Host an Event Volunteer Join Tickets

Your gift keeps resources like this database thriving!

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.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

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.

Search Smarty Plants
See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

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.

 
rate this answer
Not Yet Rated

Tuesday - July 15, 2008

From: New Boston, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Is Tagetes lemmonii a Texas native?
Answered by: Barbara Medford and Joe Marcus

QUESTION:

Is the Copper Canyon Daisy (Tagetes lemmonii) a native Texas plant?

ANSWER:

The USDA Plant Profile shows it as native only to southern Arizona. The City of Austin Native and Adapted Landscape Plants shows it as Non-native, adapted to Austin. It apparently occurs naturally between 4000' and 8000' of altitude in mountain canyons in northern Mexico and southern Arizona. "Vascular Plants of Texas:  a Comprehensive Checklist including synonymy, Bibliography, and Index" by Stanley D. Jones, Joseph K. Wipff and Paul M. Montgomery.  University of Texas Press, 1997, lists it as "Cultivated" in Texas.  Turner, B. L. et al in "Atlas of the Vascular Plants of Texas" list only Tagetes micrantha as does Correll and Johnson "Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas".  The term "Copper Canyon" in the common name refers to a region of Mexico in the species' native range. Bottom line: no, it is not a native of Texas.

 

More Plant Identification Questions

Identity of plant that smells like dill in California
June 30, 2013 - Whenever I drive over the Sonoma County, CA coastal range and to the beach (usually Bodega) as you get closer to the ocean the air is scented not just with the wonderful smell of the sea, but also of ...
view the full question and answer

Bermuda, not the only option in Memphis
November 04, 2014 - I'm building an energy efficient home in Memphis and want to extend that strategy to the landscaping. I'd like to plant native grasses, but this lot is surrounded by lots sodded with Bermuda grass....
view the full question and answer

Plant identification
June 11, 2010 - Dear Mr Smarty Pants.I hope you can help to save my sanity! I am a true believer in using native plantings, having a yard that is 99% native. I hope that fact provides me a little extra credit towar...
view the full question and answer

Plant identification
August 13, 2008 - Bought a plant don't know what it is or how to care for it. It looks like it's dying. Description: light to dark green, long, skinny, rounded trunk, surrounded and topped with grass like blades(top ...
view the full question and answer

Difference between Styrax platanifolius and Styrax patanifolius ssp. texanus
November 18, 2011 - What is the difference between a Styrax platanifolius and a Styrax platanifolius texanus?
view the full question and answer

Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today.

Bibliography

Atlas of the Vascular Plants of Texas (2003) Turner, B. L.; H. Nichols; G. Denny; O. Doron

Vascular Plants of Texas (1997) Jones, Wipff, and Montgomery

Search More Titles in Bibliography