Plant Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ plants, flowers, trees, and succulents — with care, light, water, and how to tell them apart.
Thanksgiving Cactus
The Thanksgiving cactus is a forest cactus that blooms in late autumn with colorful, tubular flowers. It is distinguished from the Christmas cactus by the sharp, claw-like teeth on its flattened stem segments.
succulent
Bamboo Palm
The Bamboo Palm is a clumping indoor palm with slender, cane-like green stems and feathery fronds. It tolerates low light and is a popular choice for adding tropical height.
houseplant
Japanese Cedar
Japanese Cedar, or sugi, is a tall, fast-growing evergreen conifer native to Japan and the national tree of that country. It has soft, awl-shaped needles and reddish, fibrous, peeling bark.
tree
Siberian Bugloss
Siberian bugloss is a shade perennial grown for its large, heart-shaped leaves, often silvered, and sprays of dainty blue flowers resembling forget-me-nots in spring. It is a workhorse for woodland gardens.
flower
Hinoki Cypress
Hinoki Cypress is an elegant evergreen conifer with rich green, fan-like foliage held in graceful sprays. Slow-growing dwarf cultivars are popular for gardens, containers, and bonsai.
tree
Begonia
An enormous genus grown for both showy flowers and spectacularly patterned foliage. From bedding wax begonias to dramatic rex begonias, there is a begonia for nearly every garden and windowsill.
flower
Wood Sorrel
Wood sorrel is a clover-like herb with heart-shaped trifoliate leaves and small flowers, common as a garden and lawn weed.
herb
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
Sweetgum
A large deciduous shade tree known for its glossy star-shaped leaves, brilliant fall color, and spiky round seed balls. Native to the southeastern United States.
tree
Spinach
Spinach is a fast-growing, cool-season leafy green that forms a low rosette of dark green leaves. It grows quickly in cool weather and bolts in heat, so it is best sown in spring and fall.
herb
Bitterroot
A low, fleshy-leaved alpine succulent of western North America, bitterroot produces showy pink-to-white flowers on otherwise nearly leafless plants. It is the state flower of Montana.
succulent
Arugula
Arugula is a fast-growing, cool-season leafy green in the brassica family. It goes from seed to a low rosette of lobed leaves in a matter of weeks.
herb
Kohlrabi
Kohlrabi is a cool-season cabbage relative grown for its crisp, swollen above-ground stem. It is a leafy garden vegetable in the cabbage family.
herb
Endive
Endive is a leafy plant in the chicory family grown as a cool-season green. Curly (frisée) and broad-leaved (escarole) forms are both popular garden greens.
herb
Bok Choy
Bok choy is a fast-growing Asian leafy green with crisp white stalks and tender dark leaves. A cool-season vegetable, it matures quickly and is widely grown in gardens.
herb
Giant Sequoia
The giant sequoia is the most massive tree on Earth by volume, a colossal evergreen conifer of California's Sierra Nevada with fibrous reddish bark, scale-like foliage, and a lifespan of thousands of years.
tree
Pigweed
Pigweed is a vigorous annual weed of the amaranth family with reddish roots and dense seed clusters, and a major agricultural pest.
herb
Tatsoi
Tatsoi is a cold-hardy Asian leafy green that forms a low, dark-green rosette of spoon-shaped leaves. A fast-growing cool-season plant, it shrugs off frost.
herb
Sow Thistle
A leafy annual resembling a soft thistle, with milky sap, lobed prickle-edged leaves and small dandelion-like yellow flowers. It is a widespread garden and field weed.
herb
Hydrangea
A leafy garden shrub famous for big rounded clusters of summer flowers that can shift between blue and pink depending on soil pH. Hydrangeas are showy, thirsty, and shade-tolerant.
shrub
Collard Greens
Collard greens are a hardy, non-heading form of cabbage grown for their large, broad blue-green leaves. A leafy garden vegetable, they are cold-tolerant and productive over a long season.
herb
Sorrel
Sorrel is a leafy perennial herb in the dock family, grown in herb and vegetable gardens for its bright green, arrow-shaped leaves. It grows from a deep taproot and is among the earliest greens to emerge in spring.
herb
Potato
The potato is a cool-season nightshade-family plant grown for its starchy underground tubers, among the world's most widely cultivated staple crops. It is grown from 'seed potatoes' that sprout into leafy plants.
herb
Pencil Cactus
A nearly leafless succulent shrub whose mass of slender, pencil-thick green branches gives it a coral-like silhouette. It is striking and easy to grow.
succulent