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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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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.

 
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Tuesday - September 25, 2012

From: Waggaman, LA
Region: Southeast
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Plant identification
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I have a plant that was in a funeral arrangement. The plant has green leaves with darker green spots on it. I do not know what kind of plant it is, nor do I know how much light the plant needs on a daily basis. Please help.

ANSWER:

Our focus and expertise are with plants native to North America.  Plants that are part of commercially prepared arrangements (for example, funeral or wedding arrangements) are usually cultivated non-native plants so we are the wrong people to be asking about their identity.  My suggestion for helping you to learn its identity is to take photos of it and then visit our Plant Identification page to find links to several plant identification forums that will accept photos of plants for identification.  Another possibility is, if it is still portable, to take it to a plant nursery to ask them if they know what it is.
 

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