Native Plants
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Thursday - July 15, 2010
From: Jacksonville, OH
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Plant identification
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
I bought a double knock-out rose bush and planted it in my yard. A year later a weed-like plant started growing beside it. It has very thorny leaves, stems and stalk. Little purple flowers are growing from it. On some of the stems/branches there are three small watermelon looking pods growing. What could this be. The thorns are extremely strong and you can not pull it without some gloves. The stalk, stems, and leaves are all a solid light green. The pods look very much like "mini" watermelons. The flowers are a light purple with long petals that have not opened up yet - almost tear drop formed. What is this?ANSWER:
This sounds like a very interesting plant, but I don't recognize it just from your description. Please send us photos (flowers, fruits, leaves, stem, the entire plant) and we will do our best to identify it. For instructions on submitting photos for identification, please visit Mr. Smarty Plants' Plant Identification page.More Plant Identification Questions
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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.
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