| Subject | Date Asked |
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| Pears vs. apples vs. peaches in the wild | 8/19/2009 |
Q: and enjoy foraging. I have had wild pears pointed out to me by an expert, and find it hard to tell ...
A: Though they are similar looking, differentiating pears from apples is easy with practice. For one ...
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| purple passion plant | 8/11/2009 |
Q: I have a beautiful purple passion as long as its out side. it can't stay out all the time,I live in ...
A: If you are using a general purpose potting soil, I doubt that's the problem. Roots are often ...
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| importance of trees | 8/7/2009 |
Q: I have problems with this question "Consider the importance of trees." i)Can you give some clear ...
A: This is a rather vague question, but I'll try to answer. Trees are important for a number of ...
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| Toad stool in Prayer Plant | 8/3/2009 |
Q: This toad stool popped up in my prayer plant. It is exquisite, but don't know how it got there. This ...
A: I don't know the species of mushroom, but I can tell you how it got there. Fungi reproduce by ...
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| Bush-like begonias... I think | 7/16/2009 |
Q: I hope you can help, or direct me to someone who can. My mother (who passed away over a year ago) ...
A: I'm not sure exactly what kind of plants you have, but here are some general guidelines for ...
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| spiders on butterfly bush | 7/3/2009 |
Q: My butterfly bush was blooming beautifully until recently. It started to looked stressed. When I ...
A: Sounds like you have spider mites, not true spiders, but they are arachnids. I have seen them on ...
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| Fruits | 6/15/2009 |
Q: Why is the fruit of a tree/plant sweet (or of any other taste) in taste?
A: Plants have various ways to disperse their seeds. There is an evolutionary advantage to sending ...
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| Unknown fruit tree? | 4/27/2009 |
Q: I live in the south central part of Oklahoma. We recently bought a house out in the country and we ...
A: Well, you are correct that it is a member of the genus Prunus, which includes peach, cherry, plum, ...
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| repeat w/ pix | 4/10/2009 |
Q: Perennial grows by the pond in full shade, but seems to tolerate a lot of dryness. Leaves get about ...
A: That looks like hollyhocks, but I'm not sure without seeing the flowers. Did you maybe mean 8 feet ...
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| What plant? woody, black berries, kind of grows like a vine | 3/31/2009 |
Q: Help! Evergreen - didnt drop leaves in fall or winter, has clusters of black berries...
A: That is eniglish ivy, Hedera helix. The picture you sent is of the adult folliage. English ivy ...
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| indentifying a houseplant | 3/19/2009 |
Q: I have this houseplant. I think it is a succulent. it used to grow little baby plants on its ...
A: I bet what you have is called a Mother of Thousands, a pretty common succulent, but I can't be sure ...
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| unknown bulb | 3/3/2009 |
Q: Trey We moved into a new house and have some bulbs blooming right now that I am unfamilier with. ...
A: I can't be sure without a picture, but Hyacinths can be purple, and are blooming now in Alabama ...
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| What is the plant? | 3/3/2009 |
Q: Just moved into a new house with this strange looking plant in the back garden. I have young ...
A: I wouldn't think that Dracaenas grow outdoors in Dublin, as they are damaged at temperatures under ...
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| IDENTIFYING BRIAR PLANT | 2/10/2009 |
Q: WE HAVE A GREEN STEMMED PLANT WITH RAZOR SHARP BRIARS THAT GROWS THICK ALONG A CREEK ON OUR PROPERTY ...
A: My only guess is a trifoliate orange, a non-edible, cold hardy orange used as a root-stock for other ...
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| Unidentified dying object | 2/8/2009 |
Q: Can you please help me ID this tree-like houseplant? I rescued it from an interior bathroom at my ...
A: That is Dracaena marginata, refered to as a "Madagascar dragon tree" in some texts. I don't know ...
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| idenyify my plant!?! PLEASE | 2/4/2009 |
Q: I've been on an on going unsuccessful search for the name and species of this plant. It is believed ...
A: That looks like a Plumeria to me. Have you seen it flower? It obviously has flowered if you have ...
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| Orchid? | 1/30/2009 |
Q: I live in Louisiana, and have this wonderful little plant growing at the base of an oak tree. Long ...
A: It does look and smell like an orchid, doesn't it? This is actually Neomarica gracilis, also called ...
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| Plants + coffee | 1/17/2009 |
Q: For a science fair project, I decided to see the affects on plants watered with coffee compared to ...
A: The coffee bean is a seed, and so it must contain every nutrient that a plant needs to live, which ...
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| Wild Flower/Bulb | 1/15/2009 |
Q: I live in the Cote d'Azur South France. I saw these flowers in a group, next to a stone wall under ...
A: I don't know the specific species, but I can tell you that the plant is a member of the family ...
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| Unknown tree-like plant | 1/14/2009 |
Q: A year ago I received a tree-like plant as a gift. I have never been able to figure out what it is, ...
A: It's not the best picture, but I'm pretty sure what you have is Yucca elephantipes, a tropical ...
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| truffles | 1/8/2009 |
Q: The truffle (the part you eat) does not rise above ground to spread its spores. What is its function ...
A: Truffles are fungi, not plants, but I happen to know a little about them. The part you eat is the ...
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| crassula? | 1/6/2009 |
Q: OK, this is a succulent of some kind. It has tight stacked square chubby very green leaves; they are ...
A: There are dozens of plants in the genus Crassula, and hundreds in the crassulaceae family, so I have ...
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| unknown plant | 1/5/2009 |
Q: not sure what this is this was given to me 2 years ago this year it started blooming flower ...
