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 is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

rate this answer

Tuesday - April 14, 2009
From: Tampa, FL
Region: Southeast
Topic: General Botany
Title: Ways to group plants
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
Are deciduous plants and leaves and roots ways to group plants? I need the answer now; tell me the answer if some are wrong?ANSWER:
Deciduous and evergreen is certainly one way to group plants. Trees native to Florida such as Aesculus pavia (red buckeye) and Acer rubrum (red maple) are deciduous, meaning they shed their leaves when the weather turns cool, and put on fresh ones in the Spring. Also native to Florida are Pinus palustris (longleaf pine) and Magnolia grandiflora (southern magnolia), both of which are evergreen, retaining their leaves, but dropping and replacing them gradually year-round.
Another way to group plants is by whether they are annuals (grow, bloom, drop seeds and die all in one year) or perennials (sometimes die back to the ground, but return from roots the next season.) Some annuals native to Florida are Gaillardia pulchella (firewheel) and Monarda punctata (spotted beebalm). A couple of perennials native to Florida are Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly milkweed) and Lupinus perennis (sundial lupine).
Plants can also be grouped by whether they are angiosperms or gymnosperms. Angiosperms are flowering plants and are the largest group in the plant kingdom, and all of the plants above belong to that group except Pinus palustris (longleaf pine), which is a gymnosperm.
You can click on any of the plant links and read about that particular plant, or you can try some Googling. When we searched on "groupings of plants" we got several websites, but one in particular you might be interested in is from Cazadero, the Four Major Groups of Plants. This author divides plants into mosses, ferns, conifers (gymnosperms) and flowering plants (angiosperms).
More General Botany Questions
Where do plants grow?
June 23, 2007 - Where do plants grow?
view the full question and answer
Can users sort plant lists in the Plant Database?
November 17, 2008 - Although your database searches are very useful, I would like to take it further, for example by sorting the "Central Texas Recommended" list on various columns, as you might do in a spreadsheet. D...
view the full question and answer
Consequences of overwatering plants
February 05, 2010 - Explain how an error on the high side when watering would affect soil fertility management, IPM efforts?
view the full question and answer
Half-life of the insecticide imidacloprid
March 07, 2011 - How long do systemic insecticides such as imidacloprid (Merit)
remain active in nursery grown plants?
Asclepias curassavica (tropical milkweed)is frequently grown with imidacloprid to prevent...
view the full question and answer
Compare Natives to Lawn for Carbon Footprint Benefits in Durham, New Hampshire
September 22, 2010 - Are there carbon sequestration rate tables for turf (lawn) and bushes, shrubs, trees? I want to compare the carbon footprint benefit of lawn versus the same area put into native plantings.
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |