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Turritis glabra
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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.
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Recently answered questions
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- Question
- These images are from a tree I bought about 10-15 years ago from NPT labeled as Red Mulberry. I have read the description on GoBotany about how to differentiate from white mulberry but cannot see the expected stiff, flattened hairs on the leaf blades or anything that seems "scabrous." Elsewhere when I have looked at pictures of red mulberry I sometimes see very elaborately shaped leaves with deep lobes and there is nothing like that on my tree. Maybe actually a white mulberry or a hybrid?
- Answer
- Dear Barbara, good afternoon. Identifying Morus species from photographs is really difficult. If you could just press 2 or 3 leaves within a heavy book and mail me the leaves, I could assist you. My email as ahaines@nativeplanttrust.org if you want to discuss further. Best wishes. (Friday, 19 September 2025)
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- Question
- I found a few of these unusually colored (and shaped) leaves growing on a bog rosemary shrub (Andromeda polifolia) along Big Brook on Big Lake, Washington county, ME on June 26, 2025. I thought it might be some kind of hemiparasite, but am coming up emptyhanded. Toadflax has come up, but the leaves on my sample are distinctly pink only. The flowers/fruits that I see appear to belong to the bog rosemary Any direction you can point me in would be greatly appreciated, Debbie.
- Answer
- Dear Debbie, good morning. I have seen such leaves before on members of the heath family, but I have not yet identified why they are this way. I have always assumed that there may be some type of infection (microorganism), but I am not certain of this. I will pass along to you what causes this if I encounter an answer. Best wishes. (Monday, 28 July 2025)
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- Question
- I just posted a series of pictures of my purple milkweed. I am fortunate to have at least 3 healthy, large seed pods in development. My questions for you are these: 1. When should I separate the seedpod from the host plant? 2. When should I remove the individual seeds from each seed pod? 3. Once removed, separated and dried, what is the best technique to overwinter the seeds limiting mold risk but not having them dry out completely. Appreciate any and all advice. Gary
- Answer
- Dear Gary, good morning. I need more background/context to answer your question. Perhaps you could contact me at ahaines@nativeplanttrust.org to initiate a conversation about the beautiful milkweed plants that you have posted images of. Looking forward to connecting more about the seed collection. Best wishes. (Monday, 28 July 2025)
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