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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Illawarra Flame Tree

The Illawarra flame tree is a striking Australian native that sheds its leaves and covers itself in masses of brilliant scarlet bell-shaped flowers in early summer. It is one of Australia's most spectacular flowering trees.

tree

Thimble Cactus

A tiny clustering cactus that produces masses of little thimble-sized offsets which detach at the slightest touch. The pale spines give the cluster a soft, frosty look.

succulent

Live Oak

Live oak is a massive, sprawling evergreen oak of the American South, famous for wide spreading limbs draped in Spanish moss and an extremely strong, dense wood.

tree

St. John's Wort

St. John's wort is a hardy yellow-flowered perennial with masses of five-petaled summer blooms. Tough and drought-tolerant, it is also a noxious weed in many grazing regions.

herb

Southern Live Oak

Southern Live Oak is a massive, spreading evergreen oak of the American Deep South, famous for its broad canopy draped in Spanish moss. It is among the longest-lived and most iconic trees of the region.

tree

Flame Bottle Tree

The flame bottle tree, or Illawarra flame tree, is an Australian tree that blazes with masses of scarlet bell-shaped flowers on bare branches in early summer. It belongs to the bottle tree family, with a stout trunk and maple-like leaves.

tree

Baobab Tree

The baobab is an iconic African tree with a massive, swollen, water-storing trunk and stout branches that look like roots, earning it the name upside-down tree. Some specimens live over a thousand years.

tree

Peperomia Hope

Peperomia Hope is a trailing, semi-succulent houseplant with small, round, coin-like leaves arranged in whorls along its stems. Compact and easy, it's perfect for shelves and small hanging pots.

houseplant

Pyracantha

Pyracantha, or firethorn, is a thorny evergreen shrub that bursts with white spring flowers and brilliant masses of red, orange, or yellow berries in fall. It makes a formidable hedge or espalier.

shrub

New England Aster

A robust native perennial that crowns the fall garden with masses of purple, daisy-like flowers around golden centers. It is a magnet for late-season bees and migrating monarch butterflies.

flower

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

Bur Oak

Bur oak is a massive, long-lived North American oak known for its huge, fringe-capped acorns, deeply furrowed bark and exceptional toughness. Drought- and fire-resistant, it is a stately tree for large landscapes.

tree

American Sycamore

The American sycamore is one of the largest hardwoods in eastern North America, known for its mottled, peeling bark that reveals creamy-white inner layers. It grows fast and massive along rivers and bottomlands.

tree

Black-Eyed Susan Vine

A cheerful twining vine from Africa bearing masses of flat, five-petaled flowers in orange, yellow or white, each with a dark chocolate-purple center 'eye.' It quickly covers trellises and trails from baskets through the warm season.

flower

Sneezeweed

Sneezeweed is a cheerful late-summer perennial bearing masses of daisy-like flowers with raised central cones in warm shades of yellow, orange, red and bronze. Despite its name, it doesn't cause sneezing from pollen; the name comes from old use of its dried leaves as snuff.

flower

Grass Pink Orchid

Grass Pink is a North American terrestrial bog orchid known for its magenta-pink, non-resupinate blooms whose lip sits on top of the flower. It grows from a corm in acidic wetlands and is notoriously difficult to cultivate outside its native habitat.

flower

Lemon Balm

Lemon balm is a vigorous, lemon-scented perennial herb in the mint family, loved as a magnet for bees. It grows easily and can spread enthusiastically in the garden.

herb

African Violet

The African violet is a compact flowering houseplant beloved for its velvety leaves and clusters of purple, pink, or white blooms that can appear nearly year-round.

flower

Mexican Giant

A large, statuesque echeveria forming a single chalky-white rosette that can span a foot or more. Heavy farina coating gives it a frosted, almost porcelain look.

succulent

Peony

A long-lived perennial famous for huge, often fragrant late-spring blooms in shades of pink, white, and red. Peonies are tough, cold-loving, and can thrive for decades.

flower

Periwinkle

Periwinkle is a tough, low evergreen ground cover with glossy leaves and starry blue-violet flowers that thrives in shade. It spreads quickly to carpet difficult areas but can become invasive.

shrub

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

Indian Hawthorn

Indian hawthorn is a compact evergreen shrub with leathery leaves, fragrant pink or white spring flowers, and blue-black berries. It is a low-care favorite for warm-climate landscapes.

shrub

Dragon Tree

The dragon tree is an easy-care indoor tree with slender, arching stems topped by spiky rosettes of narrow, red-edged green leaves. It tolerates low light and infrequent watering.

tree