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.
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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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Sunday - November 29, 2015
From: Buda, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: ID for two flowers blooming in November in Buda TX
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
two different plants growing in my wild area. 1. springs of tiny yellow flowers atop almost foot tall woody stem. 2. Clump of tiny near white bud like flowers. clump about 6 to 8 inches across on single short stem. leaves dark green with deep cut edges I will forward pic from this same email address.ANSWER:
Mr. Smarty Plants thinks the description of your first plant sound like Amphiachyris dracunculoides (Prairie broomweed).
The description of the second plant, however, is a little confusing. I'm not sure how large the overall plant is. However, here are some suggestions of plants with small white flowers that are in bunches and bloom in October and November:
Stenaria nigricans var. nigricans (Diamondflowers or Baby's breath)
Ageratina havanensis (Shrubby boneset)
Eupatorium rotundifolium (Roundleaf thoroughwort)
Eupatorium serotinum (Lateflowering thoroughwort)
If none of these are the flowers you saw, you can do your own search in our Native Plant Database. Using the COMBINATION SEARCH option, choose "Texas" from the Select State or Province slot; then, under Bloom Characteristics, select "Oct" and "Nov" under Bloom Time and "White" under Bloom Color. This will give you a list of more than 260 plants. You can narrow that list by making other appropriate criteria choices from the NARROW YOUR SEARCH option in the sidebar.
From the Image Gallery
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