Host an Event Volunteer Join Tickets

Support the plant database you love!

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.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?

Share

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.

Search Smarty Plants
See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

 
rate this answer
Not Yet Rated

Sunday - April 01, 2012

From: Horseshoe Bay, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Plant ID from Horseshoe Bend, TX
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

I am trying to identify two plants - one - a flower springing up in a mint patch/Users/leehsb/Desktop/DSC_0407.JPG/Users/leehsb/Desktop/DSC_0408.JPG and the next a small bunched plant in our garden (no flowers) /Users/leehsb/Desktop/Users/leehsb/Desktop/DSC_0410.JPG/DSC_0409.JPG Thanks for your help - we are strong supporters of the Wildflower Center.

ANSWER:

Thank you for your continued support of the work the Wildflower Center does in conservation and promotion of native plants.

It would seem you attempted to send us pictures of the plants you cannot identify, and we are no longer set up to receive pictures on the Mr. Smarty Plants site. Identifying native plants is lots of fun; but, it consumes lots of time and we don't have enough person-hours to do it anymore.  We can recommend several excellent online Plant Identification forums that will accept photographs of plants to identify.  Please visit our Plant Identification page to find the links to the Plant Identification forums.

 

More Plant Identification Questions

Plant identification
September 30, 2010 - My husband brought home a plant which I have not been able to id. It is a bush, has 2 ovate to ellipse leaves, whorled, with 4 (2 pairs) smooth thin skinned (you can see white veins under the skin rad...
view the full question and answer

Plant identification
July 15, 2010 - I bought a double knock-out rose bush and planted it in my yard. A year later a weed-like plant started growing beside it. It has very thorny leaves, stems and stalk. Little purple flowers are grow...
view the full question and answer

Plant identification
March 15, 2011 - I don't know where this plant is from! I hope you can still help! I was given a plant,about 8in tall,stem and limbs are yellow it doesn't grow leaves it just has thorns do you have any idea what it ...
view the full question and answer

Plant identfication for Roosevelt Park, NY
August 28, 2009 - Looking for the name and chemical breakdown of a tree. Its leaves are green with heart like puffs blooming out. This tree was seen at Roosevelt Park, Long Island NY 11575
view the full question and answer

Identification of possible toxic plant in Austin, TX
June 20, 2014 - When we hike with our dogs along Turkey Creek in Austin, they seem to make a bee line to a small green leafy plant when they find it along the trail and eat a few leaves of it. We assume it's not dan...
view the full question and answer

Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today.