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
Sunday - July 19, 2009
From: Springfield, MA
Region: Northeast
Topic: Plant Identification, Herbs/Forbs
Title: Plant identification from Springfield MA
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
We have a house next to us that is vacant. The lawn has not been mowed in months. a tall flower has grown amongst the grass and weeds. It is about 3 to 4 feet tall green stem and the flower is about 2 inch diameter round purple fuzzy flower or maybe it is a weed we are curious what this may be?ANSWER:
No matter how good the description, we cannot identify a plant without a picture. Your description could be any one of hundreds of flowers and it might even be non-native, which would mean we didn't even have it in our Native Plant Database. Go to the Mr. Smarty Plants Plant Identification page and follow the instructions for submitting a photo, and sending as much more information as possible, and we'll try to figure out what it is.
More Plant Identification Questions
Identification of a vine with red berries in Weatherford, Texas
October 17, 2014 - I have found a vine with red berries that I would appreciate an ID for. How can I send you a photo or two of it?
view the full question and answer
Identification of wildflower in Illinois
April 03, 2008 - I have a similar question to the one asking about the blue/lilac wildflower in Illinois. Every year here in IL a blue, stragly, petal-ed flower/weed blooms - particularly along the edge of curbs alon...
view the full question and answer
Identification of tree in Ovilla TX area
May 04, 2010 - Can you identify a tall,(wild?) tree covered with fragrant, pink/lavender blooms? Have seen several in the Ovilla area this spring.
view the full question and answer
Identification of mystery tree in Huntington Beach, CA
March 25, 2015 - Have a "tree" that has grown from about 18" tall to about 10' tall in a little over a years time. It has a central trunk that is about 3/4" in diameter at it's largest. It has short thin branch...
view the full question and answer
Tree with blue berries in Los Angeles, CA
March 22, 2016 - There's a tree outside my house with somewhat thin and short spiky leaves with blue berries. The berries
Some of the berries have a frost look and some are dark blue.
view the full question and answer
| Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |