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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Grape Ivy

Grape Ivy is a vigorous climbing or trailing vine with glossy, toothed leaves resembling grapevine foliage. Tolerant of lower light and easy to grow, it's a classic for hanging baskets and trellises.

houseplant

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

Fishbone Cactus

An epiphytic jungle cactus with flat, deeply zigzagged stems resembling a fish skeleton. Easy to grow and capable of producing large, fragrant night-blooming flowers in autumn.

succulent

Eastern Hemlock

Eastern hemlock is a graceful, shade-tolerant evergreen conifer of cool eastern forests, with soft flat needles and tiny cones; it is threatened across its range by the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid.

tree

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

Cherry Blossom Tree

Cherry blossom trees are ornamental flowering cherries famed for their spectacular spring bloom of pink or white blossoms. Central to Japanese hanami tradition, they are short-lived but beloved worldwide.

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

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

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

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

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

Amaryllis

The popular indoor amaryllis is a bulb (genus Hippeastrum) that produces towering stalks topped with huge, trumpet-shaped flowers, often forced for winter bloom. True Amaryllis is a separate South African genus.

flower

Buttercup

Buttercups are cheerful wildflowers with glossy, cup-shaped yellow blooms that seem to glow in spring meadows.

flower

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

Chinquapin Oak

Chinquapin oak is a white oak with chestnut-like, coarsely toothed leaves that thrives on dry, alkaline, limestone soils.

tree

Chestnut Oak

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

tree

Red Maple

Red maple is one of North America's most widespread and adaptable trees, prized for its brilliant scarlet fall color and early red flowers. It thrives in a remarkable range of soils, from swamps to dry ridges.

tree

Philodendron Micans

An easy-going trailing philodendron with soft, velvety heart-shaped leaves in deep green to bronze, often shimmering with iridescent purple and pink tones. A forgiving choice for hanging baskets.

houseplant

Persian Ironwood

Persian ironwood is a tough, slow-growing tree celebrated for spectacular multicolored fall foliage and beautiful flaking bark. Its tiny red flowers appear on bare branches in late winter.

tree

Philodendron Birkin

Philodendron Birkin is a compact, self-heading houseplant with glossy dark green leaves finely striped in creamy white. A stable spontaneous mutation, it is easy to grow and ideal for tabletops.

houseplant

Pink Princess Philodendron

Pink Princess Philodendron is a collector's vining aroid prized for dark green leaves splashed with bubblegum-pink variegation. Each leaf is unique, and bright light is needed to keep the pink coming.

houseplant

Philodendron Verrucosum

A spectacular climbing philodendron with large, heart-shaped, velvety leaves of deep green and pale veining, set on distinctive hairy, fuzzy petioles. It demands high humidity to thrive.

houseplant

Moonflower

A fast-growing tropical vine whose large, fragrant white flowers unfurl at dusk and bloom through the night, closing by morning. Related to morning glory, it is grown on trellises for evening fragrance and night-garden drama.

flower

Masterwort

Masterwort is a clump-forming perennial with intricate, pincushion-like flower heads surrounded by a papery collar of petal-like bracts. It brings cottage-garden charm to moist, partly shaded borders.

flower