PlantShare
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As a member of PlantShare, you will be able to:
- Upload photos of plants to share with others
- Create checklists of plants you want to keep track of
- Publish the location of the plants you have seen on your own map
- Ask one of our expert botanists questions Sign Up
Sightings Locator
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.
Recently Answered Questions
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- Question
- Hello Dear Botonist, Firstly, how nice for you... Ageless! I am wondering if it is possible to tell what species this grass is. It is located on an island in Salem Sound, MA Thank you very much! SueLB
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- Dear SueLB, good morning. Grasses are very difficult to do from images, so please forgive the lack of certainty. The genus looks like Festuca (fescue), but it is hard for me to go any further without a specimen. Best wishes. (Monday, 6 December 2021)
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- I just received an answer to my question about a plant that materialized in my back yard in Wayland MA. Two people have identified it as a grass. The latest suggestion is sorghum bicolor which I think is very likely, but sorghum rarely grows in our climate. Where did it come from and what is its future? Is there a form of sorghum that does grow in the northeast?
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- Dear mabelde, good afternoon. I was the one who answered your question in the other format. Yes, Sorghum does grow in New England as an occasional escape from cultivation (even in Maine where I live I've seen it growing as a weed near agricultural feeds). I don't know where it came from, but it is likely to not continue growing at the site for long (the plants tend not to persist for long). Best wishes. (Wednesday, 1 December 2021)
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- Plant apps have given me an id of royal fern (Osmunda regalis) but to me this looks very different. Seen in October at Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary, Sharon, MA, in a wetland area. Is it just fresh growth or something different?
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- Dear lfarnitano, good afternoon. While a bit unusual, it does look like the fern Osmunda spectabilis (American royal fern). While identification apps frequently make mistakes, I think this one led you to the correct species. Best wishes. (Wednesday, 1 December 2021)
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