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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Stinging Nettle

Stinging nettle is a tall perennial herb covered in tiny hollow hairs that release an irritating fluid on contact, producing a brief stinging sensation. It has a long history as a fiber and dye plant.

herb

Spinach

Spinach is a fast-growing, cool-season leafy green that forms a low rosette of dark green leaves. It grows quickly in cool weather and bolts in heat, so it is best sown in spring and fall.

herb

Texas Sage

Texas sage is a silvery-leaved desert shrub that erupts in purple flowers after rain or humidity—earning the nickname barometer bush. It thrives on heat, sun, and minimal water.

shrub

Sunflower

A fast-growing annual famous for its large golden flower heads that track the sun while young. Native to North America, it is grown for ornament and as a cut flower.

flower

Scarlet Sage

A bold bedding salvia famous for its dense spikes of fiery red tubular flowers, a magnet for hummingbirds and a mainstay of summer color schemes.

flower

Statice

Statice is a sun-loving plant grown for its papery, long-lasting flower clusters in vivid colors. Exceptionally good for drying, it's a favorite for everlasting bouquets and seaside gardens.

flower

Tamarack

Tamarack is a hardy North American deciduous conifer of cold bogs and wetlands, turning glowing gold each autumn before shedding its soft needles. It is one of the most cold-tolerant trees in North America.

tree

Rex Begonia

A foliage begonia grown for its spectacular, swirled leaves in silver, purple, pink, and green. Dazzling but humidity-loving and a bit fussy.

houseplant

Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti squash is a winter squash that grows as an oval yellow fruit on vigorous summer vines. The fruit stores well into fall and winter.

herb

Rose Mallow

A vigorous perennial hibiscus native to North American wetlands, famous for its enormous dinner-plate-sized blooms in white, pink, or red with a contrasting eye.

flower

Tatsoi

Tatsoi is a cold-hardy Asian leafy green that forms a low, dark-green rosette of spoon-shaped leaves. A fast-growing cool-season plant, it shrugs off frost.

herb

Scarlet Oak

A red-oak celebrated for brilliant scarlet autumn color, with deeply C-shaped sinuses between sharply bristle-tipped lobes and a graceful open crown.

tree

Weeping Willow

Weeping willow is a graceful, fast-growing tree famous for its long, cascading branches that sweep the ground. It thrives beside ponds and streams, where its moisture-loving roots feel at home.

tree

Rhodiola

Rhodiola is a hardy, succulent alpine perennial of cold northern mountains, forming low rosettes of fleshy blue-green leaves and clusters of yellow flowers. Cut roots smell faintly of rose.

succulent

Sweetshrub

Sweetshrub is a deciduous native shrub of the southeastern U.S. known for its unusual maroon-brown flowers that release a fruity fragrance reminiscent of strawberries, banana or spice. Its aromatic bark and foliage add to the appeal.

shrub

Skimmia

Skimmia is a compact, shade-loving evergreen shrub valued for fragrant spring flowers, ornamental red winter berries, and showy red flower buds that decorate the plant all winter.

shrub

Silk Oak

The silk oak is a fast-growing Australian tree with fern-like silvery foliage and showy golden-orange, comb-shaped flowers in spring. It is widely grown for shade, timber and ornament, but can be weedy outside its range.

tree

Weigela

An easy deciduous shrub smothered in trumpet-shaped pink, red or white flowers in late spring that attract hummingbirds and bees. Many cultivars also offer burgundy or variegated foliage for season-long interest.

shrub

Surinam Cherry

A tough evergreen shrub or small tree bearing distinctive ribbed, pumpkin-shaped red to dark-purple fruits. Hardy and easy, it is often grown as a fruiting hedge.

shrub

Sweet Potato

Sweet potato is a warm-season trailing vine grown as a crop for its swollen storage roots. Unrelated to the common potato, it belongs to the morning glory family and thrives in long, hot summers.

herb

Swan River Daisy

Swan River daisy is a dainty Australian annual that forms low mounds covered in masses of small blue, violet, pink, or white daisies. It is a popular, free-flowering choice for containers, baskets, and edging.

flower

Tangerine Tree

A type of mandarin orange producing small, easy-to-peel fruit with a deep reddish-orange rind. It is a compact, productive citrus tree well suited to home gardens.

tree

Stevia

Stevia is a tender perennial herb in the daisy family, native to South America. It forms a bushy, branching plant grown in gardens and containers.

herb

Spotted Spurge

Spotted spurge is a low, fast-spreading summer weed that forms flat mats with small reddish-spotted leaves and a milky sap, common in lawns, sidewalks and gardens.

