Host an Event Volunteer Join Tickets

Support the plant database you love!

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

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.

 

More Plant Identification Questions

Plant identification of tree with strawberry-like fruit
December 11, 2009 - On my walk home from work i noticed a red berry i had never seen before. It is soft like a strawberry, bumpy all over but the bumps are not individual as a raspberry has. It grows on a tall bush (very...
view the full question and answer

Searching for a dye made from a French weed
June 09, 2009 - Dear Mr smarty plants, I watched a gardening show on cable and they talked about a place in France where they use a weed called Wod to make dye and dye fabric and several other items to sell. It was ...
view the full question and answer

Plant identification--Mock Orange
June 08, 2009 - I "grew up" with what I was told was a "Mockorange Bush." I've been looking around to be able to try to identify what variety it was. To be specific, the one that I am familiar with had little...
view the full question and answer

Plant ID by pictures from Boise ID
May 01, 2014 - DEAR WILDFLOWER CENTER, TOOK SOME PICTURES A WEEK AGO--THE BOISE BOTANICAL GARDEN IDENTIFIED THE HENBIT BUT COULDN'T IDENTIFY THE REDDISH CYLINDRICAL FLOWERS IN PHOTO #4--CAN YOU HELP? YOU CAN FIND...
view the full question and answer

Plant identification
May 03, 2010 - I have a 50 ft tree in my front forest apartment in Lewisburg, TN garden, that is blooming white cluster flowers. They are slightly fragrant. I thought Carolina silverbell but they have NO yellow stam...
view the full question and answer

Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today.