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.

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Tuesday - November 10, 2009

From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Tree purchased at LBJWC plant sale from Austin
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

I bought a tree at the 2008 LBJ Wildflower plant sale, it is growing great. I would like to plant it in the proper location/soil but lost the name tag and can't identify it. It has very fine leaves, has stickers and grown in several directions, not normal branches. Maybe you can identify it or I can send a pic.

ANSWER:

Even though the tree came from our Plant Sale, there are hundred of species of plants available at every Sale, and some of the trees are brought in by vendors. There are lists of plants available for each sale, but that doesn't necessarily include those brought in by vendors, and the plants on them change with each sale. Please go to our Plant Identification page and follow the instructions to send us a picture. Since it will be native to this area, because that's what we sell at our Plant Sales, we should be able to identify it.

Two possibilities that occurred to us from your description are: Prosopis glandulosa (honey mesquite) and Acacia farnesiana (sweet acacia). We know these have been sold at our sales, but couldn't say if they were in the 2008 sale. Follow the plant links to read about each plant, look at the pictures below from our Native Plant Image Gallery and perhaps we'll get lucky.

From our Native Plant Image Gallery:

Prosopis glandulosa