Plant Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ plants, flowers, trees, and succulents — with care, light, water, and how to tell them apart.
Amaranth
Amaranth is a vigorous annual grown for its dramatic drooping crimson flower tassels and broad, often red-tinged leaves. It has been cultivated for thousands of years across the Americas, Asia, and Africa.
herb
Virginia Bluebells
A beloved spring ephemeral whose pink buds open into clusters of nodding, sky-blue trumpet flowers. It blooms in woodland shade then dies back by summer, vanishing until the next spring.
flower
Smokebush
A deciduous shrub famous for the airy, smoke-like haze of fluffy flower stalks that envelop the plant in summer. Many cultivars add dramatic purple or gold foliage and fiery fall color.
shrub
Skullcap
Skullcap is a slender North American mint-family herb with tiny blue, two-lipped flowers. It takes its name from the small helmet- or skull-cap-shaped appendage on the calyx of each bloom.
herb
Rainbow Cactus
A small barrel cactus whose closely set spines form colored bands of pink, white, and red that wrap the stem like a rainbow. Crowned in spring with large, vivid magenta flowers.
succulent
Leek
The leek is a hardy allium grown for its long, blanched white shank of tightly wrapped leaf bases. Cold-tolerant and slow-growing, it is a classic autumn and winter garden vegetable.
herb
Lemon Lime Dracaena
Lemon Lime Dracaena is a vivid cultivar with chartreuse-and-green striped leaves that brighten any room. Easy and upright-growing, it offers the durability of Dracaena with a punch of color.
houseplant
Fringe Tree
A small native tree or large shrub that produces airy, cloud-like clusters of fragrant, fringe-like white flowers in late spring. Its feathery blooms give it the name old man's beard.
tree
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
Corn Plant
The corn plant is a sturdy indoor tree with thick woody canes topped by arching, corn-like leaves, often with a yellow-green center stripe. It is famously tolerant of low light and neglect.
houseplant
Carpetweed
A low, mat-forming summer annual that spreads flat across the ground in a star-like pattern of whorled leaves. It is a common weed of gardens, lawns and bare soil, germinating in warm weather.
herb
Boston Fern
The Boston fern is a lush, graceful fern with arching fronds of small leaflets, popular for hanging baskets and shaded porches. It needs consistent moisture and humidity to thrive.
fern
Bougainvillea
Bougainvillea is a thorny tropical climbing shrub blanketed in vivid papery bracts of magenta, purple, orange, or red. It thrives in heat and sun and blooms most when kept on the dry side.
shrub
Brussels Sprouts
Brussels sprouts are a cool-season brassica that produces dozens of small, cabbage-like buds along a tall central stalk. Slow to mature, they are a hallmark of autumn and winter gardens.
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
Begonia Maculata
Begonia maculata is the iconic polka dot begonia, with olive-green angel-wing leaves dotted in silver and backed in deep red. It produces clusters of white flowers under good conditions.
houseplant
Sage
Sage is a hardy Mediterranean shrub-herb with soft, gray-green aromatic leaves, widely grown as a culinary herb and ornamental in sunny gardens.
herb
Borage
A fast-growing annual herb with brilliant blue star-shaped flowers and bristly, cucumber-scented leaves. A magnet for bees, it self-seeds freely and is a favorite of pollinator gardens.
herb
Wild Indigo
A long-lived native prairie perennial that forms a shrub-like mound of blue-green foliage topped by spikes of indigo-blue, pea-like flowers. Its deep taproot makes it exceptionally drought tolerant and nearly permanent in the garden.
flower
Verbena
Verbenas are sun-loving plants that produce dense clusters of small, vivid flowers over long seasons, attracting butterflies and bees. They range from low spreading bedding types to tall airy border perennials.
flower
Philodendron
A large, diverse genus of tropical aroids ranging from easy trailing vines to bold upright specimens. The heartleaf philodendron is the classic, nearly indestructible trailing form beloved by beginners.
houseplantPainted 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
Olive Tree
The olive is a long-lived evergreen Mediterranean tree, a fruiting tree cultivated for thousands of years. Gnarled, silvery and remarkably drought-hardy, it is also a popular ornamental and container plant.
tree
Flowering Tobacco
An ornamental relative of commercial tobacco grown for its tubular, star-shaped flowers that open and release a jasmine-like scent in the evening. It comes in white, green, red and pink, attracting moths and hummingbirds.
flower