Host an Event Volunteer Join Tickets

Your gift keeps resources like this database thriving!

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.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

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.

Search Smarty Plants
See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

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.

 
rate this answer
Not Yet Rated

Thursday - April 16, 2009

From: Shoreacres, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Plant Identification
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I have a vine in my flowerbed that has three leaves and thorns and it looks like poison ivy. How can I tell if it is?

ANSWER:

Toxicodendron radicans (eastern poison ivy) doesn't have thorns, but you may be seeing some of the holdfasts that the vine uses to attach to a tree.  Here are more photos of poison ivy.  I suspect, however, what you have is Rubus trivialis (southern dewberry) or one of the other Rubus spp. which have thorns and a pattern of three leaves.  The other common vine with thorns in Harris County is Smilax bona-nox (saw greenbrier), but it doesn't have the three-leaf arrangement   If your vine doesn't look like any of these and you would like for us to identify it, please send us photos.  For instructions on submitting photos for identification, visit Mr. Smarty Plants' Plant Identification page. 

 


Toxicodendron radicans

Rubus trivialis

Smilax bona-nox

 


 

 

 

More Plant Identification Questions

Need to identify a strange plant in my flowerbed
March 05, 2010 - I have a strange plant that I've called a weed in my flowerbed. It doesn't have many leaves but it has round white almost bulbs at the surface of the dirt. The "bulbs" look almost like a small oni...
view the full question and answer

Identity of flowering yellow trees in Austin
March 21, 2012 - There are numerous flowering yellow trees in my Austin neighborhood. Are they mesquite or goldenball lead trees? They are quite fragrant, like a new bar of soap.
view the full question and answer

Identification of low growing plants with flowers that resemble a bunch of grapes in Graford, TX
February 10, 2011 - I am in northwest TX and I would like to know the name of the early blooming, very low growing plant that has a single bloom on a bare stem--it is dark crimson and the blooms looks like a bunch of gra...
view the full question and answer

Plants of Texas Coastal Bend beaches
November 27, 2013 - What plants are native to the Texas Coastal Bend beaches?
view the full question and answer

Identity of tree with fragrant yellow flowers and thorns
June 06, 2013 - I'm not sure if this is a native plant. It's a tree, around 15" tall. The leaves are in bunches with 3-4 very sharp small spines at each bunch. Flowers are small, yellow, hang down from the leaf...
view the full question and answer

Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today.