A: Plant food sticks are fertilizer. If you go to buy some other product, any water soluble fertilizer ...
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| aeonium | 1/5/2009 |
Q: I have some type of aeonium succulent - I have google searched images but two different types of ...
A: Probably the differences you see in the picture are different varieties of the species. It is also ...
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| corn plant | 12/30/2008 |
Q: I've had this "corn" plant indoors for a good time then decided to put it outdoors. It's been doing ...
A: That doesn't sound like the plant that is usually called a "corn plant" which is a kind of dracaena, ...
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| Tree Identification | 12/18/2008 |
Q: I live in Southern California and we have large trees growing on our fence line that produce red ...
A: I'm not sure what kind of trees you have, but yes, you can prune the trees soon after they flower to ...
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| wild vine with berries | 12/1/2008 |
Q: A coworker has a vine growing in her hedge. It has leaves that look similar to a grape leaf. The odd ...
A: Sounds like you have a Porcelain vine, which is an invasive weed in some parts of the country. Take ...
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| The care of a "Double" bloom Hybiscus | 11/20/2008 |
Q: I recently was given this 6 ft. double bloom hibiscus tree in September. The person that gave it to ...
A: Sounds like you have a tropical Hibiscus species. It will not withstand freezing temperatures, i.e. ...
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| Passionvine Help | 11/19/2008 |
Q: My name is Teddy Kesting-Handly and I'm an expert in the entomology category. My question is ...
A: I'm a bit confused by your question. You call it a "Passion Vine" and I'm pretty sure that's what ...
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| Identifying tree | 11/14/2008 |
Q: We have a tree in our backyard that I have been trying to identify. I have searched the internet. My ...
A: That looks like a catalpa to me. A similar looking tree is a Paulonia, or empress tree, which is a ...
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| HELP! Plant ID? | 10/30/2008 |
Q: I received 4 plants as a gift from my neighbor who is moving away. I have cats, and I am worried if ...
A: big plant: Peace lilly, Spathiphyllum sp. I don't think its poisonous. medium plant: this is a ...
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| unknown plant | 10/27/2008 |
Q: Several years ago I purchased a plant in NC. Nursery staff thought it was called Devil's walking ...
A: Based on your description, it sounds like what you have is indeed a devil's walking stick, or ...
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| Unknown small tree plant is dying | 10/23/2008 |
Q: I bought a small indoor tree plant over the summer and named him Harry. He has very long, thin ...
A: That's a Dracaena marginata, sometimes called a dragon tree, but most plant people just call it a ...
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| Unusual Fruit? | 10/20/2008 |
Q: When traveling from Nashville to Columbia SC, we stopped by a dam and spotted a tree that had a very ...
A: I'm pretty sure what you saw was a Maclura pomifera, or Osage orange (not really an orange). You ...
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| wild vine identification | 10/12/2008 |
Q: I live in East Central Alabama and just came across a wild vine I have never seen. It has ...
A: Not really sure without a picture, but it sounds like a porcelain vine. Check out the image search ...
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| Transpiration | 10/9/2008 |
Q: I am currently working on a science fair project involving the transpiration rate of plants. I was ...
A: If I understand right, the leaf stem (petiole) will be placed in water and clay will be packed ...
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| What is this plant? | 10/4/2008 |
Q: I found this 'berry plant' growing in a partially cleared area on my property. I had noticed it when ...
A: The picture is a little fuzzy, but I'm pretty sure that's what we in the south call a polk weed, or ...
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| what is this plant | 9/27/2008 |
Q: what kind of plant is this? All I know is that it does quite well in partial shade and that it is ...
A: That's a mandavilla, a tropical vine. It blooms portportional to how much light it gets. Since it ...
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| Going for Grey | 9/26/2008 |
Q: Are there any plants that have grey flowers?
A: The only ones that come to mind are certain bromeliads, which have an inflorescence that is pink and ...
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| unidentified plant | 9/25/2008 |
Q: We have this great potted plant in our office, and I love it and want to buy some for my home, but I ...
A: I am fairly certain that is a type of Croton, though I have never seen one exactly like that. There ...
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| Unidentified flower | 9/25/2008 |
Q: I saw the attached flowers in a garden in Spain last week,and photographed the sample pot that I got ...
A: Hey, it occured to me why you were confused by my answer. Your picture is of Portulaca oleracea, ...
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| unknown flower | 9/24/2008 |
Q: This flower appeared in our backyard after Hurricane IKE. I have not been able to identity it. I ...
A: Here in Alabama, that's called a Surprise Lilly, though there are other plants that are called that ...
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| Bamboo | 9/23/2008 |
Q: What are the kind they sell everywhere in bunches growing in just water and pebbles? Will they ...
A: That plant isn't a real bamboo, but a species of Dracaena, a genus that contains a number of popular ...
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| royal poinciana tree.. | 9/17/2008 |
Q: we saw some beautiful flowering trees in Key West, Fl. red/orange flowers in the top, very tropical ...
A: I am not as familiar with the tropical plants of south florida as with those of the temperate areas, ...
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| spiky seed pod in Kentucky | 9/17/2008 |
Q: I have looked over the internet for this for hours. The seed pod that i've found has green spikes ...
A: I'm pretty sure that what you have found is a Chinese Chestnut, Castanea mollisma, but I can't be ...
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| Unknown/blub platnt | 9/16/2008 |
Q: I was given some bulbs. so I planted them, well first came up a large stalk like spike about a foot ...
A: The only plant that comes to mind is hollyhock. Here is the wikipedia entry... ...
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