Oregon State University, LANDSCAPE PLANTS, Vol. 1
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Landscape Plants
Images, Identification, and Information
Volume 1  Copyright ©, Oregon State University, 1999-2008 
This is Volume 1 of Oregon State University's Landscape Plants web site.   Landscape plants (mostly woody, i.e., shrubs and trees) in this volume are listed in alphabetical order by genus, from A (Abelia) through E (Exochorda).  From the list below select a letter which corresponds to the first letter of the genus you wish to view or, if listed, the genus itself (or search the Common Name List).
First letter of genus (or a Genus itself)
Volume 1
current		 A  Abies  Acer  Aesculus  Alnus  Amelanchier  Arbutus  Arctostaphylos  Aucuba
  B  Berberis  Betula  Buddleia  Buxus
  C  Calocedrus  Camellia  Carpinus  Castanea  Ceanothus  Cedrus  Cercis
  Chaenomeles  Chamaecyparis  Chionanthus  Cistus  Clematis  Cornus
  Corylus  Cotinus  Cotoneaster  Crataegus  Cupressus  Cytisus
  D  Daphne  E  Elaeagnus  Escallonia  Eucalyptus  Euonymus
 Volume 2   F  Forsythia  Fraxinus  G  H  Hamamelis  Hebe  I  Ilex  J  Juglans  Juniperus
  K  Kerria  Koelreuteria  L  Larix  Ligustrum  Liquidambar  Liriodendron  Lonicera
  M  Magnolia  Mahonia  Malus  Myrica
  N  Nyssa  O  Osmanthus
 Volume 3
P  Parthenocissus  Photinia  Picea  Pinus  Populus  Prunus  Pseudotsuga  Pyrus
  Q  R  Rhododendron  Rhus  Ribes  Rosa  Rubus
  S  Sambucus  Sequoia  Sorbus  Spiraea  Stewartia  Syringa   T  Taxus  Thuja  Tilia  Tsuga
  U  Ulmus  V  Viburnum  W  Y  Z  Zelkova
For a limited number of herbaceous annuals or perennials see:
 Volume 4  Herbaceous Ornamental Plants
Some additional items:
Abelia       Caprifoliaceae
Abelia       a-BE-li-a
A genus of some 15 species of shrubs, small to medium in size, semi-evergreen to deciduous, arching, and densely branched.  Leaves opposite or in threes, entire or toothed, with a short petiole.  Flowers small but numerous, 1-8 per cluster (cyme), persistent calyx.  Fruit a 1 seeded achene.  Native to China, Japan, Himalaya, and Mexico (e.g., A. floribunda).
Abelia: Named after Clarke Abel (1780-1826) who discovered A. chinensis.
  • Abelia ‘Edward Goucher’       [Edward Goucher Abelia]       Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (flowering branches)  (leaves)  (flower cluster)  (persistent calyx and leaves)
          (leaves and flowers, "portrait")  (leaves, comparison with Abelia × grandiflora)
          (late winter)  (info)
  • Abelia × grandiflora       [Glossy Abelia]       Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (flowering branches)  (leaves)  (flowers and persistent sepals)
          (leaves and flowers, "portrait")  (leaves, comparison with Abelia 'Edward Goucher')  (info)


    •    A yellow and a variegated cultivar of Abelia × grandiflora:
    Abeliophyllum       Oleaceae
    White Forsythia       a-be-li-o-FIL-um
    Only as single species in this genus, a sprawling shrub which is related to Fontanesia.  But it is said to visually resemble Abelia, which is in the Caprifoliaceae, and this is reflected in its name.
  • Abeliophyllum distichum       [White Forsythia]       Common Name List
          (plant habit, early winter)  (plant habit, flowering in winter)  (flowering, buds and flowers)
          (shoot, late spring)  (plant habit, summer)  (leaves)  (plant habit, fall)  (shoots, fall)  (info)
    • Abies       Pinaceae
    Fir       A-bez
    Conifer, evergreen, symmetrically pyramidal, or narrow-conical when young; branchlets smooth or grooved.  Leaves (needles) spirally inserted, usually flat, in most species two white or pale stomatic bands and keeled on underside, slightly constricted at the base but lack petioles.   Leaf scars large, round, and flat.  Female cone borne upright, leaves on cone-bearing upper branches are not typical.   Fairly slow growing landscape plants.  Generally require moist, well-drained soil, high humidity, cool temperatures.  Many do not perform well in the hot, dry summers of the lower midwest and south.  Nearly 50 species of Abies, but less than a dozen species generally used in landscaping.
    Abies: from the Latin abire, to rise, a reference to the great height that some species attain.
    Remember:
        Fir          flat needles (usually) and friendly (to the touch, usually, but Spanish Fir is sharp pointed)
        Spruce    sharp, square (needles in cross-section)
        Pine         in packages (needles in groups of 2, 3, 5, rarely one)
  • Abies amabilis   [Pacific Silver Fir]  Native List     Common Name List
          (plant habit, seedling and young tree)  (branchlets)  (branchlet, comparison)  (branchlet, comparison)
          (needles, comparison)  (seed cones, mature)  (info)
  • Abies balsamea      [Balsam Fir]      Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (branchlets)  (cones)  (info)
    • Abies concolor   [White Fir]  Native List     Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (branches)  (branchlet)  (branchlet)  (needles)  (branch with cone)
          (cone, releasing seeds)  (trunk, bark)  (info)

