Native Plants
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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.
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Friday - June 27, 2008
From: New Braunfels , TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: User Comments
Title: Plant database correct!
Answered by: Damon Waitt
QUESTION:
Wrong taxonomy for bald cypress tree family in your plant database?ANSWER:
Wrong may be too strong a word given that botanists are constantly reclassifying species based on new evidence. At one time the Taxodiaceae was regarded as a distinct plant family comprised of ten genera, including Taxodium spp. More recent research including genetic evidence supports the movement of all genera (with the exception of Sciadopitys) previously assigned to the Taxodiaceae into the family Cupressaceae. To learn more about the reclassification of the Genera belonging to the Taxodiaceae visit the Cupressaceae family description in The Gymnosperm Database. If you want to "really" learn more, read this article:Phylogenetic relationships in Taxodiaceae and Cupressaceae sensu stricto based on matK gene, chlL gene, trnL-trnF IGS region, andtrnL intron sequences
More User Comments Questions
Thank you Mr. Smarty Plants
January 28, 2009 - Hi, this is a note of thanks, powerful thanks, for your answer to my question about carolina laurel. Our disappointment was more than made up for by your recommendation to check out OSU's wonderful ...
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List of most popular wildflowers in Texas Hill Country from Austin
January 15, 2011 - Can you please tell me the top 10 wildflowers found in the Texas hill country..by numbers, not popularity?
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Authenticity of a vendor from Pensacola FL
December 26, 2012 - Can you verify the authenticity of Alex Jones as someone who can help us?
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Doggy berries
August 30, 2011 - I recently wrote to you regarding my Doggy ingesting some berries from a neighbors out of control fence line-falling onto our property. The answer you gave was 100 % correct! Despite my feeble attempt...
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Fast growing groundcover for New York
September 02, 2010 - Dear Mr. Smarty Plants,
I love your site! But I can't quite find this answer: can you recommend a fast-growing groundcover native to southern NY State (Dutchess County) that I can plant NOW (Augus...
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