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.
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Sunday - April 26, 2009
From: Greenwell Springs, LA
Region: Southeast
Topic: Non-Natives
Title: Thorns on non-native orange trees in Greenwell Springs, LA
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
Navel orange tree has thorns, why is this?ANSWER:
The orange (Citrus sinensis) is a hybrid, possibly of pomelo (Citrus maximus) and tangerine (Citrus reticulata); it originated in Southeast Asia. As such, it is out of our area of expertise at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, where we concentrate solely on plants native not only to North America but to the area in which they are being grown. This Floridata website, Citrus Sinensis, has more information, and specifically says, "The twigs on many orange cultivars are thorny."More Non-Natives Questions
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I am finding holes in some of the leaves, Some just have notches chewed out of them. Some of the leaves have...
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Failure to thrive of non-native Buddleja davidii
June 30, 2008 - I love butterfly bushes - but have bad luck growing them. I now have several, including Butterfly Nanho Purple; and they constantly wilt. It has been a dry hot Austin summer, but should I water when...
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October 14, 2014 - Are Kousa dogwood berries toxic to dogs?
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Plant Identification from Honolulu HI
April 24, 2014 - We have a ground cover in our Honolulu garden that I have been told is Watermelon Plant. (Not the fruit). We would like more, but cannot find it or the proper name for it. Aprox. 6" round leaf. It...
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Strange produce from non-native lemon seed in Houma LA
April 03, 2010 - I grow a lemon tree from a seed. I grafted it from the same tree a year or so later. It is 15 years old and it only produce one year. The question is, the year it produce, the fruit was a pink grap...
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