    Two cultivars of Abies concolor:
  • Abies grandis   [Grand Fir]  Native List     Common Name List
          (plant habit, young and mature)  (branches)  (branchlets)  (branchlets)
          (branchlet)  (needles)  (needles, upper and lower)  (branchlet, comparison)
          (cone and remnants)  (trunk, bark)  (info)


  • Abies koreana     [Korean Fir]       Common Name List
          (info)


    •  A few cultivars of Abies koreana:
  • Abies lasiocarpa   [Subalpine Fir, Rocky Mountain Fir]  Native List     Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (branchlets)  (info)
  • Abies magnifica    [California Red Fir, Red Fir]  Native List    Common Name List
          (info)
  • Abies nordmanniana      [Nordmann Fir, Caucasian Fir]      Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (branches)  (branchlet)  (branchlets)  (needles)  (info)


  • Abies pindrow      [West Himalayan Fir]      Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (branchlets)  (info)
  • Abies pinsapo      [Spanish Fir]      Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (plant habit, individual trees)  (branches)  (branches and immature cones, spring)
          (cones and branches)  (info)


    • Two selections of Abies pinsapo:
  • Abies procera   [Noble Fir]  Native List     Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (branches)  (branchlet)  (underside of branches)  (branchlets, needles)
          (needles, upperside)  (needles, underside)  (cone and brachlets)  (cone bracts)  (info)


    • Acer       Aceraceae (Maple Family)
    Maple       AY-ser
    About 150 species of deciduous or evergreen trees, some small shrubs; leaves opposite, usually simple and palmately lobed and veined, sometimes pinnately compound (e.g., A. negundo), leaf scars crescent shaped; flowers, small, in terminal or axillary clusters, 4-8 stamen, 2 styles or stigma; fruit is winged (samara), usually in joined pairs which separate when shed, one seed per fruit (key).
    Acer: from the Latin name for the Maple, also meaning sharp, possibly a reference to its use as a lance or its hardwood.
  • Acer buergerianum      [Trident Maple]      Common Name List
          (plant habit, summer)  (leaves and fruit)  (leaves and fruit, fall)  (trunk, bark)
          (winter twigs and buds)  (info)


    •   A selection of Acer buergerianum:
  • Acer campestre      [Hedge Maple]      Common Name List
          (plant habit, summer and fall)  (small tree, summer and fall)  (leaves and fruit)  (branch)
          (plant habit, fall)  (leaves, fall)  (winter plant habit and trunk, bark)  (winter twigs and buds)
          (info)


    •   Two cultivars of Acer campestre:
  • Acer capillipes      [Red Stripebark or Snakebark Maple]      Common Name List
          (leaves)  (plant habit, fruiting)  (fruit cluster and leaves)  (trunk, bark)
          (winter twig, buds)  (winter buds)  (info)
  • Acer carpinifolium      [Hornbeam Maple]      Common Name List
          (young leaves)  (plant habit, summer)  (leafy shoots and fruit clusters)
          (leaves and fruit clusters)  (trunk, bark)  (info)
  • Acer circinatum   [Vine Maple]  Native List     Common Name List
          (plant habit, in woods)  (plant habit, in landscape)  (trunk, multi-stemmed)  (leaves and flowers)
          (leaves and fruit)  (leaves and fruit,"portrait")  (plant habit, fall, in landscape)
          (plant habit, fall, in woods)  (leaves, fall)  (winter twigs and buds)  (info)


