Ask a botanist...

Hi, Bob

Nice to meet you here. I am carrying out some research about Lepidium latifolium, I have noticed that it was recognized as an invasive plants in many states in the U.S.


Had you happen to collect some seeds of L. latifolium? I would appreciate very much if you could provide some seeds for me.

Sorry, if I am correct this plant grows pretty much everywhere in the united states except for the 1/4 I live in!

Bob Dobbs wrote:Either erigeron/conyza bonariensis or conyza/erigeron canadensis. If the leaves are slightly hairy, canadensis, if the leaves are smooth, bonariensis. I guess bonariensis, though I can't quite tell 100% from the photo.

Winter/summer annual, tough to get rid of, host for a true bug that attacks legumes, and presumably has a taproot.

Thank my wife/girlfriend for this.

Hi Bob, thanks for the response and sorry for the delay getting back to this. I believe the picture quality may have caused a misidentification. Here is another one with a full bloom and a closer look at the non hairy leaves. Asteracea family?

Got several botanists working on it right now.

We have a term for plants like these: DWC

means damned white composite.

Leaning more toward an aster right now.

Thank you for the better pictures.

We are leaning toward aster pilosus var demotus, or aster dumosus. Also called symphyotrichum (idiotic taxonomists.....)

That's as far as we can go with this one, composites are notoriously difficult to I.D, and doubly so from a picture.

Works for me! Thank you again. On to the next one, a sort of grass:

Hey Bob, what is the largest oak species in the world? What is the tallest oak species in the world?

#1- the grass looks like an aristida, almost an educated guess. Grasses are impossible to identify without the seedhead present and blooming. Could also be a poa, but I don't think it is. Both genus are quite variable.

Give it about 2 more weeks and take another picture, get a closeup picture of the spikelet (flowering part) if you can.

#2- I've heard quercus lobata is the largest, though it is based on anecdotal information.

Bob Dobbs wrote:#1- the grass looks like an aristida, almost an educated guess. Grasses are impossible to identify without the seedhead present and blooming. Could also be a poa, but I don't think it is. Both genus are quite variable.

Give it about 2 more weeks and take another picture, get a closeup picture of the spikelet (flowering part) if you can.

#2- I've heard quercus lobata is the largest, though it is based on anecdotal information.

Thanks Bob. I will go back and see what's developed out there on that grass. I thought the grasses would be tough. In the mean time here is the next one I have. I believe the seed heads here will tell a better tale.

So i know there are oxygenating plants for ponds and aquatic systems. Are there any land plants that "fix" oxygen into the soil?

Bob,
I have a tree I can't find on the Internet It may be some kind of Mountain Ash, but it is not the one with berries on it. It has perfectly round fruit, yellow with red blush, bigger than golf balls. The fruit appears evenly distributed all over the tree. The leaves resemble a locust. Some locusts have red or yellow beans, so I thought it might b some kind of locust. I haven't got a clue.
I was going to call an expert to look at it last year, but next day. all fruit was gone and I couldn't find leaves on the ground. Right now, the leaves are even gone -- looks like something ate the leaves too I did not see fruit this year either. I have to get binoculars to see it...it's about 40 feet tall, very skinny tree on the edge of forest. Kentucky6

Would love some help identifying these guys. Houston Texas disturbed high pH soil

The grass is all over and there is a seed head in the top right of the closeup.

and one more. This one is growing in very heavy compacted wet clay.

Thanks for the help.

First grass, red seedheads: tridens flavus

Secpnd grass, pretty sure it is an andropogon species

Yellow flower, coreopsis species
possibly will i.d species tomorrow.

Thank you Bob, very much

I have a few more:

Are fusiform initials parenchyma cells, collenchyma cells, or sclerenchyma cells?Do they have chloroplasts, chromoplasts, or proplastids?

Hi Bob- I have some nigella plants in my flower bed and I would like to know if they are nigella sativa or one of the other species. I would also like to know for sure whether or not the seeds on my particular flowers are edible. Thank you

How do I remove Heavy Metals from a Plant and the Coco ( soiless medium ) that it is growing in? The nutrients I bought were mixed wrong from the person who makes it and my plants almost died from leeching up heavy metals and I need to remove them ASAP. How do I do this?

my fiddle leaf has rust pinpoint spots on the leaves. even the new growth shows the spots.  i water about every 2 weeks.   i changes the soil to a moisture  control potting soil. What can I do?
Can they be outside ?

I just got a new kumquat tree plant from b&q and brown spots are appearing on fruit and leaves and now my leaves are curling up please
Help!

I found a microscopic plant growing in a porous rock. It has entangled roots, and it has entangled green needle black leaves kinda like medusa’s head. What is it? Has it been discovered yet?

Alan Chaffin wrote:I found a microscopic plant growing in a porous rock. It has entangled roots, and it has entangled green needle black leaves kinda like medusa’s head. What is it? Has it been discovered yet?

Please post some photos here and also upload to a site like inaturalist with details of the location that you found the plant.

Photos will be much easier to recognise than just a description.

Ideally, if you have location services turned on your phone, give the exact gps co ordinates.