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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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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.

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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.

 
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Sunday - June 27, 2010

From: Louisville, KY
Region: Mid-Atlantic
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: plant identification
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I don't know if this plant is native, but it is a volunteer. It is a spiny , cane producing bramble . It produces tight clusters of inconspicuous fluffy reddish pink flowers about a centimeter across, groups of 7 or 9ish at the ends of branches.These are replaced by very shiny raspberry like fruit( on old wood). Last year they were bland, this year has been much hotter and they are all tangy goodness. The leaves are lobulate, heart shaped, and spined along the underside of the veins(not compound). The berries pick cleanly, and leave behind an orange stemless pith. I am very confused .

ANSWER:

Well, at this point, so is Mr. Smarty Plants.  Please send us photos and we will try to identify your plant and tell whether or not it is native.   Visit Mr. Smarty Plants' Plant Identification page for instructions on how to submit photos for identification.

 

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