Plant Encyclopedia

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

all houseplant flower tree shrub succulent herb fern grass

Chihuahua Pine

A southwestern and Mexican pine unusual for sprouting from its base after fire and for cones that take two to three years to mature. Its slender blue-green needles and ability to resprout set it apart from most pines.

tree

Centaurea

Centaurea is a large genus best known for the cornflower, a cheerful annual with intense blue, fringed flowers. Easy and long-blooming, it is a cottage-garden classic beloved by bees and butterflies.

flower

California Lilac

California lilac is a western North American shrub celebrated for its dense clusters of intensely blue flowers in spring. It is a magnet for bees and a backbone of water-wise native gardens.

shrub

Calathea

A group of tropical foliage plants prized for their elaborately patterned, often purple-backed leaves. Calatheas are humidity-loving and known for being fussy about water quality.

houseplant

Calathea Medallion

Calathea Medallion is admired for its rounded leaves painted with concentric rings of green and a deep maroon-purple underside. It folds its leaves upward at night, a prayer-plant trait.

houseplant

Butternut

Butternut is a medium-sized North American walnut relative with elongated, sticky nuts and a pale, lightweight wood. Wild populations have been devastated by butternut canker disease.

tree

Bottlebrush

Bottlebrush is an Australian evergreen shrub famous for its cylindrical brushes of bright red flowers that draw hummingbirds and bees. It is heat- and drought-tolerant and blooms for much of the year.

shrub

Beardtongue

A North American native perennial with upright spikes of tubular, two-lipped flowers in white, pink, purple, or red. Loved by hummingbirds and bees, and tough in lean, well-drained soil.

flower

Black Currant

An aromatic deciduous shrub in the genus Ribes, grown in gardens for its dark purple-black berries. Its strongly scented foliage and upright, thornless habit make it easy to recognize.

shrub

Australian Willow

Australian Willow is a graceful evergreen tree with weeping, willow-like foliage that is not a true willow but a member of the citrus family. Prized as a tough, low-litter street and shade tree for hot, dry climates.

tree

Bird's Nest Fern

An epiphytic fern that forms a rosette of broad, undivided, ripple-edged fronds around a central nest-like crown. Unlike lacy ferns, its simple glossy leaves make it forgiving and bold indoors.

fern

Bishop Pine

Bishop Pine is a hardy two-needle pine of the California and Baja coast, with persistent, prickly cones that often stay closed on the tree for years until fire opens them. It tolerates wind, salt, and poor soils.

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

Annual Bluegrass

A low-growing, light-green annual grass that is one of the most widespread lawn and turf weeds in the world. It forms clumps, seeds prolifically even when mowed short, and turns unsightly in summer heat.

grass

Apple Tree

The apple tree is a deciduous fruit tree grown worldwide for its familiar fruit. With thousands of cultivars and the need for cross-pollination, it is a rewarding but slightly demanding garden and orchard tree.

tree

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

Shallot

Shallots are a clustering, small-bulbed member of the onion family grown in gardens. They form clusters of small bulbs and are easy to grow from sets.

herb

Lemongrass

Lemongrass is a tall tropical grass with a bright citrus aroma, grown as a culinary grass and aromatic ornamental in warm gardens.

grass

Lingonberry

A low, evergreen groundcover shrub bearing small red berries. It is hardy, ornamental and forms a dense, glossy mat.

shrub

Chestnut Oak

A rugged white-oak of dry rocky ridges, recognized by its deeply furrowed bark and chestnut-like, wavy-toothed leaves.

tree

Bay Leaf

Bay laurel is an aromatic evergreen Mediterranean tree grown for its glossy, fragrant leaves and as an ornamental.

tree

Sugar Pine

Sugar Pine is the world's tallest and most massive pine, native to the western U.S. and famous for its enormous, foot-plus-long cones.

tree

Sago Palm

An ancient, palm-like cycad with a stout trunk and a symmetrical crown of stiff, feathery dark-green fronds. Despite the name it is not a true palm.

shrub

Radicchio

Radicchio is a leafy chicory grown for its striking red-and-white heads. Cool weather deepens their rich, vivid color.

herb