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

Plumeria Tree

A small tropical tree beloved for its intensely fragrant, waxy flowers used in Hawaiian leis. Plumeria blooms in shades of white, yellow, pink, and red atop thick, sculptural branches.

tree

Rat Tail Cactus

A trailing epiphytic cactus with long, slender, spiny stems that hang like rat tails and burst into vivid pink-magenta flowers in spring. It is a spectacular choice for hanging baskets.

succulent

Ragweed

A common annual weed that produces large amounts of lightweight, wind-blown pollen in late summer and fall. It has fern-like, deeply divided leaves and inconspicuous greenish flower spikes.

herb

Prickly Lettuce

Prickly lettuce is a tall annual or biennial weed and the closest wild relative of cultivated lettuce. It is recognized by spiny leaf midribs, milky sap, and leaves that twist to align vertically like a compass.

herb

Philodendron Melanochrysum

A climbing philodendron famed for its long, velvety, dark blackish-green leaves shot through with golden veins. As it matures and climbs, its heart-shaped juvenile leaves elongate dramatically.

houseplant

Ornamental Pepper

A compact form of the common pepper grown for showy, upward-facing fruits that ripen through purple, cream, yellow, orange and red, often all at once. Popular as a fall and holiday houseplant or patio accent.

houseplant

Meadow Rue

Meadow rue is an airy perennial with delicate, columbine-like foliage and fluffy clouds of tiny lilac, pink, or white flowers. It brings a soft, ethereal texture to part-shade borders.

flower

Natal Plum

Natal plum is a glossy, spiny evergreen shrub from South Africa with fragrant white flowers and red plum-like fruit. It is a tough, salt-tolerant choice for warm-climate hedges and coastal gardens.

shrub

Mangosteen Tree

A slow-growing tropical evergreen known for its dark purple fruit with white segments. Notoriously demanding, it needs constant warmth and humidity and takes many years to fruit.

tree

Lilac

Lilacs are hardy deciduous shrubs cherished for their intensely fragrant spring flower clusters in shades of purple, lavender, pink, and white. They are long-lived and easy to grow in cold climates.

shrub

Lantana

Lantana is a tough, heat- and drought-tolerant flowering shrub whose rounded clusters of tiny blooms often shift color as they age. It is a magnet for butterflies but is invasive in many warm regions.

shrub

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

Japanese Larch

Japanese Larch is a fast-growing deciduous conifer whose soft needles turn brilliant gold before dropping in autumn. Native to Japan, it is a popular timber tree and a favorite for bonsai.

tree

Hackberry

A tough, adaptable North American shade tree with distinctive warty, corky bark and small dark berries relished by birds. It tolerates drought, wind, poor soil, and urban conditions with ease.

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

Hinoki Cypress

Hinoki Cypress is an elegant evergreen conifer with rich green, fan-like foliage held in graceful sprays. Slow-growing dwarf cultivars are popular for gardens, containers, and bonsai.

tree

Japanese Black Pine

Japanese Black Pine is a rugged coastal conifer with dark bark, stiff needles, and a picturesque irregular form. It is a classic bonsai and ornamental tree highly tolerant of salt and wind.

tree

Horseweed

Horseweed is a tall, weedy native annual with a single bristly stalk topped by clouds of tiny flowers; it is a prolific seeder and one of the first weeds to evolve widespread herbicide resistance.

herb

Japanese Aucuba

Japanese aucuba is a shade-loving evergreen shrub with bold, glossy leaves, often speckled gold, earning it the name gold dust plant. It brings light and color to dark, difficult corners.

shrub

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

Golden Shower Tree

The golden shower tree is a tropical flowering tree that drapes itself in long, hanging chains of brilliant golden-yellow blossoms in summer. It is the national tree and flower of Thailand and a beloved ornamental across the tropics.

tree

Gaura

Gaura is an airy, long-blooming perennial whose delicate pink or white flowers dance on slender, wiry stems like a cloud of butterflies. It is heat- and drought-tolerant and blooms for months.

flower

Fireweed

A tall, magenta-flowered perennial famous for blanketing burned and disturbed land, which gives it its name. Its spires of pink-purple flowers make it both a pioneer species and a showy garden plant.

flower

Firewheel Tree

The firewheel tree is an Australian rainforest tree named for its striking red-and-orange flowers arranged in spoke-like wheels. It has glossy lobed foliage and makes a handsome ornamental and street tree.

tree