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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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Saturday - May 23, 2009

From: Ramona, CA
Region: California
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Plant identification.
Answered by: Nan Hampton and Joe Marcus

QUESTION:

Looking for the name of a green, bamboo-like plant with narrow leaves. Have no pictures.

ANSWER:

Mr. Smarty Plants can't think of any native plants that fit your description, but can think of a few non-native plants that do.  Chamaedorea seifrizii (Bamboo palm) is a native of Mexico and Central America.  Here are more photos and more information about C. seifrizii.  Another possibility is Dypsis lutescens (Golden cane palm), a native of Madagascar.   Tamarisk or salt cedar trees, Tamarix sp. are invasive non-natives that also have the look of bamboo.   If none of these are the plant you are looking for and you can find a photo of the plant, please send it to us and we will do our best to identify it for you.  Visit Mr. Smarty Plants' Plant Identification page for information on submitting photos.            

 

 
 

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