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.

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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.

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Monday - September 23, 2013

From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Identity of shrub growing wild in Austin Texas area
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

Hi! I need help identifying a bush growing wild in my area. I have pictures of leaves fruit and bark. I cant find a good place to post these in order to ID plant. I'm in Austin TX area. Thanks!

ANSWER:

You can visit our Plant Identification page to find links to several plant identification forums that will accept photos of plant for purposes of identification. We did try to provide that service ourselves at one time, but we were soon overwhelmed with so many photos and identification requests that we did not have enough staff and volunteers to handle them and to answer all the other questions we receive as well.