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.
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All Questions and Answers
Recently Answered Questions
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- Question
- Hi! I found this Symphyotrichum in a dry, open clearing in South Hamilton, MA (surrounded by low blueberry bushes and tufts of bluestem). It doesn't clearly resemble any of our species to my eye. I eventually decided that it could be S. pilosum var. pringlei, the variety without long hairs on the stem, but the bracts are unconvincing. They don't look like the bracts of S. pilosum var. pilosum I've keyed out. I'd love to hear your opinion.
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- Dear chickenparmesan24, good afternoon. This does not look like Symphyotrichum pilosum to me. The copiously bracteate branches and broad, relatively short green tip on the involucral bracts reminds me of Symphyotrichum dumosum (bush American-aster). The bracteal leaves are a bit larger than I normally observe, but I'm not certain which other American-aster this could be with the morphology captured in your images. Best wishes. (Friday, 16 October 2026)
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- Dear Botanist, I found this plant growing in a high-voltage right-of-way in Burlington MA. The surrounding plants are typical of full-sun, poor soil, and fairly dry. The developing (long and thin) seed pods remind me of Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa), and the plant oozed a white latex when broken. Could you please identify? The pictures were taken on Aug 22, 2026.
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- Dear stephan, good morning. The plant you have photographed is Apocynum androsaemifolium (spreading dogbane). It is a native member of the dogbane family and can be quite common in open, dry soils. Best wishes. (Friday, 16 October 2026)
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- In Cabot Vermont, I have a fairly large area with many Ladies Tresses plants. The soil is fairly acidic, as 12 years ago it was host to Balsam Fir. I am trying to determine if I also have the less common yellow ladies tresses mixed in with the nodding ladies tresses. Thank you for your help.
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- Dear radirlam, the orchid that you have photographed appears to be Spiranthes ochroleuca (yellow ladies’-tresses). The yellow labellum is a good indicator--not merely the adaxial (i.e., top surface), but rather the yellow color on the abaxial (i.e., lower) surface of the labellum. Best wishes. (Friday, 16 October 2026)
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- after years of no hazelnut on my property i found a bush fruiting on my property line. How do i start another one? do they reproduce from seed?
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- Dear mistertippy, helo and good morning. Hazelnuts do produce fruits (our native species have fruits that taste just like the cultivated hazelnut, they are just a bit smaller). These can be planted. However, most time hazelnut fruits are eaten before maturity by gray and red squirrels because they are not abundant in this part of the world. Your best bet might be to gather them (the fruits) in nearby environments and plant them on the property to start more. Hazelnuts are fairly tolerant of shade, as they typically grow in the understory, but flower and fruit more prolifically with some sun. I hope this is helpful information. (Friday, 16 October 2026)
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- This plant has come up in West Arlington VT, in an area converted a bit more than a year ago from thin, shady lawn by means of cardboard, spoiled hay, and cedar mulch. I have planted native perennials in the bed, and they are doing well. This plant has just appeared. Picture this says it is creeping snowberry, but I know that cannot be. Inaturalist just says it issa monocit. I fear it is lonicera morrowii and want to get it up if I’m right. Can anyone here help with identification?
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- Dear carolyn, good morning. I can't tell you who this is exactly, but what I can write it that the simple, opposite, and entire leaves with the type of venation displayed suggests this is a species of Lonicera (honeysuckle). The plants are too young for me to offer an identification beyond that. I hope this is helpful and gets you started with you study and decision about removal. Best wishes. (Friday, 16 October 2026)
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- Creeping buttercup? (Ranunculus repens). Growing in mid-coast Maine, dryish, sandyish, shady. I planted Troillius there a long time ago and assumed that's what it was b/c of the dense layered flowers, even though the flowers now are much smaller than what I planted. However, I recently noticed the clump was slowly expanding and I had a closer look. The leaves seem a dead ringer for R repens (tho also for Troillius - same genus), but the flowers are totally wrong. My plant apps say R repens.
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- Dear sweetferngarden, good morning. I agree with you that your plants are not a species of Trollius--that is a very different plant in the crowfoot family. The typical form of Ranunculus repens that is naturalized in New England has somewhat different leaves and has light-colored "water marks" in the sinuses of the leaflets. But, technical details suggest this could be Ranunculus repens (a cultivated form). Best wishes. (Friday, 16 October 2026)
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- I think I’ve found a swamp rose-mallow in Windham County CT. It hasn’t been reported here according to the I botany map.
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- Deaer farprof, good afternoon. It does appear you have found Muenchhusia moscheotos (swamp hardy-hibiscus). This species has been segregated from the genus Hibiscus based on results from the most recent phylogenetic study. I will add the occurrence to our range maps. Thank you for posting this. (Friday, 28 August 2026)
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- Is this Tall Blue Lettuce? I haven't planted this and a plant app suggested that id. Location is the Narrow River Valley in RI. We've usually left the small front yard go wild this thing is giant and researching if it was edible or useful lead me here.
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- Dear GardenClubRI, good afternoon. The plant you have photographed looks like Lactuca biennis (tall blue lettuce). This is a native member of the composite family. It should have white latex (not tan) if a leaf is broken. This species is quite bitter and not typically used for food (but is used for medicine). If it flowers, the flower heads almost always have blue ray flowers. I hope you are well. (Friday, 28 August 2026)
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- Wondering which species of sunflower this is. Found in a woods/savanna partial sun environment under a tree in a patch of others of the same species. Leaves are along the entire stem. The stem was mostly hairless, but there were some small, sparse hairs along the stem closer to the flower head. I'm having trouble uploading more than one image so this is the best I have.
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- Dear berlin83, I would need to know where this plant was photographed to give you a confident answer. As well, I would need more images that include the leaves and the bracts around the flower heads. That written, this does appear to be a species of Helianthus and if it were found in the northeast I would compare it to Helianthus divaricatus (woodland sunflower) based on what I can observe in the image. Best wishes. (Friday, 28 August 2026)
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- Grows in floodplain, wetlands along Contoocook River in SW Central New Hampshire. Leaves are 12 to 18 inches long. Picture taken on July 24th, 2026. Similar to skunk cabbage but much larger. I have never seen this plant before. Any suggestions ?
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- Dear fogeorge, good morning. The plant with larger leaves that are borne from the ground is Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk-cabbage). If you have torn on the leaves and smelled it, it would produce a very rank odor. Best wishes. (Friday, 28 August 2026)
