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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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

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

Speedwell

Speedwell is a hardy perennial prized for its upright spikes of densely packed blue, purple, pink or white flowers that bloom for weeks in summer. It is a magnet for bees and butterflies and thrives in sunny, well-drained borders.

flower

Tricolor Beech

Tricolor beech is a striking cultivar of European beech with purple leaves edged in irregular bands of pink and creamy white. It is a slow-growing, eye-catching specimen tree that needs protection from harsh sun.

tree

Summersweet

A late-summer-blooming deciduous shrub with upright spikes of intensely fragrant white or pink flowers that draw bees and butterflies. Native to eastern North America, it thrives in moist, shady spots.

shrub

Ponderosa Pine

Ponderosa pine is a tall, drought-hardy evergreen conifer of western North America, known for its long needles, large cones and puzzle-piece bark that smells of vanilla or butterscotch. It is a major western timber tree.

tree

Hoya Carnosa

Hoya Carnosa is an easygoing trailing houseplant with thick, waxy leaves and clusters of star-shaped, sweetly scented flowers. Long-lived and forgiving, it rewards patience with stunning porcelain-like blooms.

houseplant

Foamflower

Foamflower is a charming native woodland perennial with maple-like, often patterned leaves and frothy spikes of tiny, star-shaped white or pink flowers in spring. It forms a delicate groundcover for shady gardens.

flower

Cotoneaster

Cotoneaster is a versatile, easy shrub ranging from flat groundcovers to upright forms, valued for small flowers, brilliant red berries and dense, often herringbone-patterned branches. It is a magnet for birds.

shrub

Brunnera

Brunnera is a shade perennial grown for its large, heart-shaped leaves, often beautifully silvered, and its dainty sprays of sky-blue, forget-me-not-like flowers in spring. It is a standout foliage plant for woodland and shady borders.

flower

Toadshade

Toadshade is a woodland trillium with mottled leaves and a stalkless, maroon, upright flower that never fully opens. It is a charming spring ephemeral of eastern North American forests.

flower

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

Pyracantha

Pyracantha, or firethorn, is a thorny evergreen shrub that bursts with white spring flowers and brilliant masses of red, orange, or yellow berries in fall. It makes a formidable hedge or espalier.

shrub

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

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

Ninebark

A rugged North American deciduous shrub named for its peeling, layered bark. Modern cultivars offer striking burgundy, gold, or copper foliage plus clusters of white-to-pink spring flowers.

shrub

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

Heather

Heather is a low, evergreen shrub that blankets moorlands with a haze of tiny pink, purple or white flowers in late summer. It needs acidic soil and is prized for ground cover and year-round foliage color.

shrub

Flowering Dogwood

Flowering dogwood is a beloved small ornamental tree whose spring branches are clouded in showy white or pink bracts. It offers four-season interest with summer berries, scarlet fall color, and tiered branching.

tree

Bell Pepper

Bell pepper is a blocky-fruited variety of Capsicum annuum grown as a warm-season garden crop, bearing glossy fruit in shades of green, red, yellow, and orange. It is a colorful, productive plant for sunny beds and containers.

herb

Black Cherry

Black cherry is a native North American hardwood valued for its fine reddish furniture timber, drooping clusters of white spring flowers, and small dark fruits borne in late summer.

tree

Zebra Plant

The zebra plant is a striking Brazilian houseplant prized for glossy dark leaves boldly striped in white and short-lived golden bract spikes. It is notoriously fussy about humidity and watering.

houseplant

Hairy Bittercress

A small annual weed in the mustard family that forms a basal rosette and shoots tiny white flowers in early spring, followed by seed pods that explosively fling seeds. It is a common nuisance in nursery pots and garden beds.

herb

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