Plant Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ plants, flowers, trees, and succulents — with care, light, water, and how to tell them apart.
Orchid
The moth orchid is the most popular indoor orchid, prized for arching sprays of long-lasting blooms. Despite a delicate look, it is one of the easiest orchids to grow at home.
houseplant
Orchid Tree
The orchid tree is a fast-growing subtropical tree with distinctive twin-lobed leaves and large, fragrant, orchid-like flowers in shades of pink, purple, and white. It is a popular flowering ornamental in warm climates.
tree
Moth Orchid
The moth orchid is the most popular orchid for beginners, prized for arching sprays of broad, flat flowers that can last for months in shades of white, pink, and more.
flower
Grass Pink Orchid
Grass Pink is a North American terrestrial bog orchid known for its magenta-pink, non-resupinate blooms whose lip sits on top of the flower. It grows from a corm in acidic wetlands and is notoriously difficult to cultivate outside its native habitat.
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
Creeping Charlie
Creeping Charlie is a low, aromatic perennial in the mint family that spreads aggressively by creeping stems to form dense mats in lawns and shady gardens. Its scalloped, round leaves and small blue-violet flowers make it easy to recognize and notoriously hard to eradicate.
herb
Fishbone Cactus
An epiphytic jungle cactus with flat, deeply zigzagged stems resembling a fish skeleton. Easy to grow and capable of producing large, fragrant night-blooming flowers in autumn.
succulent
Grand Fir
Grand Fir is a fast-growing Pacific Northwest fir with flat, glossy needles arranged in neat flat sprays and a strong citrus scent when crushed.
tree
Queen of the Night
An epiphytic jungle cactus famous for its enormous, fragrant white flowers that open for a single night before wilting by dawn. It grows on flattened, leaf-like stems and is a celebrated rare bloomer.
succulent
Groundsel
Common groundsel is a fast-growing annual weed with ragged leaves and small, rayless yellow flower heads that turn into fluffy seed tufts. Wind-borne seeds let it colonize gardens and disturbed ground rapidly.
herb
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
Mayapple
A woodland wildflower forming colonies of umbrella-like leaves, with a single white flower hidden beneath that ripens into a yellow fruit.
flower
Showy Lady's Slipper
Showy Lady's Slipper is a large, slow-growing native orchid prized for its inflated white pouch flushed with rose-pink. It is the state flower of Minnesota and one of the most spectacular wild orchids of North America.
flower
Angelonia
Often called summer snapdragon, angelonia produces upright spikes of orchid-like flowers that thrive in heat and humidity all season without deadheading.
flower
Toad Lily
Toad lily is a shade perennial bearing exotic, orchid-like flowers heavily speckled with purple in late summer and fall. Its intricate blooms reward a close look in the woodland garden.
flower
Gotu Kola
A low, creeping wetland herb with round, scalloped leaves, grown as a fast-spreading, moisture-loving ground cover.
herb
Oregano
A hardy, sun-loving Mediterranean herb with small aromatic leaves, valued as a drought-tolerant ground cover and bee plant and grown widely in gardens.
herb
Bugleweed
Bugleweed is a low, fast-spreading evergreen groundcover prized for its glossy rosettes and spikes of blue-violet flowers in spring. It quickly carpets bare ground in sun or shade.
flower
Periwinkle
Periwinkle is a tough, low evergreen ground cover with glossy leaves and starry blue-violet flowers that thrives in shade. It spreads quickly to carpet difficult areas but can become invasive.
shrub
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
Thyme
A low, woody Mediterranean herb with tiny aromatic leaves, valued as a drought-tolerant ground cover and a superb bee plant.
herb
Kohlrabi
Kohlrabi is a cool-season cabbage relative grown for its crisp, swollen above-ground stem. It is a leafy garden vegetable in the cabbage family.
herb
Pineapple Weed
A small annual weed with feathery leaves and cone-shaped greenish-yellow flower heads that smell like pineapple when crushed. Closely related to chamomile, it is fragrant and common in compacted, disturbed ground.
herb
Corn Speedwell
Corn speedwell is a tiny low-growing winter annual weed with small, deep-blue flowers and rounded toothed leaves. It commonly carpets lawns, gardens, and bare ground in late winter and spring.
herb