Plant Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ plants, flowers, trees, and succulents — with care, light, water, and how to tell them apart.
African Violet
The African violet is a compact flowering houseplant beloved for its velvety leaves and clusters of purple, pink, or white blooms that can appear nearly year-round.
flowerCape Primrose
Cape primrose is a compact, long-blooming relative of the African violet, prized for its rosettes of soft, strappy leaves and clouds of trumpet-shaped flowers in blues, purples, pinks and white. It flowers for months with very little fuss on a bright windowsill.
houseplant
Flame Violet
The Flame Violet is a trailing tropical plant grown for both its velvety, metallic-patterned leaves and its vivid red-orange flowers. A relative of the African violet, it spreads by runners to form a lush carpet.
houseplant
Wild Violet
Wild violet is a low-growing perennial wildflower with heart-shaped leaves and five-petaled blue-purple blooms, beloved by some and considered a stubborn lawn weed by others.
flower
African Tulip Tree
The African tulip tree is a fast-growing tropical tree topped with vivid orange-red, tulip-shaped flowers held above glossy foliage. Its showy blooms make it a popular ornamental, though it is invasive in many tropical regions.
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.
succulentPainted Dropwing
Important note: the Painted Dropwing (also called the violet dropwing) is not a plant but a dragonfly, Trithemis annulata. Mature males are a striking violet-pink with red-veined wings, often seen perched at the edges of warm ponds and streams.
flower
Gazania
A sun-loving, drought-tolerant South African plant with large, daisy-like flowers in brilliant orange, yellow, red, pink and cream, often boldly striped. The blooms open in bright sun and close in shade or cloudy weather.
flower
Cyclamen
Cyclamen is a tuberous perennial famous for its swept-back, butterfly-like flowers and heart-shaped, silver-marbled leaves. The florist's cyclamen blooms through the cool months, going dormant in summer heat.
flower
Marigold
A cheerful, easy annual with pompom-like flowers in gold, orange, and red, and pungent foliage. Marigolds bloom all season and are popular for borders and companion planting.
flower
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
Cape Daisy
A sun-loving South African daisy with vivid, often metallic-blue-centered blooms in purple, white, and orange, prized for nonstop color in beds and containers.
flower
Trout Lily
A delicate spring ephemeral named for its mottled, trout-patterned leaves and nodding yellow lily flowers. It forms vast, slow-spreading woodland colonies that can be over a century old.
flower
Alocasia Polly
Alocasia Polly is a compact hybrid houseplant with dramatic dark green, arrow-shaped leaves edged in wavy margins and boldly veined in silvery-white. It is striking but somewhat fussy, demanding warmth and humidity.
houseplant
Self-Heal
A low, spreading mint-family herb with squat spikes of violet flowers, forming a tough, pollinator-friendly mat across lawns, meadows, and woodland edges.
herb
Freesia
Freesia is a South African bulb prized for its arching sprays of richly perfumed, funnel-shaped flowers in a rainbow of colors, popular as a cut flower.
flower
Gasteria
Gasteria is a slow-growing South African succulent with thick, tongue-shaped leaves often arranged in fans, named for its curved, stomach-shaped flowers.
succulent
Sausage Tree
The sausage tree is an African tree famous for its enormous, heavy, sausage-shaped fruits dangling on long stalks, and its dark maroon, bat-pollinated flowers. It is a striking specimen of savanna and riverbank landscapes.
tree
Elephant Bush
Elephant bush is a fast-growing South African succulent shrub with small round jade-green leaves on reddish stems, popular as a houseplant, bonsai subject, and carbon-storing landscape plant.
succulent
Amaryllis
The popular indoor amaryllis is a bulb (genus Hippeastrum) that produces towering stalks topped with huge, trumpet-shaped flowers, often forced for winter bloom. True Amaryllis is a separate South African genus.
flower
Blue-eyed Grass
A dainty native wildflower that, despite its name and grassy leaves, is actually a member of the iris family. It produces small, star-shaped blue-violet flowers with bright yellow centers atop slender, flattened stems.
flower
Baobab Tree
The baobab is an iconic African tree with a massive, swollen, water-storing trunk and stout branches that look like roots, earning it the name upside-down tree. Some specimens live over a thousand years.
tree
Nemesia
A dainty South African annual covered in masses of small two-lipped flowers, often bicolored and lightly fragrant, in a wide range of bright and pastel colors. It excels in cool-season containers, baskets and edging.
flower
Ground Ivy
Ground ivy is a creeping, aromatic perennial in the mint family with scalloped round leaves and blue-violet spring flowers, the same plant widely known as creeping Charlie. It forms dense mats in shady lawns and gardens and is notoriously persistent.
herb