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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American Holly

American Holly is a slow-growing evergreen tree of the eastern United States, prized for its spiny leathery leaves and bright red winter berries. It is a classic source of holiday greenery.

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Cherry Blossom

Cherry blossoms are ornamental flowering cherry trees famed for clouds of pink or white spring blossoms. They are cultural icons in Japan, where they are celebrated as sakura.

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Water Oak

Water oak is a fast-growing, semi-evergreen red-oak-group tree of the southeastern US, common along streams and in yards. It has spatula-shaped leaves but is relatively short-lived.

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Swamp White Oak

Swamp white oak is an adaptable white oak of moist North American bottomlands, with two-toned leaves that are green above and silvery beneath. It is a popular, easy-to-grow shade and street tree.

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Rainbow Eucalyptus

A towering tropical tree whose smooth bark sheds in patches to reveal streaks of green, blue, orange, purple, and maroon, like a living rainbow. It is the only eucalyptus native to the Northern Hemisphere.

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Paper Birch

Paper birch is a northern tree famous for its peeling, chalky-white bark used historically for canoes and writing. It brings bright bark and golden fall color to cool, moist landscapes.

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Coast Redwood

The coast redwood is the tallest tree species on Earth, a fast-growing evergreen conifer of the foggy Pacific coast with flat needles, fibrous red bark, and an ability to sprout from its base.

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Weeping Nootka Cypress

Weeping Nootka Cypress is a graceful evergreen conifer with sweeping, drooping branchlets that hang like curtains from upturned limbs. It is a striking, hardy specimen tree for cool climates.

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Willow Oak

A fast-growing red-oak with narrow, willow-like leaves that lack the typical oak lobes, prized as a tough shade and street tree across the southeastern United States.

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White Ash

A large native shade tree once widely planted for its strong wood and purple-bronze fall color. Now severely threatened by the invasive emerald ash borer.

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Paper Bark Birch

A graceful northern tree famous for its peeling, papery white bark and fluttering golden fall foliage. Its bark was traditionally used by Indigenous peoples to build canoes.

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Eastern White Pine

A tall, fast-growing native conifer with soft blue-green needles in bundles of five and long, slender cones. The largest conifer of the northeastern forests and a historic timber tree.

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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.

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Saguaro Cactus

The saguaro is the iconic giant columnar cactus of the Sonoran Desert, growing into a towering tree-like form with upraised arms. It is slow-growing and extraordinarily long-lived, reaching well over 150 years.

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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.

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Noble Fir

Noble Fir is a stately Pacific Northwest conifer with blue-green upswept needles and large upright cones. It is one of the most popular and long-lasting Christmas trees.

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Soursop

Soursop is a tropical evergreen tree in the custard apple family, bearing large, spiny, dark green heart-shaped fruit. It is sensitive to cold and demands a warm, frost-free climate.

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Loblolly Pine

Loblolly pine is a fast-growing evergreen conifer of the southeastern United States and the region's most important timber tree. Tall and straight with long needles, it dominates southern forests and plantations.

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Giant Sequoia

The giant sequoia is the most massive tree on Earth by volume, a colossal evergreen conifer of California's Sierra Nevada with fibrous reddish bark, scale-like foliage, and a lifespan of thousands of years.

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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.

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Virginia Pine

A small, scrubby pine of the eastern United States that readily colonizes old fields and poor soils. Its short, twisted needles and persistent cones make it a common early-successional and Christmas-tree species.

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Serviceberry

The serviceberry is a hardy deciduous shrub or small tree offering white spring blossoms, colorful summer berries, and brilliant fall color. It is a versatile four-season native plant beloved by gardeners and wildlife alike.

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Cottonwood

Cottonwood is a fast-growing deciduous tree of North American riverbanks, named for the fluffy, cotton-like seeds that fill the air in early summer. Large and vigorous, it provides quick shade and vital riparian habitat.

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Dogwood

Flowering dogwood is a small ornamental tree beloved for its spring display of showy white or pink bracts. Native to eastern North America, it offers four-season interest with berries and red fall foliage.

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