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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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Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?

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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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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.

 
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Thursday - March 17, 2016

From: Elk Grove, CA
Region: California
Topic: Non-Natives
Title: Abutilon or Podocarpus Toxic to Dogs?
Answered by: Anne Van Nest

QUESTION:

Are either of these plants toxic to dogs? Flowering maple or the Podocarpus henkelii shrub.

ANSWER:

Although both of these plants are not natives to North America and not found in the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Centre database, Mr. Smarty Plants did do a search of the ASPCA toxic plants to dogs list and found that Podocarpus is toxic.  So be wary of that plant if your dogs like to chew on plants. The flowering maple (Abutilon sp.) is not on the list.
 

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