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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Great Blue Lobelia

A native North American perennial producing tall spikes of vivid blue, two-lipped flowers in late summer. It is the blue counterpart to the red cardinal flower and loves moist ground.

flower

Coneflower

A rugged North American prairie perennial with daisy-like purple-pink petals around a spiny, copper-orange central cone. Beloved by pollinators and goldfinches.

flower

Cheatgrass

Cheatgrass is an invasive winter annual grass of the western United States, notorious for its sharp seeds and for fueling more frequent, intense wildfires across rangelands.

grass

Atlas Cedar

Atlas Cedar is a stately true cedar from North Africa, famous for the silvery-blue 'Glauca' form. It has stiff, ascending branches and a bold pyramidal shape that becomes flat-topped with age.

tree

Umbrella Tree

The umbrella tree is a fast-growing tropical plant whose glossy leaflets radiate from a central point like the spokes of an umbrella. It makes a lush, easy-care indoor tree.

tree

Swamp Milkweed

A moisture-loving native milkweed bearing fragrant clusters of pink flowers, a vital host plant for monarch butterflies and a magnet for pollinators.

flower

Hibiscus

A tropical shrub famous for large, flamboyant trumpet-shaped flowers in vivid colors. Each bloom lasts only a day or two but plants flower prolifically in warmth.

shrub

Flamingo Flower

A tropical plant famous for its glossy, heart-shaped red 'flowers' (actually spathes) with a protruding spadix. Long-lasting blooms make it a popular gift plant.

flower

Cardamom

Cardamom is a tropical, shade-loving relative of ginger grown for its aromatic seed pods. A spice plant, it needs warmth, humidity and patience.

herb

Vinca

A heat- and drought-tolerant annual with glossy leaves and pinwheel flowers, annual vinca blooms nonstop through the hottest part of summer.

flower

Shagbark Hickory

A tall native hardwood instantly recognized by its shaggy, peeling gray bark. A long-lived tree of eastern North American forests.

tree

River Birch

A fast-growing native birch famous for its showy, peeling cinnamon-and-cream bark and tolerance of wet soils. The most heat-tolerant of North American birches.

tree

Red Spruce

Red Spruce is a cool-climate eastern conifer of high Appalachian and northeastern forests, known for its reddish bark and resonant tonewood.

tree

Million Bells

A trailing relative of the petunia, million bells smothers itself in small bell-shaped flowers all season and needs no deadheading.

flower

Tamarack

Tamarack is a hardy North American deciduous conifer of cold bogs and wetlands, turning glowing gold each autumn before shedding its soft needles. It is one of the most cold-tolerant trees in North America.

tree

Rhodiola

Rhodiola is a hardy, succulent alpine perennial of cold northern mountains, forming low rosettes of fleshy blue-green leaves and clusters of yellow flowers. Cut roots smell faintly of rose.

succulent

Quaking Aspen

A fast-growing native tree whose flat-stalked leaves tremble in the slightest breeze and turn brilliant gold in fall. It forms vast clonal groves and is the most widely distributed tree in North America.

tree

Saskatoon Berry

Saskatoon berry is a hardy North American shrub producing blueberry-like fruit and showy spring blossoms. It is cold-tolerant, low-maintenance, and valued as an ornamental and wildlife shrub.

shrub

Mangosteen Tree

A slow-growing tropical evergreen known for its dark purple fruit with white segments. Notoriously demanding, it needs constant warmth and humidity and takes many years to fruit.

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

Bitternut Hickory

Bitternut hickory is a tall, fast-growing eastern North American hickory recognized by its bright sulfur-yellow winter buds. Its dense, strong wood is valued for tool handles and firewood.

tree

African Milk Tree

The African milk tree is a fast-growing, upright succulent with ridged, branching green stems that resemble a cactus. Despite the look, it is a Euphorbia that exudes milky white sap when cut, not a true cactus.

succulent

Yew

A long-lived evergreen conifer with dark needle foliage and red, berry-like arils. Extremely shade-tolerant and shearable, yews are classic hedging and topiary plants.

shrub

Tree Philodendron

Tree philodendron is a bold tropical foliage plant from South America with large, deeply lobed, glossy leaves that form a sprawling, trunk-forming clump as it matures.

houseplant