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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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.

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Sunday - November 09, 2008

From: Alliance, NE
Region: Midwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Plant identification, Russian olive or buffaloberry
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

Thank you for the info I found here regarding the silver buffaloberry and the russian olive. I need help in identifying which small shrub I have(it is one or the other)that was transplanted here on our farm(had to be from bird droppings. My husband says he will remove if it's olive because of invasive list and obvious thorns. I'd like to keep it if it is a buffaloberry.

ANSWER:

Mr. Smarty Plants will be very happy to try to identify your shrub if you will send us some photos.

Plant Identification

Need help with a plant ID? Send us an email following the instructions below.

1. Tell us where and when you found the plant and describe the site where it occurred.

2. Take several high resolution images including details of leaves, stems, flowers, fruit, and the overall plant.

3. Save images in JPEG format.