Plant Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ plants, flowers, trees, and succulents — with care, light, water, and how to tell them apart.
Lantana
Lantana is a tough, heat- and drought-tolerant flowering shrub whose rounded clusters of tiny blooms often shift color as they age. It is a magnet for butterflies but is invasive in many warm regions.
shrub
Rainbow Cactus
A small barrel cactus whose closely set spines form colored bands of pink, white, and red that wrap the stem like a rainbow. Crowned in spring with large, vivid magenta flowers.
succulent
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
Pineapple Guava
Pineapple guava (feijoa) is a fruiting evergreen shrub with showy red-stamened flowers and aromatic green fruit. It is hardy, drought-tolerant, and ornamental.
shrub
Loquat Tree
An evergreen subtropical fruit tree bearing clusters of orange fruit in late winter and spring. Ornamental and easy to grow, it offers lush foliage and unusually timed blossoms.
tree
Prostrate Spurge
A fast-growing summer annual that forms flat, ground-hugging mats with small oval leaves often marked by a maroon spot. It exudes a milky sap and is a widespread weed of lawns, cracks and gardens.
herb
Lamb's Ear
Lamb's ear is a drought-tolerant perennial grown for its soft, silvery, densely woolly leaves that feel like felt. It forms low spreading mats topped by fuzzy flower spikes in summer.
flower
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
Lemon Myrtle
Lemon myrtle is an Australian rainforest tree whose glossy leaves carry one of the most intense natural lemon fragrances of any plant, driven by very high citral content. It is grown as an aromatic ornamental.
tree
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
Lemon Verbena
A deciduous shrub with intensely lemon-scented leaves, prized for its fragrance. Native to South America, it is one of the most strongly citrus-scented herbs.
shrub
Pigweed
Pigweed is a vigorous annual weed of the amaranth family with reddish roots and dense seed clusters, and a major agricultural pest.
herb
Lemon Balm
Lemon balm is a vigorous, lemon-scented perennial herb in the mint family, loved as a magnet for bees. It grows easily and can spread enthusiastically in the garden.
herb
Plantain
Broadleaf plantain is a tough, low-growing lawn and trail-side herb (not the banana relative) with broad ribbed leaves arranged in a flat rosette. It is one of the most common colonizers of compacted ground.
herb
Lily
True lilies are summer-blooming bulbs with large, often fragrant, trumpet-shaped flowers on tall stems. They are easy garden perennials prized in borders and as cut flowers.
flower
Pignut Hickory
Pignut hickory is a tall, upland hickory of eastern North America with smooth gray bark and pear-shaped nuts. It is valued for tough wood, brilliant golden fall color, and as wildlife habitat.
tree
Little Jewel
A compact intergeneric hybrid forming tight rosettes of plump, pointed, blue-green leaves tipped in rosy red. A small, jewel-like succulent that clusters into neat clumps.
succulent
Poison Ivy
Poison ivy is a woody native vine or low shrub of North America. Its leaves grow in groups of three, the basis of the saying 'leaves of three, let it be'.
shrub
Lobelia
Edging lobelia is a low, mounding or trailing annual smothered in tiny, intensely blue flowers from spring to frost. It's a staple of hanging baskets, window boxes and bedding borders.
flower
Pitch Pine
Pitch Pine is a rugged, fire-adapted eastern North American conifer known for its twisted form, three-needle bundles, and ability to resprout after fire.
tree
Lawson Cypress
Lawson Cypress, or Port Orford Cedar, is a tall, graceful conifer of the Pacific Northwest with flattened, fern-like fragrant foliage. It has produced hundreds of garden cultivars in many colors and forms.
tree
Pin Oak
Pin oak is a fast-growing deciduous oak known for its distinctive layered branching, deeply lobed bristle-tipped leaves, and brilliant red fall color, making it a popular street and park tree.
tree
Kumquat
A small evergreen citrus producing tiny oval orange fruit. It is among the most cold-hardy citrus and a popular compact container plant.
tree
Pigsqueak
Pigsqueak is an evergreen perennial with large, glossy, leathery leaves and early-spring clusters of pink flowers. Its name comes from the squeak the leaves make when rubbed.
flower
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
Pentas
Pentas bears rounded clusters of star-shaped flowers that bloom all summer and are a magnet for butterflies and hummingbirds in warm climates.