    •   Three cultivars of Acer circinatum:
  • Acer crataegifolium      [Hawthorn Maple]      Common Name List
          (info)

      A selection of Acer crataegifolium:
  • Acer davidii      [David Maple]      Common Name List
          (plant habit, young and older)  (flowers and expanding leaves)  (leaves)
          (leaf)  (leaves and fruit)  (leaves)  (leaves and fruit)  (leaf and fruit)
          (trunk, bark)  (fruit clusters, winter)  (winter twig, buds)  (info)
  • Acer × freemanii       [Freeman Maple, Hybrid Red Maple]      Common Name List
          (leaves, comparison)  (info)


    •   A few selections of Acer × freemanii:
  • Acer ginnala   (Acer tataricum ssp. ginnala)   [Amur Maple]      Common Name List
          (plant habit, flowering)  (leaves and flowers, spring)  (plant habit)  (leaves)
          (leaves and fruit)  (plant habit, fall)  (leaves, fall)  (winter twigs, buds)  (info)


    •   A dwarf selection of Acer ginnala:
  • Acer glabrum   [Rocky Mountain Maple]  Native List     Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (plant habit)  (leaves)  (leaf)  (leaf, underside)  (fruit cluster and leaves, summer)
          (leaf, early fall)  (plant habit and leaf, fall)  (twig, buds, winter)  (info)
  • Acer grandidentatum      [Bigtooth Maple]      Common Name List
          (leaves)  (info)
  • Acer griseum      [Paperbark Maple]      Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (plant habit, summer and fall)  (leaves)  (fruit and leaves)  (leaves and fruit)
          (leaves, fall)  (trunk, bark)  (winter branch, buds)  (terminal buds and fruit, winter)  (info)
  • Acer japonicum      [Fullmoon Maple]       Common Name List
          (info)
  • Acer macrophyllum   [Bigleaf Maple]  Native List     Common Name List
          (plant habit, spring)  (flower cluster and flowers)  (flowers and fruit)  (plant habit, summer and fall)
          (leaf and fruit)  (leaves and fruit, "portrait")  (plant habit, fall)  (leaves, fall)  (leaf, fall)
          (winter twigs and buds)  (info)
  • Acer negundo       [Boxelder, Manitoba Maple]      Common Name List
          (male flowers, spring)  (male and female flowers)  (plant habit)  (plant habit)  (leaves)
          (leaves and fruit)  (leaves and fruit)  (fruit clusters, summer)  (plant habit and shoots, fall)
          (leaves, fall)  (fruit clusters, winter)  (trunk, bark)  (winter twigs and buds)  (info)


    •    Three cultivars of Acer negundo:
  • Acer oblongum      [Evergreen Maple]      Common Name List
          (plant habit, small shrub)  (leafy branch)  (info)
  • Acer palmatum      [Japanese Maple]      Common Name List
          (plant habit, spring)  (leaves and flowers)  (plant habit, summer)  (leaves)
          (leaf)  (leaves and fruit, "portrait")  (plant habit, fall)  (leaves, fall)  (info)


    •    A few cultivars of Acer palmatum:    Two general "cut-leaf" forms (var.) of Acer palmatum:
        Can you identify 5 small maple trees from their leaves and fruit?    (leaves and fruit)
  • Acer pensylvanicum      [Striped or Moosewood Maple]     Common Name List
          (plant habit, young tree)  (leafy shoot)  (leaf and fruit cluster)  (leaves, variation)
          (bark)  (winter buds)  (info)
  • Acer pentaphyllum           Common Name List
          (plant habit, shrub)  (view through canopy)  (shoots)  (leaves)  (leaves)  (info)
  • Acer pictum      (syn. Acer mono)         Common Name List
          (leaves)  (trunk, bark)  (info)
  • Acer platanoides      [Norway Maple]      Common Name List
          (plant habit, spring)  (flowers, spring)  (flower)  (plant habit, summer)
          (leaves and fruit)  (leaves and fruit)  (leaf, comparison)  (terminal bud, comparison)
          (plant habit, fall)  (leaves, fall)  (trunk, bark)  (dormant twigs)  (info)


