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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 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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Friday - July 03, 2009

From: Spanaway, WA
Region: Northwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Plant identification
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I have a tree growing in my backyard that has started to produce bean shaped blue berries the interior of the berry is red and the leaf shape is long and triangle and the stems the berries grow on are red. Is this plant poison? I have 5 kids and a dog and I'm am wondering if I need to warn them away.

ANSWER:

Mr. Smarty Plants loves to identify plants, but it is very difficult (if not impossible) to do so from a description alone.  Please send us photos of your plant and we will do our best to identify it and tell you if it is poisonous.  Please take high resolution, in-focus photos of:  1) the tree as a whole, 2) a branch showing the leaf arrangement, 3) close-ups of leaves, and 4) close-ups of the berries.   Visit Mr. Smarty Plants' Plant Identification page to read the instructions for submitting photos.  In your e-mail please be sure to remind us where you live and describe the site where the tree is growing.
 

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