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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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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Wednesday - September 29, 2010
From: Bee Cave, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Plant identification
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
What is the name of the beautiful pink flowers with tiny Orchid-like blossoms occurring now all alongside the highways in the Bee Cave, TX and hill country area? Is it "slenderleaf false foxglove", "flaxleaf false foxglove" or "ridgestem false foxglove"??? I would greatly appreciate your advice!ANSWER:
Mr. Smarty Plants believes what you are seeing is one of the species of Agalinis—either Agalinis edwardsiana (Plateau false foxglove) or Agalinis heterophylla (Prairie false foxglove). Agalinis tenuifolia (Slenderleaf false foxglove), Agalinis linifolia (Flaxleaf false foxglove) and Agalinis oligophylla (Ridgestem false foxglove) don't occur in the Central Texas region. It is rather difficult to tell the species of Agalinis apart. You can read about the features of each of the plants on pp. 992 and 993 in the online version of Shinners & Mahler's Flora of North Central Texas.
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