Plant Encyclopedia

Search and identify 1,000+ plants, flowers, trees, and succulents — with care, light, water, and how to tell them apart.

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Serviceberry

The serviceberry is a hardy deciduous shrub or small tree offering white spring blossoms, colorful summer berries, and brilliant fall color. It is a versatile four-season native plant beloved by gardeners and wildlife alike.

shrub

Lemon Myrtle

Lemon myrtle is an Australian rainforest tree whose glossy leaves carry one of the most intense natural lemon fragrances of any plant, driven by very high citral content. It is grown as an aromatic ornamental.

tree

Fireweed

A tall, magenta-flowered perennial famous for blanketing burned and disturbed land, which gives it its name. Its spires of pink-purple flowers make it both a pioneer species and a showy garden plant.

flower

Phlox

Phlox are North American perennials ranging from low spring-flowering carpets to tall, fragrant summer border plants. Their massed clusters of five-petaled flowers draw butterflies and perfume the garden.

flower

Leyland Cypress

Leyland cypress is an extremely fast-growing evergreen conifer hybrid widely planted for hedges and privacy screens. Dense and columnar, it offers quick cover but can quickly outgrow its space if not maintained.

tree

Holly

A classic evergreen shrub or small tree with glossy, spiny leaves and bright red berries, long associated with winter and Christmas. Most hollies need separate male and female plants for berries to form.

shrub

Blackberry

Blackberries are vigorous, often thorny cane plants in the rose family, bearing glossy black aggregate berries in late summer. Famously tough, they grow wild as brambles and in many improved garden varieties.

shrub

Cholla Cactus

A group of shrubby to treelike desert cacti with cylindrical, jointed segments and barbed spines that detach easily. Iconic plants of the American Southwest deserts.

succulent

Monstera Albo

Monstera Albo is a highly sought-after variegated form of Monstera Deliciosa, with striking white sections splashed across its fenestrated leaves. The variegation is unstable and the plant grows slowly, making it a prized collector's item.

houseplant

Blue Chalksticks

Blue chalksticks is a spreading ground-cover succulent with slender, upright, powdery blue-green finger-like leaves. Its cool blue color and low, mounding habit make it a popular landscape and container plant.

succulent

Monterey Pine

Monterey Pine is a fast-growing California coastal pine that, though limited in the wild, has become the world's most widely planted plantation pine. It bears needles in threes and asymmetrical, long-lasting cones.

tree

Impatiens

Impatiens are shade-loving annuals that smother themselves in flat, colorful flowers all summer, thriving where few other bedding plants will bloom. Their name refers to seed pods that burst open at a touch.

flower

Green Ash

Green ash is a tough, adaptable deciduous tree once widely planted for shade, with compound leaves and yellow fall color; its survival is now threatened across North America by the emerald ash borer.

tree

Norway Maple

A dense, fast-growing European shade tree with broad five-lobed leaves and milky sap, widely planted but invasive in much of North America.

tree

Garlic Mustard

Garlic mustard is an aggressive biennial herb with garlic-scented leaves and small white flowers, and one of North America's most damaging invasive plants.

herb

Tree Ivy

Tree ivy is a rare bigeneric hybrid between Japanese aralia and English ivy, combining glossy, ivy-shaped leaves with an upright, shrubby stem. It is an easy, shade-tolerant foliage plant for cool rooms and shady gardens.

houseplant

Painted Dropwing

Important note: the Painted Dropwing (also called the violet dropwing) is not a plant but a dragonfly, Trithemis annulata. Mature males are a striking violet-pink with red-veined wings, often seen perched at the edges of warm ponds and streams.

flower

Kangaroo Vine

Kangaroo vine is a vigorous Australian climber with glossy, toothed, oval leaves and tendrils that let it scramble up supports or trail from a basket. It is an easy, fast-growing foliage plant that tolerates lower light and cooler rooms.

houseplant

Cup and Saucer Vine

Cup and saucer vine is a vigorous climbing plant grown for its large bell-shaped flowers that open green and age to deep purple. It can scramble 15-20 feet in a single season using grasping tendrils.

flower

Indian Paintbrush

A vivid North American wildflower whose flame-colored display comes not from petals but from brightly tipped leaf-like bracts. It is a hemiparasite that taps the roots of neighboring plants, making it notoriously difficult to cultivate.

flower

Lady's Mantle

Lady's mantle is a soft, mounding perennial known for its scalloped, pleated leaves that catch dewdrops like beads of mercury, topped by airy sprays of chartreuse-green flowers. It is a versatile, low-maintenance plant for edging and softening borders.

flower

Gazania

A sun-loving, drought-tolerant South African plant with large, daisy-like flowers in brilliant orange, yellow, red, pink and cream, often boldly striped. The blooms open in bright sun and close in shade or cloudy weather.

flower

Brunnera

Brunnera is a shade perennial grown for its large, heart-shaped leaves, often beautifully silvered, and its dainty sprays of sky-blue, forget-me-not-like flowers in spring. It is a standout foliage plant for woodland and shady borders.

flower

Tulip

A spring-flowering bulb cherished for its goblet-shaped blooms in nearly every color. Tulips are planted in autumn and naturalize best in regions with cold winters.

flower