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 - June 01, 2010

From: Ann Arbor/Bloomfield Hills, MI
Region: Midwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Plant identification
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I was walking in the woods, near Dresden Michigan yesterday, in a deer friendly area, where we came upon a grouping of large, umbrella leaved plants, seemed to be interconnected and only one foot high. The leaves were quite large (8 inches across - approx) and one stem came out of the base of these leaves on each leaf stem (these were about 3/4 of an inch before a bud. It is obvious that these buds were flowers, and the way they spread across the under tree foliage, seems very much like pumpkins/squash; However, the leaves were shinny, and some had yellowish dots. What are these?

ANSWER:

This sounds a lot like Podophyllum peltatum (mayapple). See the photos below. If this isn't what you saw, please visit Mr. Smarty Plants' Plant Identification page and read instructions for submitting photos for identification.