It's the most wonderful time of the year, and I'm part of the reason for that. When the Pilgrims landed the day before Christmas, they used me for decorations. I'm a long-lived, slow growing, evergreen native and grow all along the East Coast down to the Gulf of Mexico, but my natural habitat is being destroyed by poor conservation. I can grow at altitudes up to 4,000 feet in the Appalachian Mountains. My dense uniform shape with short horizontal branches makes me a fine specimen plant, but I'm also good as a hedge. I can maintain my conical shape if you don't remove my lower branches.

My bark can be light gray, thin and smooth, or it can be rough and warty. Deep green toothed leaves are the perfect foil for my bright red berries, which appear in winter. I'm dioecious, and only female plants produce berries. These berries provide food for song birds, game birds, and deer and other mammals. There must be a male plant nearby for fertilization to occur. Cold weather is usually not a problem. Plant me in my dormant period from November to February.

My pests include fungi, mildew, rust, leaf miners and scale (which is treated with two applications of horticultural oil ten days apart). If the pH of the soil is greater than 6.5, chlorosis may develop. An annual application of a slow-release fertilizer (12-12-12) will keep me happy.

Piano keys can be made from my white wood when it's dyed to resemble ebony. I'm also used for violin pegs and fingerboards. 
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
​.

Ilex opaca: American Holly, Christmas Holly.

In the fall, when spring and summer flowers are fading, I come into my own. Planted in the spring, I send up large, broad leaves which last all summer.

Snails and slugs are the bane of my existence. By September, my leaves turn brown and unsightly, only to be followed by chalice-shaped blossoms with 6 stamens.

​My colors range from pale pink to white, with some cultivars in shades of lilac to purple. Plant me four inches deep, six inches apart, in consistently moist soil, with a pH of 6.1 to 7.5. I am hardy to Zone 5.

​I'm propagated by division of my corms, which are highly toxic, as are my leaves and flowers. Deer and rodents will not eat me. In fact, in 1862, Catherine Wilson of England was hanged for the murder of a woman she had nursed, and had persuaded to change her will in Catherine's favor. Seven other people, and one or two husbands, died in similar circumstances. The poison used was made from me; however, I do have a legitimate use in patients with gout and Familial Mediterranean fever when properly prepared. 

​Do you know what plant am I?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Naked Ladies, Autumn crocus, or Meadow saffron 

​I'm the only palm tree native to continental Europe, and am happiest in a Mediterranean-type climate: cool, moist winters and summer drought. I'm hardy along the Gulf Coasts down to 20 degrees. Because I'm slow growing, I can be kept in containers on patios and sheltered courtyards, or as a house plant.

Suckers coming up from my base create a mounding mass of foliage about 6 feet wide, or the suckers may be removed to form a single stem. My fronds are stiff and fan-shaped and about 2 feet across. My petioles are about 3 feet long and slender and have rows of teeth, making me a little difficult to work around. My yellow flowers form deep in my fronds, and are unremarkable. When fully opened, my male and female flowers attract pollinators, the Derelomus weevil, with floral-like chemical compounds which are curiously released by my leaves and not by my flowers.

My ripe pulp smells strongly of rancid butter, and attracts badgers and foxes. The leaves of my adult plants have been used in basket weaving to make mats, carrier baskets, and brooms. My seeds are inedible for humans, but have been used in medicine as an astringent because of their bitterness and high tannin content.

​Due to my re-sprouting ability after fire, I have a high ecological value for preventing erosion and desertization. But my natural habitat is rapidly declining due to urbanization, and protective regulations have been instituted to prevent eradication. I'm also threatened by an introduced South American moth, Paysandisia archon
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Answer?
​Chamaerops humilis: Mediterranean or European Fan Palm

I'm a native perennial wildflower, 2 to 4 feet tall. In open areas, I branch out and have a bushy appearance. My leaves can be simple, opposite, whorled or alternate. My flowers are ½ to ¾ inches across, consisting of a tubular corolla with five widely spreading lobes. I have a very short calyx with five triangular teeth. My corolla is mostly pale blue and its lobes are narrow and starlike. My blooms appear from mid-spring to early summer and last for about a month. They are beautiful, but have no scent.

