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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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

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Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

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Thursday - February 03, 2011

From: Richfield, MN
Region: Midwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Houseplant identification.
Answered by: Joe Marcus

QUESTION:

Please help me identify a houseplant that flowers a yellow flower at the base of plant. Its leaves are narrow, pointed and green on the topside and burgundy with small hairs on the underside of the leaves.

ANSWER:

We love helping people identify their native plants when we can, but it's difficult at best to identify most plant by a written description. Since very few houseplants are North American natives, your mystery plant is almost certainly outside our area of study and expertise anyway.