    •    A few cultivars of Acer platanoides:
  • Acer pseudoplatanus      [Planetree Maple,  Sycamore Maple]      Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (leaves and fruit clusters)  (leaf and fruit)  (leaves and fruit, "portrait")
          (leaves, fall)  (leaves and fruit, fall)  (trunk, bark)  (buds, comparison)  (info)
  • Acer rubrum      [Red Maple]      Common Name List
          (plant habit, flowering)  (flowers)  (emerging leaves and fruit)  (plant habit, early spring and summer)
          (leaves, summer)  (shoot, leaves)  (leafy shoots, fall)  (leaves, fall)  (plant habit, fall)  (leaf surfaces, fall)
          (trunk, bark)  (plant habit, winter)  (short branches and buds, winter)  (buds, winter)  (info)


    •  A few selections of Acer rubrum, see (info) above for additional common selections:
  • Acer rufinerve      [Redvein Maple]      Common Name List
          (leaves)  (buds, late summer)  (leaves and developing fruit)  (trunk, bark)
          (bark, trunk and branches)  (fruit, winter)  (winter branch and twig, buds)  (info)
  • Acer saccharinum      [Silver Maple]      Common Name List
          (plant habit, spring flowering)  (flowers)  (fruit (seeds))  (plant habit, summer)
          (leaves)  (leafy shoot)  (leaves)  (plant habit, fall)  (leaves, fall)
          (trunk, bark)  (winter twigs, buds)  (info)

  • Acer saccharum      [Sugar Maple]      Common Name List
          (flowers and expanding leaves)  (plant habit, summer)  (leaves and fruit)  (leaves and fruit)
          (leaf lobes and fruit)  (leaf, comparison)  (terminal bud, comparison)  (plant habit, fall)
          (leaves, fall)  (trunk, bark)  (winter twigs, buds)  (info)


    •   Two cultivars of Acer saccharum:
    Having trouble distinguishing between
    Norway Maple (Acer platanoides) and Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum)?
         Here are some comparisons:
          (plant habit)  (leaves and fruit)  (leaves)  (bark)  (twigs and buds)  (info)
  • Acer sempervirens        [Cretan Maple]      Common Name List
          (plant habit, spring and summer)  (plant habit, summer)  (leaves, spring)
          (leafy shoot, summer)  (leaves)  (defoliated branch, winter)  (info)
  • Acer shirasawanum             Common Name List
          (info)
  • Acer tataricum       [Tatarian Maple, Tartarian Maple]     Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (plant habit)  (leaves and flower buds)  (leaf)
          (plant habit fruiting, fruit and leaf)  (winter buds)  (info)
  • Acer tegmentosum   [Manchurian Stripebark Maple, Manchustriped Maple]   Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (leaves)  (flower cluster)  (leaf and developing fruit)  (trunk, bark)
          (twigs and buds, winter)  (info)
  • Acer triflorum   [Three Flowered Maple]   Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (plant habit)  (leaves, spring)  (leaf, summer)  (trunk, bark)  (info)
  • Acer truncatum    [Purpleblow Maple, Shantung Maple]   Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (leaves and fruit)  (plant habit, fall)  (leaves, fall)
          (trunk, bark)  (winter twig, buds)  (info)
  • Acer truncatum × Acer platanoides
  • Acer velutinum      [Velvet Maple]      Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (flower cluster and leaves)  (leaves)  (trunk, bark and winter twig, bud)  (info)
    Actinidia       Actinidiaceae
          ak-ti-NID-e-a
    Some 40 species of deciduous vines with chambered pith.  Winter buds are small and hidden in the enlarged base of the petiole.  Leaves simple, alternate, usually with long petioles.  Flowers white, yellow or reddish, usually 4-5 parted, dioecious or polygamous (unisexual or bisexual flowers borne on the same plant).  Fruit, a berry, glabrous or pubescent, round or oblong, many seeded.  Several species are grown for their edible fruit, especially A. arguta (Hardy Kiwi) and A. delicosa (Kiwifruit).  Native to eastern Asia.
    Actinidia: from the Greek aktis, a ray, a reference to the styles which radiate like the spokes of a wheel.
  • Actinidia kolomikta      [Kolomikta Actinidia]     Common Name List
          (plant habit, vine)  (plant habit, shrub)  (leaves)  (leaf)  (male flowers)
          (winter twig, buds)  (info)
    Aesculus       Hippocastanaceae (Horsechestnut or Buckeye Family)
    Buckeye, Horsechestnut       ES-ku-lus
    About 15 deciduous species of trees or shrubs.  Leaves opposite, palmately compound, 5-11 leaflets, the middle leaflet often largest.  Flowers white, yellow, pink or red in erect terminal clusters, calyx 5-lobed, 4-5 petals.  Fruit smooth, scaly, or spiny, with 1-6 seeds, seed light or dark brown with a conspicuous lighter circular patch.
    Aesculus: the classical Latin name for an oak with edible acorns, applied to this genus by Linnaeus.
  • Aesculus × carnea      [Red Flowering Horsechestnut]      Common Name List
          (plant habit, flowering)  (leaves and flower clusters)  (leaves and flower clusters, comparison)
          (flower cluster and flowers)  (developing fruit)  (plant habit, summer)  (leaves and fruit)
          (leaves)  (leaves, comparison)  (plant habit and leaves, fall)  (fruit and seeds, fall)  (trunk, bark)
          (winter buds, comparison)  (info)
  • Aesculus flava   (A. octandra)   [Yellow Buckeye]     Common Name List
          (plant habit, young tree)  (leaf)  (leaf)  (trunk, bark)  (winter twig, buds)
          (info)
  • Aesculus glabra      [Ohio Buckeye]     Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (fruit and leaves)  (plant habit, fall)  (leaf, fall)  (twig and buds, fall)
          (trunk, bark)  (info)


