Plant Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ plants, flowers, trees, and succulents — with care, light, water, and how to tell them apart.
Velvet Calathea
A prayer-plant relative with long, wavy-edged leaves that are velvety to the touch and flushed deep maroon underneath. Beautiful but thirsty for humidity and sensitive to hard water.
houseplantAlocasia Black Velvet
A compact jewel Alocasia prized for its near-black, velvety heart-shaped leaves veined in striking silvery-white. Its small stature and dramatic contrast make it a collector favorite, though it is fussy about humidity.
houseplantVelvet Shield Anthurium
This collector's anthurium is grown for its large, velvety, heart-shaped leaves emblazoned with bold, contrasting white veins. The thick, dark foliage has a stiff, almost cardboard-like texture that gives it its nicknames.
houseplantPhilodendron Micans
An easy-going trailing philodendron with soft, velvety heart-shaped leaves in deep green to bronze, often shimmering with iridescent purple and pink tones. A forgiving choice for hanging baskets.
houseplantLove-Lies-Bleeding
A dramatic annual amaranth grown for its long, ropelike crimson flower tassels that drape downward in bold cascades.
flowerVelvetleaf
A tall summer annual with large, soft, heart-shaped velvety leaves and yellow flowers, a major agricultural weed of corn and soybean fields. Its distinctive cup-shaped seed pods and fibrous stems make it easy to recognize.
herbAnthurium Clarinervium
Anthurium Clarinervium is a striking foliage aroid with large, heart-shaped, velvety dark green leaves dramatically veined in contrasting silvery-white. Native to Mexican limestone forests, it is grown for its bold, textured foliage rather than flowers.
houseplantAlocasia Frydek
A velvet-leaved elephant ear with deep emerald-green arrow-shaped leaves and bold white veins. It is dramatic and upright but notoriously demanding about humidity and watering.
houseplantMullein
Mullein is a striking biennial that forms a rosette of soft, woolly leaves the first year and a towering yellow flower spike the second. It is a classic wildflower herb of dry, open ground.
herbLeek
The leek is a hardy allium grown for its long, blanched white shank of tightly wrapped leaf bases. Cold-tolerant and slow-growing, it is a classic autumn and winter garden vegetable.
herbAfrican 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.
flowerMarshmallow
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.
herbPhilodendron 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.
houseplantAnthurium Warocqueanum
Known as the Queen Anthurium, this collector's aroid grows enormous, elongated velvety leaves with bold silvery-white veins. It is prized but demanding, needing high humidity and airy media.
houseplantFlame 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.
houseplantPhilodendron Melanochrysum
A climbing philodendron famed for its long, velvety, dark blackish-green leaves shot through with golden veins. As it matures and climbs, its heart-shaped juvenile leaves elongate dramatically.
houseplantPhilodendron Gloriosum
Philodendron Gloriosum is a creeping tropical aroid grown for its large, heart-shaped, velvety green leaves veined dramatically in white. Unlike climbing philodendrons, it crawls horizontally along the soil via a thick rhizome.
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