PlantShare
Sign up for PlantShare!
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 Get Started
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
- I split this bulb when digging in the garden (Framingham, MA). It is much harder than bulbs like daffodils. Do you know what it is? Thanks for any info. Elin
- Answer
- Dear elin, good morning. I'm sorry I can't help you with your question. Go Botany is a website dedicated to wild plant of New England. While we are happy to entertain any plant-related questions, some cultivated species our outside of our realm of expertise. Best wishes. (Tuesday, 22 October 2019)
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- Question
- there are large patches of this plant in my yard, is it a stinging nettle and would it be edible, the leaf has a hairy needle's. my location is Norwich, ct. I hope you can give me identification on my back yard. there beautiful. thanks row
- Answer
- Dear Row, good morning. You have photographed a species of Pilosella (king-devil), species of composites that are often included in the hawkweed genus (Hieracium). These are not stinging-nettle (sorry), but are quite common on many open lawns. In the early growing season next year you will see there yellow (or orange) flower heads. (Tuesday, 22 October 2019)
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- Question
- Here's an aster (Symphyotrichum). It's about 3' tall, no basal foliage to speak of. The smooth foliage is stemless but doesn't clasp the stem. The white rays are about 3/8" long. Earlier in the month the rays were more toward pale, pale lavender. What do you think it might be?
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- Dear JuliaB, good morning. As best I can tell, it is likely Symphyotrichum lanceolatum (lance-leaved American-aster), a common, native species that can occupy a wide variety of open habitats. Best wishes. (Thursday, 17 October 2019)
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