Plant Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ plants, flowers, trees, and succulents — with care, light, water, and how to tell them apart.
Browallia
Browallia, or bush violet, is a shade-tolerant annual covered in star-shaped blue, violet, or white flowers. It is one of the best flowering plants for adding cool color to shady spots and containers.
flower
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
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
Persimmon Tree
A deciduous fruit tree grown for its glossy orange fruit that ripens in autumn and clings to bare branches like ornaments, and for its vivid fall foliage.
tree
Common Sunflower
The common sunflower is a fast-growing annual famous for its large golden flower heads that track the sun; it is grown worldwide as an ornamental and oilseed crop.
flower
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
Tulip Tree
One of the tallest eastern hardwoods, named for its showy tulip-shaped greenish-orange flowers and uniquely four-lobed leaves. A fast-growing member of the magnolia family.
tree
Smokebush
A deciduous shrub famous for the airy, smoke-like haze of fluffy flower stalks that envelop the plant in summer. Many cultivars add dramatic purple or gold foliage and fiery fall color.
shrub
Skullcap
Skullcap is a slender North American mint-family herb with tiny blue, two-lipped flowers. It takes its name from the small helmet- or skull-cap-shaped appendage on the calyx of each bloom.
herb
Magnolia
Magnolias are ancient flowering trees and shrubs prized for their large, fragrant, cup- or star-shaped blooms. They range from evergreen Southern magnolias to deciduous spring-flowering types.
tree
Oleander
Oleander is a heat- and drought-loving evergreen shrub with showy clusters of pink, white, or red flowers all summer. Beautiful and tough, it is a mainstay of warm-climate landscapes.
shrub
Nerve Plant
The nerve plant is a low, spreading tropical houseplant grown for its small leaves laced with bright white, pink, or red veins. It loves humidity and is a favorite for terrariums.
houseplant
Mimosa Tree
A fast-growing ornamental tree with feathery fern-like leaves and fluffy pink powderpuff flowers, widely planted but invasive across the southern United States.
tree
Hosta
The premier foliage perennial for shade, grown for bold mounds of ribbed leaves in greens, blues, golds, and variegated patterns. Lavender or white flower spikes are a summer bonus.
houseplant
Holy Basil
Holy basil, or tulsi, is an aromatic herb in the mint family, sacred in Hinduism. More clove-scented than sweet basil, it is grown in gardens and containers and traditionally near homes and temples.
herb
Goosegrass
Goosegrass is a tough warm-season annual weed forming flattened rosettes with a distinctive white or silvery center, thriving in compacted soils and high-traffic areas.
grass
Fringe Tree
A small native tree or large shrub that produces airy, cloud-like clusters of fragrant, fringe-like white flowers in late spring. Its feathery blooms give it the name old man's beard.
tree
Daffodil
A cheerful spring bulb with trumpet-centered yellow or white flowers, among the first to bloom after winter. Daffodils are hardy, deer-resistant, and reliably perennial.
flower
Common Mallow
A sprawling annual or biennial with rounded, scalloped leaves, small pinkish-white flowers, and flat round seed pods that resemble tiny wheels of cheese. It is a common garden and lawn weed.
herb
California Juniper
California Juniper is a rugged desert shrub or small tree of the arid Southwest, with gray-green scale foliage, reddish berry-like cones, and a gnarled habit prized for bonsai.
shrub
Bloodroot
An early spring ephemeral named for the red-orange sap that bleeds from its roots when cut. Each delicate white flower is wrapped in a single curled leaf and lasts only a few days.
flower
Bougainvillea
Bougainvillea is a thorny tropical climbing shrub blanketed in vivid papery bracts of magenta, purple, orange, or red. It thrives in heat and sun and blooms most when kept on the dry side.
shrub
Witch Hazel
Witch hazel is a deciduous shrub or small tree famous for fragrant, spidery yellow flowers that bloom in late fall or winter when little else does.
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