Native Plants
![](../_images/smarty_plants.gif)
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.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
![](../_images/mr_smarty_plants_logo_web_200w.jpg)
rate this answer
![](../_images/star_00.gif)
Tuesday - April 24, 2012
From: Williamsville, NY
Region: Northeast
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Identity of plant with purple flower and tomato-like fruit
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
Along the Lake Erie shoreline in Buffalo there is a summer blooming plant with a purple flower and hard flattened tomato like fruit, diameter of a quarter. It has pretty small green leaves with fine ridges/teeth. We have photos that we'll try to attach. Thanks for your help.ANSWER:
This sounds like the North American native, Solanum carolinense (Carolina horse-nettle). Here are more photos and information from Connecticut Wildflowers, Missouri Plants and from the USDA Plants Database. On the USDA Plants Database, if you click on New York, you can see the county distribution for the state.
A non-native introduced species, Solanum dulcamara (Climbing nightshade), is also a possibility. Here are more photos and information from Missouri Plants.
As you learned, you can't attach photos to your question on Mr. Smarty Plants. We can no longer accept photos for identification because we were completely overwhelmed with requests and we do not have adequate staff or volunteers to try to identify all the requests we received. We do, however, have links to several plant identifcation forums on our Plant Identification page that will accept photos for identification.
Also, you can try a search in our Native Plant Database using the COMBINATION SEARCH option and entering "New York" in the Select State or Province box, "Herb" in the Habit (general appearance), and select "Purple" and "Violet" under Bloom Color.
From the Image Gallery
More Plant Identification Questions
Identification of
July 23, 2007 - I'm trying to identify a plant and I'm having trouble doing so. The plant was called moss by my mother,but it looks like a succulent. It grows on the ground and looks like small vines with pink stem...
view the full question and answer
Native sedges for Texas
March 07, 2007 - What can you tell me about Texas Blue Sedge? What its true name and culture requirements?
view the full question and answer
ID for Caribbean mystery plants.
January 13, 2016 - I AM TRYING TO FIND THE COMMON NAME FOR TWO FLOWERS I TOOK PICTURES OF ON A CARIBBEAN CRUISE. I TOOK ONE IN HONDURAS AND ONE IN GRAND CAYMAN. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHERE I CAN GO TO TO GET HELP IN ID...
view the full question and answer
Identification of Canopy Plant
December 01, 2008 - I recently adopted a large house plant from a neighbor who moved away. He called it a 'Canopy Plant', but I'm having no luck with that name when I search for care tips. It seems to be in poor healt...
view the full question and answer
Plant identification--Mock Orange
June 08, 2009 - I "grew up" with what I was told was a "Mockorange Bush." I've been looking around to be able to try to identify what variety it was. To be specific, the one that I am familiar with had little...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |