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)
Thursday - December 01, 2011
From: Sunny Isles Beach, FL
Region: Southeast
Topic: Plant Identification, Vines
Title: Florida hanging vine with occasional red tongue-like leaves
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
I live in south Florida and I used to grow a hanging vine that had green slender leaves and an occasional red leaf that looked like a tongue that protruded horizontally from the plant. do you know what the plant is?ANSWER:
Our focus and expertise here at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is with plants that are native to North America. You can search in our Native Plant Database for a native vine that looks like your description by doing a COMBINATION SEARCH choosing "Florida" in the Select State or Province slot and "Vine" in Habit (general appearance). This will give you a list (with photos) of more than 70 vines native to Florida. Looking through the list I didn't find a vine that matched your description but you should try the search yourself to see if you find one.
South Florida is home to many introduced tropical plants so my guess is that your vine is one of those. You can look through the following sites to see if you recognize your vine. Some of these pages include both native and introduced vines.
- Wild Florida Vines
- About Vines–Florida Vines
- Flowering Vines for Florida from the University of Florida IFAS Service. Here is one from that list, Gloriosa rothschildiana, Gloriosa lily, that looks a little like your description. You can see photos of the others by copying and pasting their scientific names in the Google Images search window.
If you don't find your vine in one of the databases above and you have a photograph of it, you can visit our Plant Identification page to find a links to plant identification forums that accept photos for identification.
More Plant Identification Questions
Identification of shrub with purple flowers in Las Vegas, Nevada
July 13, 2011 - Large purple flower shrub, flowers are on long stems. Round flowers with green leaves on the stalks, used as front yard landscaping in a new house in Las Vegas NV. Very drought tolerant, shrub grows ...
view the full question and answer
What is Carolina Jessamine in San Antonio?
July 24, 2009 - Okay, so if Gelsemium sempervirens is the one photographed by Joe Marcus in the "Explore Plants" section, then what is the actual name of the plant that is in every other yard in San Antonio, widely...
view the full question and answer
Identification of perennial with dark red/purple flowers
November 17, 2011 - Need to identify a lovely perennial here in Norfolk, Virginia. It reseeds itself, spreads, and lingers into the late fall. It has rather thick, dark green, alternate spatulate leaves at the base wit...
view the full question and answer
What is the correct genus name for Fringe flower in North Myrtle Beach, SC?
September 14, 2010 - Is it Laura Pedlum or lorapetalum? I saw this shrub last week, and finally found a picture of it. The search engine listed about three different names for it! So what is the correct name, and does i...
view the full question and answer
Weed identification
February 27, 2012 - Weeds / Wildflower. I dream of a photo identification for weeds / wildflowers that pop up in my garden here in Austin, Texas. Maybe I don't want to pull them up. How do I know? Do you know of a b...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |