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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Wednesday - September 17, 2008

From: Pawtucket, RI
Region: Northeast
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Plant identification
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I have a plant that I think is called a Brookmania or Bookmania. It has beautiful purple flowers with white centers and darker leaves. I cannot find any info on this flower.

ANSWER:

Mr. Smarty Plants loves a mystery and likes solving them even better, but I'm afraid I have only a couple of possibilities—one native and one introduced—for your mystery plant:

The native one is Veronica americana (American brooklime) . Here are more photos of American brooklime from Connecticut Botanical Society and from USDA Plants Database. This is found in most of North America with the exception of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

The non-native has a name that sounds a bit like Brookmania or Bookmania; however, it doesn't look like your description. It is Brugmansia with 7 species that are native to South America. You can see photos of the various species on the American Brugmansia & Datura Society Inc. page.

If neither of these happens to be your mystery plant, please send us photos and we will do our best to identify your plant. Visit Mr. Smarty Plants' Plant Identification page to read the instructions for submitting photos.