Plant Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ plants, flowers, trees, and succulents — with care, light, water, and how to tell them apart.
Catalpa Tree
The catalpa is a fast-growing deciduous shade tree famous for its huge heart-shaped leaves, showy clusters of frilly white flowers, and long slender seed pods resembling beans or cigars. It is a popular ornamental for large lawns and street plantings.
tree
Yucca
A bold, drought-tolerant plant with rosettes of stiff, sword-shaped leaves atop thick woody canes. A tough, architectural choice for indoors and warm gardens.
shrub
Marigold
A cheerful, easy annual with pompom-like flowers in gold, orange, and red, and pungent foliage. Marigolds bloom all season and are popular for borders and companion planting.
flower
Old Man Cactus
A columnar cactus famously cloaked in long, shaggy white hairs that resemble an old man's beard. The wool shields the plant from sun and cold while hiding sharp spines beneath.
succulent
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
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
Butterfly Weed
Butterfly weed is a native milkweed bearing flat clusters of brilliant orange flowers in summer. It is a top nectar plant for butterflies and a larval host for monarchs.
flowerPainted 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
Yarrow
Yarrow is a tough, drought-tolerant perennial with feathery foliage and flat-topped clusters of tiny flowers. It is a popular low-maintenance plant for pollinator and meadow gardens.
herb
Mexican Sunflower
A tall, fast-growing annual prized for its vivid orange-red daisy flowers that are magnets for butterflies and bees. It thrives in heat and poor soil where many other plants struggle.
flower
Cloudberry
Cloudberry is a low-growing Arctic and subarctic plant bearing distinctive amber berries. It demands cold, acidic, boggy conditions and is notoriously difficult to cultivate.
herb
Calathea Triostar
A vivid prayer plant relative with variegated leaves splashed in cream, green, and pink, and dramatic deep-magenta undersides. Like other Marantaceae, its leaves fold up at night.
houseplant
Arborvitae
Arborvitae is a dense, evergreen conifer with flat sprays of scale-like foliage, widely planted as hedges and privacy screens. It is easy to grow and tolerates a range of conditions.
tree
Venus Flytrap
The iconic carnivorous plant whose hinged, toothed leaf traps snap shut on insects in a fraction of a second. Native only to a small region of the Carolinas, it needs sun, pure water, and a winter dormancy.
houseplant
Velvet Calathea
A prayer-plant relative with long, wavy-edged leaves that are velvety to the touch and flushed deep maroon underneath. Beautiful but thirsty for humidity and sensitive to hard water.
houseplant
Wood Betony
Wood betony is a clump-forming perennial herb with crinkled, scalloped leaves and spikes of reddish-purple flowers beloved by bees. It was a widely grown garden plant in medieval Europe.
herb
Stinging Nettle
Stinging nettle is a tall perennial herb covered in tiny hollow hairs that release an irritating fluid on contact, producing a brief stinging sensation. It has a long history as a fiber and dye plant.
herb
London Plane Tree
The London plane is a large, pollution-tolerant hybrid shade tree famous for its mottled, peeling camouflage bark and spherical seed balls, making it one of the world's most planted urban street trees.
tree
Inchplant
A vigorous trailing plant with small, glossy, pointed leaves that root readily along the stem about every inch. Easy to grow and propagate, it comes in plain green and variegated cream-striped forms.
houseplant
Ginkgo Biloba
Ginkgo biloba is a unique 'living fossil' tree with distinctive fan-shaped leaves that turn brilliant gold in autumn. Extremely tough and long-lived, it is widely planted as a resilient street tree.
tree
Comfrey
Comfrey is a vigorous, deep-rooted perennial famous as a garden fertilizer. Its rough leaves and bell-shaped flowers grow back fast, making it a favorite for nutrient-rich liquid plant feeds.
herb
Bellflower
Bellflowers are a large group of perennials and biennials bearing bell- or star-shaped flowers, usually in blue, purple or white. They range from low rock-garden creepers to tall border plants.
flower
Spirea
A versatile, easy-care deciduous shrub grown for clusters of pink or white flowers and often colorful foliage. Compact and reliable, spirea suits borders, mass plantings and low informal hedges.
shrub
Miracle Fruit
A slow-growing evergreen shrub from West Africa bearing small, bright red oval berries. It demands acidic soil, warmth, and humidity, making it a challenging container plant outside the tropics.
shrub