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.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

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.

Search Smarty Plants

See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

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.

rate this answer

Not Yet Rated

Wednesday - June 23, 2010

From: Round Mountain, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Identification, Trees
Title: Is the Ashe juniper native from Round Mountain TX
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

Some friends and I disagree on something, and I hope you will settle the argument. Are the cedars found in the Texas hill country (ashe juniper) native or not?

ANSWER:

They are native to North America, native to Texas and native to Blanco County. What they are NOT are cedars. They are Juniperus ashei (Ashe's juniper). The members of the Cedrus (cedar) genus are members of the Pinaceae family, and we did not find any native to North America. Ashe's Juniper, also referred to as Mountain Cedar, belongs to the Cypressaceae family.

From our Native Plant Image Gallery: