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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Bay Laurel

Bay laurel is an aromatic evergreen tree or shrub, a classic culinary herb most often grown as an elegant clipped topiary or hedge. Slow-growing and easily shaped.

herb

Spotted Spurge

Spotted spurge is a low, fast-spreading summer weed that forms flat mats with small reddish-spotted leaves and a milky sap, common in lawns, sidewalks and gardens.

herb

Japanese Aucuba

Japanese aucuba is a shade-loving evergreen shrub with bold, glossy leaves, often speckled gold, earning it the name gold dust plant. It brings light and color to dark, difficult corners.

shrub

Japanese Stiltgrass

Japanese stiltgrass is an aggressive annual grass from Asia that has become one of the most damaging invasive plants in eastern North American forests and shaded yards. It forms dense, sprawling mats that crowd out native ground flora.

grass

Japanese Andromeda

Japanese andromeda is an elegant evergreen shrub with cascading clusters of urn-shaped flowers in early spring and colorful new growth. It pairs beautifully with azaleas and rhododendrons.

shrub

Japanese Knotweed

Japanese knotweed is an aggressive bamboo-like perennial that spreads by powerful rhizomes, damaging pavement and buildings and ranking among the world's worst invasive plants.

shrub

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

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

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

Japanese Yew

Japanese Yew is a versatile, shade-tolerant evergreen shrub or small tree widely used for hedges, with flat dark needles and red, berry-like arils.

shrub

Bloodgood Japanese Maple

Bloodgood is the classic deep-red Japanese maple, holding its dark burgundy-purple leaf color through summer better than most cultivars before turning crimson in fall. It is an elegant upright specimen tree.

tree

Japanese Black Pine

Japanese Black Pine is a rugged coastal conifer with dark bark, stiff needles, and a picturesque irregular form. It is a classic bonsai and ornamental tree highly tolerant of salt and wind.

tree

Bay Leaf

Bay laurel is an aromatic evergreen Mediterranean tree grown for its glossy, fragrant leaves and as an ornamental.

tree

Sweetbay Magnolia

Sweetbay magnolia is a graceful native North American tree with creamy, lemon-scented summer flowers and silvery-backed leaves. Unusually for a magnolia, it thrives in wet, swampy ground.

tree

Jewelweed

A native North American annual with dangling orange spotted flowers and seed pods that burst open at a touch. Jewelweed forms colonies in moist, shady habitats.

flower

Skimmia

Skimmia is a compact, shade-loving evergreen shrub valued for fragrant spring flowers, ornamental red winter berries, and showy red flower buds that decorate the plant all winter.

shrub

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.

tree

Florida Beauty

Florida Beauty is a shrubby dracaena with dark green, oval leaves heavily speckled in creamy gold, giving a gold-dust appearance. It is a compact, slow-growing foliage plant.

houseplant

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

Wild Geranium

A graceful woodland perennial bearing saucer-shaped pink to lavender flowers above deeply lobed leaves in late spring. It is a true hardy geranium, distinct from the tender garden 'geraniums' that are actually pelargoniums.

flower

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

Wisteria

Wisteria is a vigorous woody climbing vine famous for dramatic cascades of fragrant purple, blue, or white flowers in spring. It is beautiful but can become invasive and needs firm pruning.

shrub

Begonia Maculata

Begonia maculata is the iconic polka dot begonia, with olive-green angel-wing leaves dotted in silver and backed in deep red. It produces clusters of white flowers under good conditions.

houseplant

Lungwort

Lungwort is a shade-loving perennial grown for its silver-spotted leaves and early spring flowers that often open pink and age to blue on the same plant. It is an excellent groundcover for woodland and shady gardens.

flower