cover plant that tastes like cucumbers
December 18, 2011 - It is a native ground cover plant that is edible and tastes like cucumbers. Found in the Edwards Plateau. What is the name?
view the full question and answer
Differences between Ratibida columnifera and Ratibida peduncularis
June 03, 2010 - How do you tell the difference between Ratibida columnifera and Ratibida peduncularis. On NPIN columnifera has red and penduncularis is solid yellow, but I have seen pictures listed as columnifera tha...
view the full question and answer
Dfferences between Argemone arizonica and other Argemones
October 27, 2005 - I am trying to find information about the differences
between the Argemone
arizonica which grows only in the Grand Canyon and the
other Argemones
which grow in the rest of the U.S. Do you have any...
view the full question and answer
Identification of small dome-shaped furry plant, smells like bubblegum
November 21, 2013 - Hi, I always see this plant when I'm on the river trail in Redding CA. and I can't find it anywhere on the internet. The plant is very small, I think it is some type of weeds that grow. It's a ligh...
view the full question and answer
Identity of a plant at UGA Trial Gardens 15 years ago
August 14, 2012 - Looking to identify a plant that was in UGA trial gardens about 15 years ago, large plant with purple flowers, fuzzy leaves like a lambs ear. Thought it started with a Thiobana or something like that
view the full question and answer
| Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |