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)
Tuesday - July 03, 2012
From: Shawano, WI
Region: Midwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Information about Rose Twisted-Stalk
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
Dear Mr.(?) Smarty Plants- I LOVE your name! I cannot find the plant I'm looking to identify in your collection. I saw it in a wildflower book as: Rose Twisted-Stalk. Spring blooming, little pink bell-shaped flowers then berries that go from green to red. But that book said the stem was hairy. The plant I have in my wooded yard seems identical except the stem is perfectly smooth-no hair. Could you help? THANK YOU!!!ANSWER:
Streptopus lanceolatus (Twistedstalk) is the plant listed in our Native Plant Database as "Rosy Twisted-stalk."
The information from eFloras, the online version of Flora of North America, for this plant says:
"Stems simple or occasionally branched, 1.5–4(–8) dm, glabrous, nodes sparsely pubescent-fringed."
"Glabrous" in our Glossary of Botanical Terms is defined as: smooth; hairless.
The nodes (where the leaves are connected to the stalk), being "sparsely pubescent", should have some small amount of soft hairs on them, but the stem itself is described as being smooth.
From the Image Gallery
More Plant Identification Questions
Plant identification
August 24, 2008 - Please help us identify a woodland plant whose fruiting stem looks very similar to a corncob stuck into the ground, pointy end up. It sticks up about 4-5" above the ground. The largish pale yellow fr...
view the full question and answer
Identification of Cercis canadensis or Cornus florida
July 03, 2007 - I have what I think is a dogwood tree of some sort but I'm not sure. I wondered if I sent you a picture you could identify it. So far no one has. It's different because of its branches. They are red...
view the full question and answer
Mystery fast-growing plant with the honeysuckle
April 05, 2010 - Mr. Smarty Plants,
We have a section of honeysuckle, then a section of this 4 foot, bright, hairy green leafed, thorn bush that seems to be blooming/growing faster than the honeysuckle. Then a sectio...
view the full question and answer
Identification of Sagittaria-like plant with purple flowers
July 21, 2011 - I have collected a wetland plant that I can't seem to identify. Its an emergent plant collected along with a species of sagittaria. Very similar in leaf structure to an sagittaria or alisima, but i...
view the full question and answer
Identification of shrub in South Carolina
December 12, 2011 - First, I'm in Iraq but trying to write a book and have a question on a plant that grows in South Carolina. All I can do is describe it. The bush is normally green but turns red, has large leaves, kin...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |