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)
Sunday - June 17, 2012
From: St. Augustine, FL
Region: Southeast
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Identity of garlic-like plant in Florida
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
Please tell me what this plant is. It is not Society Garlic and it is not Meadow Garlic. It has THREE curling purple leaves and lots of bulbs flowering from the same stalk. The pointy leaves are edged with purple when young. How do I send a photo? Thanks!ANSWER:
About the only North American native plant I can come up with from your description is Allium tricoccum (Ramp). The leaves themselves aren't purple, but the stems are maroon or purple. Here are more photos and information from The Forager Press, Illinois Wildflowers, and Connecticut Wildflowers. It is entirely possible it is an introduced non-native plant but our expertise and focus at the Wildflower Center are with plants native to North America.
I am sorry but we no longer accept photos of plants for identification. We don't have the number of staff or volunteers to keep up with the overwhelming volume of photos we received. As you can read on our Plant Identification page:
"We would love to spend all day identifying native plants for you folks! However, we already spend all day (and most of the night) answering your native plant questions. Luckily, there are some excellent forums available to help you identify those mysterious unknowns."
You can find links on our Plant identification page to those plant identification forums that will accept your photos for identification.
More Plant Identification Questions
Plant identification
September 30, 2010 - My husband brought home a plant which I have not been able to id. It is a bush, has 2 ovate to ellipse leaves, whorled, with 4 (2 pairs) smooth thin skinned (you can see white veins under the skin rad...
view the full question and answer
Plant identification
June 25, 2008 - Identification of woodland plant in a rual area ?
we have bears britches and another plant simaler, but the leaves are flat and smooth, each leaf is on a seperate stalk and each plant has 3 stalk...
view the full question and answer
Dyes from native North American plants
November 29, 2012 - Dear Mr. Smarty Plants,
I have been working as a textile designer for many years and am now interested in harvesting native North American plants in order to create natural dyes.
Which plant ...
view the full question and answer
Plant identification
July 29, 2008 - I have found what resembles a gooseberry growing from what appears to be a grapevine trellising on a fence beside a lake in East Texas. The stems are smooth and slender, nad as I stated before vine up...
view the full question and answer
Summer fragrance from Naples FL
June 07, 2011 - Ever since I was a little girl growing up in Naples, Florida, there has been something that blooms in the summer. I smell this every day into the evening and it isn't a flowery fragrance, it was a li...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |