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 - July 29, 2008
From: St. Augustine, FL
Region: Southeast
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Plant identification
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
Greetings, Sir/Madam! What is the name of that weed that grows ubiquitously in St. Augustine, Fl (literally overnight when it rains) and has two skinny "arms", with little greenish beads on the arms. They grow quite high and have bulbs for roots. Also, are those purple flowers that some call weeds which are also native to St. Augustine called Society Garlic? Thank you so much!ANSWER:
The purple one could be Allium canadense (meadow garlic) or one of its varieties, such as Allium canadense var. mobilense (meadow garlic). These are native to Florida. It could also well be Tulbaghia violacea (society garlic), a native of South Africa often used as a landscape plant. I'm afraid you've stumped Mr. SP with the other one. If you will send us photos, however, we would be very happy to try to identify both your mystery plants. Please visit the Ask Mr. Smarty Plants page to read the instructions (under "Plant Identification") for submitting photos.
More Plant Identification Questions
Diamonds and Rubies plant (Lychnis coronaria)
May 02, 2007 - I recently purchased a plant from the Huntsville, AL Botanical Gardens at their annual plant sale. The name on the plant tag is "Rubies and Diamonds". No one at the Botanical Garden knew the scien...
view the full question and answer
Holly-like groundcover under live oak tree.
June 21, 2012 - I have looked and looked and cannot identify a wonderful groundcover holly growing in the shade beneath my 100 year old Live Oak here in Austin. I have looked up every possible Ilex variety and am stu...
view the full question and answer
Identification of vine in Pennsylvania
June 11, 2012 - I have several vine plants growing in my deck planters from last season. The leaves are 9 pointed, it looks more like 7, but there are 2 little points at the very bottom of the larger leaves. When t...
view the full question and answer
Identification of giant lilies
October 12, 2007 - I have giant lilies that I can't identify. The bulbs are about 4" in diameter, the leaves are 4 ft long. The flowers of the pink emerge only in the early summer, the flowers of the red emerge in s...
view the full question and answer
Identity of red raspberry-like berries in Connecticut
July 28, 2008 - I found some edible berries today in the woods that look like raspberries, are red like raspberries, but don't taste like them at all. They're very shiny red, remove easily from the bush. The flavor...
view the full question and answer
| Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |