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.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?

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.

Search Smarty Plants

See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

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.

rate this answer

Not Yet Rated

Monday - September 01, 2008

From: marble falls, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Identification
Title: Mystery plants at Marble Falls
Answered by: Joe Marcus

QUESTION:

On the upper end of Lake Marble Falls is a 2-3 foot tall green stemed plant just blooming small white daisy like flowers. There are no leaves on the plant just stems and now flowers. Any idea where to start to identify this plant? It is growing on the gravel bar, but not too close to the water. there is water just under the gravel at lake level. There is also another plant which has appeared since the '98 flood and is quite invasive. it has leaves like a mimosa (larger) and now a tiny little orange flower which looks much like a single snap dragon. This plant grows very fast from seed - it is now 6-10 feet tall. It's not in my flower books. thanks for any help you provide

ANSWER:

Unfortunately, we cannot identify your plants from the description given. Usually, however, we can identify mystery plants from good digital images.

Please follow the instructions below to get help with a plant ID?

1. Tell us where and when you found the plant and describe the site where it occurred.

2. Take several high resolution images including details of leaves, stems, flowers, fruit, and the overall plant.

3. Save images in JPEG format.