herb

Spanish Fir

Spanish Fir is a rare Mediterranean conifer from the mountains of southern Spain, prized for its dense, radially arranged blue-green needles that give branches a bottlebrush look. It is one of the few firs adapted to hot, dry summers.

tree

Tree Philodendron

Tree philodendron is a bold tropical foliage plant from South America with large, deeply lobed, glossy leaves that form a sprawling, trunk-forming clump as it matures.

houseplant

Spiderwort

Spiderwort is a clumping native perennial with grassy arching foliage and three-petaled blue, purple, or pink flowers that each last a single day. It blooms reliably from late spring through summer.

flower

Silver Maple

Silver maple is a fast-growing deciduous tree named for the silvery undersides of its deeply cut leaves, which flash in the wind; it is hardy and adaptable but has brittle wood prone to storm damage.

tree

Sassafras

An aromatic native tree known for its three differently shaped leaves on the same plant, spicy fragrance, and brilliant fall color.

tree

Western Red Cedar

Western red cedar is a large, aromatic evergreen conifer of the Pacific Northwest, famed for its rot-resistant, fragrant wood and flat sprays of scale-like foliage. It is a cultural and ecological cornerstone of the region.

tree

Sedum

A diverse group of fleshy-leaved succulents ranging from low creeping groundcovers to upright clumps topped with broad flower heads. Tough, drought-proof, and excellent for pollinators in fall.

succulent

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

Umbrella Tree

The umbrella tree is a fast-growing tropical plant whose glossy leaflets radiate from a central point like the spokes of an umbrella. It makes a lush, easy-care indoor tree.

tree

Scotch Pine

Scotch Pine is a widespread evergreen conifer known for its distinctive orange-red upper bark and blue-green twisted needles. It is one of the most common Christmas trees and a major timber species.

tree

Schisandra

Schisandra is a hardy deciduous climbing vine bearing dangling clusters of crimson berries. With fragrant spring flowers and bright autumn fruit, it is an attractive ornamental climber for cool gardens.

shrub

Snakeroot

Snakeroot, also called black cohosh, is a tall woodland perennial bearing dramatic white bottlebrush spires of fragrant flowers above ferny foliage. It is a striking native for moist, shady gardens.

flower

Sausage Tree

The sausage tree is an African tree famous for its enormous, heavy, sausage-shaped fruits dangling on long stalks, and its dark maroon, bat-pollinated flowers. It is a striking specimen of savanna and riverbank landscapes.

tree

Yew

A long-lived evergreen conifer with dark needle foliage and red, berry-like arils. Extremely shade-tolerant and shearable, yews are classic hedging and topiary plants.

shrub

Saskatoon Berry

Saskatoon berry is a hardy North American shrub producing blueberry-like fruit and showy spring blossoms. It is cold-tolerant, low-maintenance, and valued as an ornamental and wildlife shrub.

shrub

Totem Pole Cactus

A spineless, columnar cactus whose smooth green stems are covered in bumpy, sculptural knobs resembling carved totems. A slow-growing, low-maintenance architectural plant.

succulent

Shooting Star

A spring-blooming North American wildflower whose swept-back petals and pointed, downward-facing flowers resemble tiny shooting stars or shuttlecocks. It goes dormant by midsummer.

flower

Salmonberry

Salmonberry is a Pacific Northwest bramble with magenta spring flowers and golden-to-red raspberry-like fruit. It thrives in moist, shaded coastal habitats.

shrub

Wild Onion

A native North American perennial onion with flat, grass-like leaves and bulbs that emit a clear onion scent. It commonly appears in lawns, meadows and woodland edges and is regarded as both a wildflower and a lawn weed.

herb

Seven-Son Flower

Seven-son flower is a multi-season large shrub or small tree bearing fragrant white late-summer flowers followed by showy rosy-red sepals in fall. Its peeling tan bark adds winter interest.

shrub

Rocky Mountain Juniper

Rocky Mountain Juniper is a drought-hardy western conifer with scale-like blue-green foliage and waxy blue berry-like cones, popular for windbreaks and bonsai.

tree

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

Wishbone Flower

Wishbone flower is a charming shade-loving annual with trumpet-shaped, two-toned blooms named for the wishbone-shaped stamens hidden inside each flower.

flower

Savory

An aromatic Mediterranean herb in the mint family, grown in gardens as a culinary herb. Summer savory is a tender annual; winter savory a hardy perennial.

herb