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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 30, 2009

From: Vernon, BC
Region: Canada
Topic: Trees
Title: Are blue spruce (Picea pungens) poisonous?
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

Are blue spruce trees poisonous at all? Thank you.

ANSWER:

Mr. Smarty Plants would say that Picea pungens (blue spruce) is not poisonous since it does not appear on any of the following toxic plant databases:

Canadian Poisonous Plants Information System

Poisonous Plants of North Carolina

Cornell University's Plants Poisonous to Livestock

University of Pennsylvania's Poisonous Plants

University of California–Davis Toxic Plants 

 

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