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.

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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!

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Wednesday - April 06, 2011

From: Augusta, GA
Region: Southeast
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Plant identification
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I'm trying to figure out the name of a plant/shrub purchased a couple years ago. It was a shrub (about medium sized) with yellow blooms that smelled like lemon. I don't think it was lemon balm or lemon verbena; most definitely not the golden chain tree. HELP!

ANSWER:

All three of the plants you named are not native to North America:

Melissa officinalis (Lemon balm) is native to the Mediterranean region.
Aloysia citrodora (lemon verbena) is native to South America.
Laburnum anagyroides (golden chain or common laburnum) and Laburnum alpinum (golden chain or Alpine laburnum) are native to Europe.

And, I suspect the one you purchased a couple of years ago is also a non-native. What we are all about here at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is the study, conservation, and promotion of the use of plants native to North America, so I'm afraid we can't really help. However, we do have a suggestion for help in identifying your plant. Please visit our Plant Identification page to find contact information for several plant forums where you can submit your question and, if you have one, a photograph to help with the identification.

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Wednesday - April 06, 2011

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