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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Thursday - September 18, 2008

From: CHANDLER, AZ
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Plant identification, green and tube-like
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

LOOKING FOR NAME OF A GREEN TUBE-LIKE PLANT (SHAPED LIKE A CALLA LILY). THE VEINS ARE VISIBLE. MAYBE IN CLUSTER

ANSWER:

The native plants that match your description are the pitcher plants in the Genus Sarracenia, another pitcher plant—Darlingtonia californica (California pitcherplant), Arisaema triphyllum (Jack in the pulpit) and Arisaema dracontium (green dragon). None of these occur in Arizona, however.

If none of these are the plant you are looking for, please send us photos and we will be happy to try to identify it. You will find instructions for submitting photos on the Plant Identification page.