Plant Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ plants, flowers, trees, and succulents — with care, light, water, and how to tell them apart.
Silk Floss Tree
The silk floss tree is a striking subtropical tree with a bulging, thorn-studded green trunk and large pink-and-cream hibiscus-like flowers in autumn. Its seed pods burst to release silky white fibers, giving the tree its name.
tree
Madagascar Palm
The Madagascar palm is a spiny, succulent caudex plant with a thick, spine-covered trunk topped by a crown of strappy leaves. Despite its name and look, it is not a true palm but a relative of the desert rose.
succulent
Kentia Palm
The kentia palm is an elegant, slow-growing feather palm from Australia's Lord Howe Island, famed since Victorian times as one of the most durable and graceful indoor palms.
houseplant
Bamboo Palm
The Bamboo Palm is a clumping indoor palm with slender, cane-like green stems and feathery fronds. It tolerates low light and is a popular choice for adding tropical height.
houseplant
Areca Palm
A clumping feather palm with feathery, arching fronds and golden-yellow stems. One of the most popular indoor palms.
tree
Yucca Palm
The yucca palm is not a true palm but a tough, drought-tolerant evergreen from Central America, prized as an architectural houseplant with rosettes of sword-shaped leaves atop woody canes.
shrub
Ponytail Palm
Not a true palm but a succulent with a swollen, water-storing trunk and a fountain of long, curly leaves. Its bulbous base gives it the nickname elephant's foot.
succulent
Parlor Palm
A compact, slow-growing palm that thrives in low light, making it a classic indoor plant since Victorian times. It forms delicate clumps of feathery green fronds.
houseplant
Sago Palm
An ancient, palm-like cycad with a stout trunk and a symmetrical crown of stiff, feathery dark-green fronds. Despite the name it is not a true palm.
shrub
Lady Palm
The Lady Palm is an elegant clumping palm with fan-shaped leaves split into glossy, finger-like segments. It is tough, shade-tolerant, and a classic interior plant.
houseplant
Majesty Palm
A graceful feather palm with arching fronds, popular as a large indoor floor plant. It demands plenty of light, moisture, and humidity to look its best.
tree
Joshua Tree
An iconic, slow-growing tree-sized yucca of the Mojave Desert, with spiky bayonet-like leaves and branched, shaggy arms that define the desert skyline.
succulent
ZZ Plant
The ZZ plant is an exceptionally tough houseplant with glossy, waxy leaves and thick water-storing rhizomes that let it survive drought and low light. It is nearly indestructible and ideal for beginners or neglectful owners.
houseplant
Thimble Cactus
A tiny clustering cactus that produces masses of little thimble-sized offsets which detach at the slightest touch. The pale spines give the cluster a soft, frosty look.
succulent
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
Butternut
Butternut is a medium-sized North American walnut relative with elongated, sticky nuts and a pale, lightweight wood. Wild populations have been devastated by butternut canker disease.
tree
Fox Tail Agave
A soft, spineless agave with pale blue-green rosettes and a curving, foxtail-like flower spike. Unusual among agaves for its lack of sharp spines and tolerance of light shade.
succulent
Poison Sumac
Poison sumac is a wetland shrub or small tree of eastern North America, distinguished from harmless sumacs by its smooth-edged leaflets and drooping pale berries.
shrub
Marshmallow
Marshmallow is a soft, downy wetland perennial in the mallow family, with velvety gray-green foliage and pale pink to white flowers. It grows in damp meadows and along riverbanks.
herb
Fenugreek
Fenugreek is a fast-growing legume herb grown in gardens, with clover-like leaves, small pale flowers and slender, sickle-shaped seed pods. It is easy to grow and enriches soil as a nitrogen-fixer.
herb
Yoshino Cherry
An ornamental cherry famous for clouds of pale pink-to-white blossoms in early spring. It is the iconic tree of Washington, D.C.'s Tidal Basin and Japan's cherry-blossom season.
tree
Basswood
Basswood, or American linden, is a large deciduous shade tree with big heart-shaped leaves and fragrant summer flowers beloved by bees. Its soft, pale wood is a favorite of woodcarvers.
tree
Culver's Root
Culver's root is a tall, elegant North American prairie perennial with whorled leaves and slender, candelabra-like spires of white to pale-lilac flowers. It is a magnet for bees and butterflies in summer.
flower
False Shamrock
A bulbous plant with deep purple, triangular three-part leaves that fold up at night like butterfly wings. Easy to grow, it also produces dainty pale pink or white flowers.
houseplant