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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Friday - March 26, 2010

From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Wildflowers
Title: Does Texas Thistle have any scent from Austin
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

Does the Texas Thistle have any particular aroma. We are doing a report, and cannot find the answer to this question anywhere. We have also driven all around local Austin, and cannot find any on the roadsides. Help! report due soon!

ANSWER:

Sorry, Mr. Smarty Plants is not in the report-writing business. We can, however, give you a couple of tips: follow this link to Cirsium texanum (Texas thistle) which will tell you pretty well what we know about the plant, including the fact that it blooms from April to August, which is why you are not finding it now, in March. Go to the bottom of that page on the plant and click on the link to Google, which will give you a lot more sites with information about the plant.

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