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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Thursday - February 03, 2011
From: Richfield, MN
Region: Midwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Houseplant identification.
Answered by: Joe Marcus
QUESTION:
Please help me identify a houseplant that flowers a yellow flower at the base of plant. Its leaves are narrow, pointed and green on the topside and burgundy with small hairs on the underside of the leaves.ANSWER:
We love helping people identify their native plants when we can, but it's difficult at best to identify most plant by a written description. Since very few houseplants are North American natives, your mystery plant is almost certainly outside our area of study and expertise anyway.
However, we may be able to help point you in the right direction to find an name for you plant. Please see our Plant Identification page for some resources that will probably be useful to you. The first website listed there, the UBC Botanical Gardens Forums is especially helpful in identifying houseplants.
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