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

Friday - January 09, 2009
From: Toronto, ON
Region: Canada
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Plant with no leaves, flexible and stores water
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
Do you now a plant that has no leaves but stores a lot of water and is very flexible? Maybe a type of vine? Thank you!ANSWER:
You don't say whether you have, or saw, such a plant and are trying to identify it; or, perhaps you want to grow such a plant; or, you are just curious if such a plant exists. Whatever the reason for your question, here is what I can tell you about plants, both native and non-native to North America, that fit at least part of your description:The first plants that come to mind that store a lot of water and have no leaves are the cacti (for example., Carnegiea gigantea (saguaro) or Opuntia sp.), but I certainly wouldn't call them particularly flexible. There are a couple of Opuntias that grow in Ontario, Opuntia humifusa (devil's-tongue) and Opuntia fragilis (brittle pricklypear). Some other cacti that store water are species in the genera Selenicereus and Hylocereus from Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and tropical South America. Some of these are vine-like (for example, S. urbanianus and H. undatus) and somewhat more flexible than the cacti named above.
The Cuscuta (Dodder) are parasitic vines that have very reduced leaves that certainly store some water in their stems, but the stems are relatively thin so there won't be much water stored there. There are several species of Cuscuta that occur in Ontario, some native and some not.
Succulents store water in their stems and leaves and there are succulent vines that lack leaves in the Ceropegias, a genus in the Family Asclepiadaceae (Milkweed Family) that are found mainly in tropical Africa, India, the Middle East and Asia. Many of the species of the genus are vines and several lack leaves (for example, C. devecchii from Somalia, C. arabica from Saudi Arabia and C. ampliata from South Africa).
If you have such a plant or a photo of it, you can submit your photo to us and we will do our best to identify it. Please visit the Ask Mr. Smarty Plants' Plant Identification page to read instructions on submitted photos for identification.
More Plant Identification Questions
Identity of bulbs from digging in an anthole
June 13, 2012 - I was digging in an ant hole and it collapsed and as I dug it out, I found around 50 white bulbs that did not have a smell or roots. They resembled onion bulbs. I have a picture of these and they are...
view the full question and answer
Identification of a cucumber-like vine with fruit
November 16, 2011 - We found tiny, grape-size white melon-like fruit on a vine, with tomato-like/cucumber-like seeds. The leaves on the vine were similar to grape or cucumber leaves, but not spiny. They were behind our...
view the full question and answer
Origin of cultivar of Sophora secundiflora
April 01, 2012 - Howdy, Mr. Smarty Plants! I am hoping you can shed some light on the origin of my silver-leaved TX Mountain Laurel, "Silver Peso". Some nurseries refer to it as a genetic variation of Sophora secu...
view the full question and answer
Plant Identification
June 19, 2010 - Hi there. I have a plant in my garden I'm trying to identify. It started out looking like a cabbage but now is huge, It has a large stalk going up the middle with purple bell looking flowers coming...
view the full question and answer
Identification of a tree in Florida with bell-shaped red flowers
November 23, 2012 - A friend in Florida has asked about identification of a tree with a flower none of us have ever seen. It starts with a green pod, then flowers into, what looks to me like a Chinese lantern, or bell. I...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |