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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Monday - September 13, 2010

From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Non-Natives
Title: Non-native Meyer lemon not bearing fruit in Austin
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

I have had a meyer lemon for 9 years and it has never produced fruit. What do I do? It has beautiful leaves and thorns but no fruit. Thank you, Mr. Smarty Plants

ANSWER:

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is dedicated to the use, care and propagation of plants native not only to North America but to the area in which those plants are being grown. The Meyer lemon, citrux x mayheri, is native to China. The "x" between the two words represents a hybrid, which also puts it out of our realm of expertise. It is thought that it originated by crossing a true lemon and either a mandarin or common orange.

However, we found an excellent article on this plant from Washington State University on Meyer Lemon . Hopefully, it will answer your questions.