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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Thursday - October 11, 2007
From: Guymon, OK
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Identification of plant known as mosquito plant (Agastache cana)
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
I received some seeds from an annual plant that came from Bowie, Tx. It has square stems, like mint plants, medium size leaves turns purple when in the sun and had a strong odor when brushed against. She called it a masquito plant. It gets about 3 ft. tall.ANSWER:
Mr. Smarty Plants supposes you want to know the formal name for this plant. It is Agastache cana, mosquito plant. Other common names are hummingbird mint, bubblegum mint and giant hyssop. It is a member of the Family Lamiaceae (formerly Family Labiatae), the Mint Family and is native to New Mexico and Texas. it is considered a rare plant in New Mexico. You can see pictures from the University of Texas at El Paso, University of New Mexico, Utah State University and Dave's Garden.
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