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

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

Jade Plant

The jade plant is a long-lived succulent with thick, glossy, oval leaves and woody stems that give it a miniature tree appearance. It is easy to grow, drought-tolerant, and often kept as a symbol of good luck.

succulent

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

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

Flapjack Plant

A striking rosette succulent with large, flat, rounded leaves that blush deep red along their edges when grown in bright sun. It is prized as an architectural accent in pots and water-wise gardens.

succulent

Devil's Backbone

A shrubby succulent euphorbia famous for its distinctive zigzagging stems and small red-bracted flowers shaped like tiny birds. Often grown indoors for its sculptural, jointed form.

succulent

Daphne

Daphne is a compact evergreen shrub famous for intensely fragrant late-winter flowers. It is gorgeous but finicky, demanding perfect drainage and resenting disturbance.

shrub

Coral Bells

A versatile mounding perennial grown chiefly for vivid foliage in shades of purple, amber, lime, and silver, accented by airy sprays of tiny bell-shaped flowers. A modern shade-garden favorite.

flower

Coral Bark Maple

Coral bark maple is a Japanese maple cultivar famous for its glowing coral-red young stems that brighten the winter landscape. Its spring leaves emerge soft green and turn golden-yellow in fall.

tree

Canadian Hemlock

Canadian Hemlock is a graceful, shade-tolerant evergreen conifer with soft, feathery foliage and drooping branch tips. It is widely used for hedges and woodland gardens in cool climates.

tree

Comfrey

Comfrey is a vigorous, deep-rooted perennial famous as a garden fertilizer. Its rough leaves and bell-shaped flowers grow back fast, making it a favorite for nutrient-rich liquid plant feeds.

herb

Carrot

The carrot is a popular root vegetable grown for its taproot, most familiar in orange but also available in purple, red, yellow, and white. It is a biennial usually harvested in its first year.

herb

Camellia Tree

The camellia is a glossy-leaved evergreen shrub or small tree bearing large, showy rose-like flowers in shades of red, pink and white during fall, winter and spring. It is a classic shade-garden ornamental.

shrub

Buckhorn Plantain

A common perennial lawn and field weed with a basal rosette of narrow, ribbed leaves and bullet-shaped flower heads on tall leafless stalks. It is widespread and persistent in lawns, pastures and roadsides.

herb

Barrenwort

Barrenwort is a tough, low groundcover for dry shade, with delicate spring flowers and heart-shaped leaves that often emerge and finish the season tinted red. It thrives where little else will.

flower