Ask the Botanist
Our ace botanists are here to help you identify wild New England plants and to answer questions about their ecology and conservation. When posting a question, please provide the location, habitat (e.g. river, mountain, woodland), and photographs of the plant.
Everyone can read the answers, but only logged-in users can ask questions. Log in to ask a question.
All Questions and Answers
Recently Answered Questions
-
- Question
- What is this? Southborough, Massachusetts. April 2023
- Answer
- Dear ejs50, good morning. At this point, I can't give you a confident answer. If I had images of the nodes (where the leaves attach to the stem) and closer images of the leaves to see the vein patterns, I might be able to give you an educated guess. Once it flowers, it will be much easier to identify. I'm sorry I can't assist you from the image you provided. Best wishes. (Monday, 1 May 2023)
-
- Question
- I think I found field Speedwell in the floodplain of a stream in Atlanta,GA. This website doesn't have any reports of it here so I wanted to make sure.
- Answer
- Dear Kipplandscape, good morning. There are no images associated with your question. Without them, I can't assist you. If you are having difficulty uploading images, please feel free to attach them to an email and send them to ahaines@nativeplanttrust.org. I will try to do my best, but you are out of my region of expertise. Best wishes. (Monday, 1 May 2023)
-
- Question
- Dear botanists, I have been able to consistently identify most of the plants I find with the dichotomous keys on this site, except for one group in which I am hopeless: grass. I believe the grass depicted in the attached photos is Anthoxanthum nitens, but I would appreciate if you could confirm. Location: Warren, RI. Habitat: Saltmarsh (most specimens growing directly out of the water, it seemed). Thanks in advance, Tyler
- Answer
- Dear Tyler, good morning. There are no images associated with your question. Without them, I can't assist you. If you are having difficulty uploading images, please feel free to attach them to an email and send them to ahaines@nativeplanttrust.org. Best wishes. (Monday, 1 May 2023)
-
- Question
- What is this?
- Answer
- Good afternoon. These look like the expanding leaves of a species of Juglans (walnut). I can't tell you more without knowing the location of this plant and learning if it is wild or cultivated. Best wishes. (Thursday, 27 April 2023)
-
- Question
- are these fiddle heads?
- Answer
- Dear Delphinia, yes, they are. Be aware that essentially fern in the northeastern US has a fiddlehead stage where the leaves unfurl as they expand (the fiddlehead, or crozier, is the young stage of the leaf). So, even inedible or somewhat toxic ferns have fiddleheads. This one appears to be Matteuccia struthiopteris (ostrich fern), which is one that is prized for its edible fiddleheads. (Thursday, 27 April 2023)
-
- Question
- If there are edible & medicinal plants on the side of the road. But are contaminated from exhaust, oil & fuel in the soil. Can planting 1 or more generations of it's seeds remove the contaminate? If so how many times? I'm interested in getting medicinal plants. Thank you,
- Answer
- Dear Neptune769, good morning. The question you have raised is a good one. The lead contamination in roadside plants is well-known and there is a gradient that exists--less lead with distance from road. I am guessing that a single generation of growing seeds away from this source of contamination (from when vehicles used leaded fuels) would do much (tremendously) to reduce any lead content of the overall plant and the parts you would consume for food or medicine. Best wishes. (Thursday, 27 April 2023)
-
- Question
- Trillium ? Merrimack NH
- Answer
- Good morning Paul, Beautiful images. I am going to send some of the images you have emailed me to my friends in the southeastern United States (in the native range of the species I believe this to be) and get there opinion. Thank you again for all the work you have done. Best wishes. (Thursday, 27 April 2023)
-
- Question
- I bought some May Apple in a yard sale last year and forgot about it. this year in my pile of soil I dump the previous year's pots into i noted some lovely May Apple growing. Can it be moved after blooming? Does it tolerate transplant well? Where should it be transferred to? I have some deciduous/pine woods where Jack in the pulpit and cultivated Trout Lily grows happily,,,will it go dormant right after flowering? I 'm thinking of moving my dirt pile so it can stay where it is.
- Answer
- Dear szalbrowska, good morning to you. Mayapples perennate by an underground stem called a rhizome. As a result, they generally transplant reasonably well if they are moved carefully. They are a species that like rich, moist soils (similar to trout-lily). Typically, these soils would be found under the canopy of deciduous trees like sugar maple, linden, and white ash (among others). The leaves will persist most of the year (they do not senesce early). Best wishes. (Tuesday, 25 April 2023)
-
- Question
- What is this in Merrimack NH
- Answer
- Dear PGB, I've sent you an email about your find (from ahaines@nativeplanttrust.org). I would like to learn more about what you have found. Best wishes. (Tuesday, 25 April 2023)
-
- Question
- What is this?Trillium? - Merrimack New Hampshire,woodland Thanks
- Answer
- Dear PGB, good morning. Yes, you have photographed a species of Trillium (wake-robin), but I can't tell you which species without more information (specifically, images of the flower). If you can carefully open the flower a bit and take photographs, I might be able to get an answer for you. By the way, this species of Trillium has not been recorded in New England before. Best wishes. (Tuesday, 25 April 2023)
