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

Thursday - June 10, 2010

From: Los Angeles, CA
Region: California
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Plant identification
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I have a tall leafy green plant growing in my garden. It has long flowering limbs that bear a pod that looks like a tiny green pepper. It then turns purple and falls off. The flower that remains is tiny with a magenta hue. I have no idea what it is. Can you help?

ANSWER:

Well, Mr. Smarty Plants loves to identify native plants; but it is difficult, if not impossible, to do with a description alone.  If you think it might be a North American native plant (our specialty), please send us photos and we will do our best to identify it for you.  Visit Mr. Smarty Plants' Plant Identification page to read the instructions for submitting photos.  If you suspect that it is NOT a North American native plant (not our specialty), you would be better off submitting your photos to the Plant Identification Forum on the UBC Botanical Garden site.

 

More Plant Identification Questions

Plant identification request from Wales, United Kingdom
November 17, 2011 - I have a plant that has green and pink leaves and the flowers are dry but are like fingers on a hand. The leaves drop down when it needs watering, which is every other day, and the finger shaped clust...
view the full question and answer

Difference between Oxalis debilis and Oxalis violacea
June 22, 2015 - There are two species of pink oxalis reported to grow here in Jefferson County, Oxalis debilis (introduced) and O. violacea (native). How can I positively identify which one I have growing in my yard?
view the full question and answer

Identification of all-white small plants growing in the woods in Belmont, MA.
July 21, 2009 - I have just seen a group of completely ALL-WHITE small plants growing in the woods. They have 4-8in. stalks with a kind of bell-shaped flower growing at the top. There is no green anywhere on this pla...
view the full question and answer

Blue vervain native to Indiana
January 06, 2003 - I have a species I need to know if it is native to my area (southern Indiana) - Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata)
view the full question and answer

Plant identification
June 27, 2011 - I have a plant my Dad had found years ago. Last of April a stem with bulb shaped bottom. May 6-stem opened and folded back exposing spotted inside of leaf. Bottom had yellow pollen? and green stem 2+ ...
view the full question and answer

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