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
Wednesday - April 01, 2009
From: Santa Rosa, CA
Region: California
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Plant Identification
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
I have small shiny red berries growing on a tropical appearing shrub with green and marled yellow leaves. The leaves have widely serrated edges. The berries have a large seed inside and very little flesh.ANSWER:
Mr. Smarty Plants loves doing plant identifications; however, doing them from a description alone is difficult, if not impossible, no matter how thorough the description. Please send us photos and we will do our very best to identify your plant. Visit the Ask Mr. Smarty Plants' Plant Identification page to read instructions for submitting photos for identification.More Plant Identification Questions
Plant identification, possibly Actaea rubra, red baneberry
August 06, 2008 - I came across a plant that has leaves similar to the astillbe shrub, stands about 3 feet high, and instead of a flower spire, has a chunk of bright red berries the size of medium-sized pearls atop its...
view the full question and answer
Mystery tree with yellow fruit in MN
November 12, 2012 - There is a tree at my workplace, about 8' tall, with small, pea-sized yellow berries right now (Oct. 2012). The berries are attractive to Cedar Waxwings, and the tree has small leaves that are simple...
view the full question and answer
Identification of tall plant with five-petaled purple flowers
June 01, 2013 - I recently moved into a house and have a plant near my fence that has purple flowers with five petals and a somewhat thick stem, about a half inch. The leaves are sparse and it grows about four to si...
view the full question and answer
Identification of tree with outrageous thorns
August 10, 2014 - Can you identify this tree? It has these outrageous thorns on its trunk. They are in clusters and are anywhere from 1" long to 4" long or so.
view the full question and answer
Smarty Plants on Plant Identification
April 25, 2005 - We bought our house last October and there were beautiful pink flowers blooming along our sidewalk. They bloomed until past Thanksgiving. They resembled Azaleas but we don't know what they were. Th...
view the full question and answer
| Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |