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.

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?

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

7 ratings

Monday - March 18, 2013

From: Hemphill, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Identification of tiny blue flower blooming in February
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

There is a very small four petal flower that appears near the end of Winter. (This year they appeared in late Feb). These little flowers are a "Light Blueish" hue. They are around a quarter inch across and are only an inch or so tall. We used to call them "Daiseys". Can you identify these little flowers?

ANSWER:

I believe your little blue "daisy" is Houstonia pusilla (Tiny bluet). It is one of the first plants to bloom at the end of winter.

Here are more photos from the University of Texas School of Biological Sciences' Archive of Central Texas Plants, Southwest Environmental Information Network and from Native & Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas & Georgia.

From the Image Gallery

Tiny bluets
Houstonia pusilla