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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- 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)
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- Hi this plant is a surprise that I found growing in my garden. To me, the seed pod looks very much like some kind of Poppy, but I've never planted anything like that before. The stems are velvety, and when I broke off a leaf, I found no milky latex. The attached pictures were taken yesterday in Reading MA.
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- Dear Stephan, you have photographed Abutilon theophrasti (velvet-leaf Indian-mallow). This is a common weed of agricultural areas and gardens. It belongs to the Malvaceae (mallow family), which explains the lack of latex in the sap. Best wishes. (Friday, 28 August 2026)
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- Hi! I've been working on a long term manual eradication of Celastrus orbiculatus on my mom's property. There is one area with vines whose leaves are distinctly different than the other bittersweet. Based on the little I know about Celastrus scandens, I don't believe that's what I'm seeing, but both Plantnet and iNaturalist ID it as such. Based on this picture, can you help? (I have additional photos but can only upload one.)
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- Dear JLMASON, good morning. It is very difficult to identify species of Celastrus from leaves alone (i.e., I would not accept the identifications with confidence that you have received from those platforms). Unfortunately, I do need more images to assist. Perhaps you could send them to my email (ahaines@nativeplanttrust.org) and I could see if a confident identification can be produced. Best wishes. (Friday, 28 August 2026)
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- what is the name of this flower.. with toothed petals... in Canada
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- Dear Lisette, good morning. You have photographed a composite in the group of plants related to lettuce, chicory, and dandelions. It looks like it could be a member of the king-devil (Pilosella) or hawkweed (Hieracium) genera, but there isn't enough of the plant photographed for me to tell for certain. Hopefully knowing the group might get you closer to an answer. Best wishes. (Friday, 28 August 2026)
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- Picture This says this is purple-leaved willow herb, epilobium coloratum. Do you agree? It has come up as a weed in my garden in Bennington County, VT.
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- Dear Carolyn, good morning. You certainly have photographed a species of Epilobium (willow-herb), but it is not possible to tell you which species you have gathered from the images provided. Epilobium ciliatum (fringed willow-herb) is much more common in New England and looks macroscopically like E. coloratum. I would need to see flower buds and the color of the hairs on the seeds to give you a confident answer (something that Picture This needs as well). Best wishes. (Friday, 28 August 2026)
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- Can anyone tell me what plant this is ? I have never seen it in the past and it is rare for me to be unable to ID any plant species located in my region. It is in the mountains of Washington, New Hampshire at an elevation of about 1900 feet. The land was heavily logged about 15 years ago. Possibly a plant at a stage that I have never seen...
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- Dear fogeorge, this woody plant is Diervilla lonicera (bush-honeysuckle), a native plant that occasionally ascends to considerable elevation. It produces the interesting primarily yellow flowers that you observed in this image. Best wishes. (Tuesday, 23 June 2026)
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- Can you help with identification? We came across several of these white “tendrils” on the forest floor in West Haven, VT. They broke easily and we were able to carefully dig up the underground base of one, which had a root-like structure. The other end of the tendrils, which terminated in a bulb-like shape, extended into the soil.
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- Dear mmchugh, good morning. They look like the bulbs and underground stems of Erythronium americanum (American trout-lily) or a similar spring ephemeral species. These plants have already senesced and will be dormant until next spring. Best wishes. (Tuesday, 23 June 2026)