Each of my fertilized flowers are replaced by a pair of cylindrical follicles, which are four to five inches long. Each follicle contains a single row of small cylindrical seeds. By splitting along one side, I reseed myself. My root system consists of a tap root. I can grow in moderate sun to deep shade, and I like moist soil, making me ideal for rain gardens.

My flowers attract ruby-throated hummingbirds and long-tongued insects such as the large carpenter bees, hummingbird moths, and many butterflies. My foliage contains a white latex that is toxic to mammalian herbivores. I share this toxicity with one of my much larger cousins, the oleander.

​One of my relatives grows on the shady side of one of the log cabins at the Caroline Dorman Nature Preserve. Another colony exists in a wet meadow near the Lafayette Visitor's Center. I have no serious insect or disease problems. I am normally available only in native plant outlets, or as a pass-a-long plant through clump divisions and seeds.

Do you know what plant I am? 
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Amsonia tabernaemontana Eastern Bluestar, Dogbane

I'm a hardy native perennial of Europe, Africa and Asia. Because of my stalked heart-shaped leaves, the ancient Greeks considered me a symbol of love and fertility.

I make a good ground cover because I'm low-mounding and make long runners. My flowers appear in Spring and range from deep purple to pale lavender to white and are sweetly scented. They, as well as my leaves, are edible. My essential oil is used to make delicately scented perfume. Rock gardens, borders and naturalistic settings make happy homes for me.

​After blooming, I develop small seed pods which pop open when they turn brown, scattering my seeds up to six inches away. If they fall on loose, fertile, well-drained, slightly acidic soil, they easily take root, even to the point of becoming slightly invasive. But I'm so pretty, who cares?

Cake decorators often crystallize my flowers with sugar and use me to beautify wedding cakes.

Do you know what plant I am? 
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Viola odorata ( V. Canadensis ) Garden violet, Sweet violet

My home is in the Gila Desert of Arizona, southeastern California, and the Sonora Desert of Mexico. I'm the only species in my genus, and in 1933 a National Monument was named for me near Tucson.

​I'm so slow growing that two years after my seed is sown, I will have reached a height of only 3¼ inches. It takes me 30 years to reach three feet, but I can live for 200 years and reach 60 feet tall. At about seven feet, my main stem, which is held upright by a concealed cylinder of woody poles, begins to put out branches. These branches then put out smaller branches, all of which closely parallel my main stem and help me balance against wind and earth movement. Nesting woodpeckers and flickers make large holes in me.

At 16 feet, I can weigh approximately 1,500 pounds because of the water I contain. My flowers appear on the upper part of my stem and branches when I'm an adult. They are white and about 4¾ inches in both width and length, with a green scaly tube, and short, spreading petals.

My fruit is red inside and out, edible, and opens spontaneously to release my seeds. It was a staple item of diet for the Papago Indians, who also fermented the juice and used it to celebrate their New Year in June.

Do you know what plant I am? 
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Carnegiea gigantea: Saguaro

It's chilly in Acadiana right now, so stay a little longer in Key West. Stroll down Truman Avenue to White Street, and behold trees that look as though they're being supported with flying buttresses. They're really extensions of my trunk and can reach out up to 30 feet. Which is a good thing, because I can grow to 150 to 200 feet tall.

I'm a native of South America and am drought deciduous, dropping my leaves in the dry winters in the northern hemisphere. My flowers usually appear before my leaves return, and are clustered on small, new branches. To humans, they have an unpleasant odor, but bats are attracted to them. They carry pollen from flower to flower on their fur. Then my pods appear, as many as 4000, they contain 200 seeds each in a cotton like fiber. These pods burst, casting seeds in the wind to colonize open areas. Because my pods float, they may have been carried to West Africa by the ocean. I'm now also found in Malaysia and Indonesia.

My white, fluffy seed covering is also buoyant and water-resistant, leading to its use in flotation devices such as the famous Mae West lifesaver of World War II fame. Soap is made from the oil in my seeds, which is also used in medicine. My leaves may be boiled and eaten. Dugout canoes and coffins are made from my lightweight wood. Because of the length of my trunks, it's straight grain, and its beautiful colors, my lumber is very desirable. I hope these characteristics don't lead to my extinction.

​Do you know what plant I am?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.