shrub
Katsura Tree
A graceful Asian shade tree with heart-shaped blue-green leaves that turn gold and apricot in fall, famously releasing a sweet scent of burnt sugar or cotton candy.
tree
Parsnip
The parsnip is a hardy biennial root vegetable grown for its long, tapering, cream-colored taproot. A long-season crop, it is a classic of autumn and winter gardens.
herb
Japanese Cedar
Japanese Cedar, or sugi, is a tall, fast-growing evergreen conifer native to Japan and the national tree of that country. It has soft, awl-shaped needles and reddish, fibrous, peeling bark.
tree
Papaya Tree
A fast-growing tropical plant with a single trunk topped by a crown of large lobed leaves and clusters of melon-like fruit. It can fruit within a year of planting.
tree
Japanese Maple
A small, elegant ornamental tree prized for delicate, deeply lobed leaves in shades of red, green and purple, and spectacular fall color. A centerpiece of Japanese gardens.
tree
Peperomia
A diverse genus of compact, slow-growing houseplants with thick, often succulent-like leaves in a huge range of textures and colors. Their small size makes them ideal for desks and shelves.
houseplant
Kangaroo Paw Fern
A hardy epiphytic fern with glossy, leathery fronds that are variably lobed, resembling a kangaroo's paw. It tolerates lower humidity better than most ferns, making it forgiving indoors.
fern
Peperomia Rosso
A compact peperomia cultivar with deeply textured, dark green leaves that flash a deep red-burgundy underside. Small, slow-growing, and easy, it thrives on benign neglect.
houseplant
Joe-Pye Weed
Joe-Pye weed is a tall, native North American perennial topped with large, domed clusters of mauve-pink flowers in late summer. A pollinator powerhouse, it brings height and butterfly-friendly blooms to moist, sunny gardens and rain gardens.
flower
Pennyroyal
Pennyroyal is a low, creeping mint with a sharp, spearmint-like aroma. It forms a dense ground-hugging mat and produces whorls of small lilac flowers in summer.
herb
Johnsongrass
Johnsongrass is a tall, aggressive perennial grass spread by both seed and creeping rhizomes; it is a major agricultural weed that is very difficult to eradicate.
grass
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
Jostaberry
Jostaberry is a thornless hybrid of blackcurrant and gooseberry, producing dark berries. It is vigorous, hardy, and disease-resistant.
shrub
Passionflower
Passionflower is a vigorous climbing vine famous for its intricate, fringed purple-and-white blooms. The maypop form (Passiflora incarnata) is hardy in temperate gardens and produces egg-shaped fruits.
flower
Kangaroo Vine
Kangaroo vine is a vigorous Australian climber with glossy, toothed, oval leaves and tendrils that let it scramble up supports or trail from a basket. It is an easy, fast-growing foliage plant that tolerates lower light and cooler rooms.
houseplant
Persian Ironwood
Persian ironwood is a tough, slow-growing tree celebrated for spectacular multicolored fall foliage and beautiful flaking bark. Its tiny red flowers appear on bare branches in late winter.
tree
Kimberly Queen Fern
The Kimberly Queen Fern is an upright, sword-leaved fern that's tidier and more forgiving than the related Boston fern. Its stiff, vertical fronds make it a favorite for patios, porches, and bright indoor corners.
fern
Philodendron Brasil
Philodendron Brasil is a variegated cultivar of the heartleaf philodendron, with heart-shaped leaves streaked in lime green and gold down the center. It is a fast, easy trailing vine.
houseplant
Kudzu
Kudzu is a fast-growing climbing vine infamous for smothering trees, buildings, and landscapes across the southeastern United States at remarkable speed.
shrub
Phlox
Phlox are North American perennials ranging from low spring-flowering carpets to tall, fragrant summer border plants. Their massed clusters of five-petaled flowers draw butterflies and perfume the garden.
flower
Kerria
Kerria is a graceful deciduous shrub in the rose family, grown for its arching green stems and cheerful golden-yellow spring flowers. It is one of the few flowering shrubs that blooms well in shade.
shrub
Philodendron Birkin
Philodendron Birkin is a compact, self-heading houseplant with glossy dark green leaves finely striped in creamy white. A stable spontaneous mutation, it is easy to grow and ideal for tabletops.
houseplant