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 is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
rate this answer
Sunday - July 10, 2011
From: Ocoee, FL
Region: Southeast
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Plant identification for Florida
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
I am looking for the name of a plant that has long stalks and wispy long leaves with large round purple flowers on the end.ANSWER:
From the description you provided I did three COMBINATION SEARCH-es in our Native Plant Database. I chose 'Florida' from Select State or Province, 'Herb' under Habit (general appearance) and then under Bloom Characteristics-Color: 'Pink', 'Blue', 'Purple' and 'Violet' for the first search. For the other two searches I substituted either 'Subshrub' or 'Shrub' for 'Herb' under Habit (general appearance). You can do the same searches yourself, but I could not find a native Florida plant that fits your description. If your plant is a plant native to Florida, it should have appeared in our database. I also searched in several Florida and southeastern US wildflower field guides and databases (e.g., Southeastern Flora and Gallery of Florida Wildflowers) and wasn't successful in finding a match. A little more information about the plant would have been helpful—for instance, its overall size, the setting where you saw it, if the stems are woody, how large the flowers are, how many petals each flower has, etc.). I suspect it is an introduced ornamental plant and not native to North America. If so, it is out of our area of expertise. Your best bet for learning its identity is to submit a photo, if you have one, to one of the plant identification forums. You can find links to several forums on our Plant Identification page.
More Plant Identification Questions
Differences between Ratibida columnifera and Ratibida peduncularis
June 03, 2010 - How do you tell the difference between Ratibida columnifera and Ratibida peduncularis. On NPIN columnifera has red and penduncularis is solid yellow, but I have seen pictures listed as columnifera tha...
view the full question and answer
Pepper plants growing in California
September 11, 2008 - Hello, I have several hot pepper plants growing in my yard. I would like to know what the pepper is called. I dry them out and grind them up to a powder and use it in many dishes. I have asked my l...
view the full question and answer
Plant ID from Villa Hills KY
April 21, 2013 - Hello I have this plant but I don't know what it is. I want to know if it's edible or what it is. I think it's catnip.
view the full question and answer
Identification of landscape plants at malls in Waco and Temple
August 20, 2009 - Dear Mr. Smarty,
I am trying to identify a plant used in landscaping for several shopping centers within the Waco-Temple areas. It looks to be large mounding grass, but flowers June-July with shaft...
view the full question and answer
Identification of plant similar to Lindheimer's senna (Senna lindheimeriana)
October 27, 2011 - I purchased "Lindheimer's Senna" at our MG plant sale in Williamson Co. two years ago. My three plants are now 6 ft. tall but I don't think they are Lindheimers. I've searched your plant files ...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |