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
Tuesday - June 12, 2012
From: San Antonio, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Edible Plants
Title: Request for wild and edible plant information for Boy Scouts from San Antonio
Answered by: Barbara Medford and Jimmy Mills
QUESTION:
We are with the Boy Scouts. Is it possible for you to email me information on the Wild and Edible plants at the Government Canyon? WE are teaching our scouts on this subject right now. We have already taken them on many 10 and 15 mile hikes in the canyon. Thank youANSWER:
We have to admit we didn't know what or where Government Canyon is, but we found this website on its location and uses. There were several more websites on the facility, and we looked through all of them and never found any mention of lists of plants. The lists of plants we have are all plants native to North America, and the plants we grow onsite at the Wildflower Center are native to Texas. In our Special Collections section, we have this list of Edible Native Texas Plants at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Since we are in Austin and you are in San Antonio, hopefully this will help.
Another member of the Mr. Smarty Plants team with a sharper eye than ours pointed out a previous Mr. Smarty Plants question that might help you even more than we did. We can't guarantee that any of the plants mentioned even grow in Government Canyon, but at least it's a start.
More Edible Plants Questions
Identification of a cucumber-like vine with fruit
November 16, 2011 - We found tiny, grape-size white melon-like fruit on a vine, with tomato-like/cucumber-like seeds. The leaves on the vine were similar to grape or cucumber leaves, but not spiny. They were behind our...
view the full question and answer
Help with control of small, invasive groundcover
April 16, 2012 - I have a very invasive ground cover creeping into my yard. I've tried to identify it and it's similar to creeping charlie or garlic mustard. Leaves are triangular with jagged edges, small purple f...
view the full question and answer
Blossom end rot on non-native tomatoes from Newport RI
April 25, 2014 - Can epsom salt or eggshells end blossom end rot on tomatoes?
view the full question and answer
Identification of tart fruit that looks like a pumpkin
December 10, 2016 - As a child, in Miami, Florida, in the 1950's, another child challenged me to eat a "fruit" that looked like a pumpkin. It was just a little bigger than those candy pumpkins we see now at Halloween, a...
view the full question and answer
Plants to prevent erosion on slope in Texas
June 19, 2010 - We have an erosion problem developing on the low side of a gently sloping hill. We are in clay soil at the base of the hill with oaks and pines. We have a right of way that is without trees forty fee...
view the full question and answer
| Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |