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.
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.

rate this answer

Friday - August 13, 2010
From: Beaumont, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Plant ID from Beaumont TX
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
I live in Beaumont Texas and have some trees on the land I hunt that look like a yaupon but put on a small blue berry that the deer devour in December. I have looked and searched the Internet but have had no luck identifying this tree. They are very similar to yaupon in every aspect except the berry. Can you help me?ANSWER:
Sorry, that doesn't ring any bells with us, either. It is probably an escaped non-native, which is out of the expertise of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
We love identifying native plants for folks! Do you have a picture of a plant found growing in the wild somewhere in North America and you would like to know its name? Send us an email following the instructions below. Please do not send pictures of house plants, office plants, garden plants, plants seen on your vacation to Costa Rica or other clearly non-native species. For identification of non-native plants you might consider visiting the UBC Botanical Gardens Forums website.
- Tell us where and when you found the plant and describe the site where it occurred.
- If possible, take several high-resolution images including details of leaves, stems, flowers, fruit, and the overall plant.
- Save images in JPEG format. Do not reduce the resolution of your images. High-resolution images are much easier for us to work with.
- Send email with images attached to [email protected]. Please enter Plant ID Request on the subject line of your email.
More Plant Identification Questions
Identification of bush/vine with purple berries
August 09, 2014 - I was clearing fence line and came across this plant it looks like a Bush but underneath grows like a vine it has long broad leaves that reminded me of Polk salad but it grows berry clusters the berri...
view the full question and answer
Distinguishing non-native Wisteria from Austin
June 25, 2012 - How do I distinguish a native wisteria from a non-native wisteria?
view the full question and answer
Identification of Monotropa uniflora
August 09, 2007 - I found a peculiar flower in Nopoming Provincial Forest, Manitoba last weekend (August 4th). I found it growing in moss on top of rock (the Canadian shield). It was in shade.
About 3 or 4 were clum...
view the full question and answer
Plant identification
November 02, 2011 - I have a plant that I would like to identify. It is a tall shrub/woody vine? (approx. 8-10 feet) that has very large thorns on its branches and stems. The stems remain green during winter. It loses it...
view the full question and answer
ID for Caribbean mystery plants.
January 13, 2016 - I AM TRYING TO FIND THE COMMON NAME FOR TWO FLOWERS I TOOK PICTURES OF ON A CARIBBEAN CRUISE. I TOOK ONE IN HONDURAS AND ONE IN GRAND CAYMAN. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHERE I CAN GO TO TO GET HELP IN ID...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |