Native Plants

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Tuesday - November 02, 2010

From: Tuscola, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Plant identification
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

Near Abilene State Park, a plant's leaves turn purple and it seems to have a pineapple looking growth. We call it the purple pineapple?

ANSWER:

It's not usually easy to identify a plant from a description alone, but this sounds like Eryngium leavenworthii (Leavenworth's eryngo). Here are some excellent photos for the the botany course, Natives Plants of Central Texas from the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Texas.

From the Image Gallery

Leavenworth's eryngo
Eryngium leavenworthii