  • Aesculus hippocastanum       [Horsechestnut]      Common Name List
          (plant habit, spring flowering)  (flowering branches)  (flower clusters and leaves)  (flowers)
          (plant habit, summer)  (developing fruit)  (leaves and fruit)  (leaves)  (leaves, comparison)
          (fruit)  (fruit at seed drop)  (plant habit, fall)  (leaves, fall)  (fruit and seeds, fall)
          (trunk, bark)  (winter buds, comparison)  (buds, early spring)  (info)

  • Aesculus parviflora       [Bottlebrush Buckeye]      Common Name List
          (plant habit, summer flowering)  (leaves)  (flower clusters)  (flower cluster)  (info)
  • Aesculus pavia      [Red Buckeye, Red-flowering Buckeye]       Common Name List
          (plant habit, flowering)  (leaves and flower cluster)  (leaf)  (leaflet)
          (flower cluster and flowers)  (fruit)  (winter twigs, buds)  (info)
  • Aesculus sylvatica      [Painted Buckeye, Georgia Buckeye]       Common Name List
          (plant habit, flowering)  (flower clusters and leaves)  (leaves)  (fruit and leaves)
          (trunk, bark)  (plant habit, winter)   (winter twig, buds)  (info)
    Ailanthus       Simaroubaceae
          a-LAN-thus
    Five species of deciduous trees and shrubs, leaves are alternate, odd-pinnately compound, with as many as 40 leaflets, each with a few large teeth near base and a gland below.  Native to east and southeast Asia to Australia.
    Ailanthus: from ailanto, an Indonesian name for A. molucuanna or A. intergrifolia, meaning Tree of Heaven, or "reaching for the sky", referring to tree height.  Also a Latin superlative meaning very high or tallest.
  • Ailanthus altissima      [Tree of Heaven]      Common Name List
          (plant habit, summer)  (leaves)  (leaf, "portrait")  (leaflets)
          (leaf, comparison with Juglans nigra)  (male flowers and leaves)
          (female and bisexual flowers)  (bisexual flower and developing fruit)
          (plant habit, after flowering (July))  (maturing fruit (seeds))
          (leaves and fruit (seeds))  (trunk, bark)  (plant habit, winter)
          (fruit clusters, winter)  (remnant flower clusters, winter)  (buds, winter)  (info)
  • Ajuga reptans       [Carpet Bugle]      Common Name List
          (ground cover, flowering)  (plant habit, flowering)  (leaves and flowers)  (info)
    • Akebia       Lardizabalaceae
    Chocholate Vine, Akebia       a-KE-be-a
    A genus of 4-5 species of evergreen or deciduous vines.  Leaves alternate, palmately compound, 3-5 leaflets.  Flowers unisexual, male and female in the same pendulous cluster, larger female (pistilate) flowers at the base, they are without petals but rather have 3-4 petaloid sepals that are brown-violet.  Fruit are fleshy, ovoid-oblong, purple or violet.  Native to Japan, Korea, and China.  The more readily available forms are A. quinata, A. trifoliata, and a hybrid of these two known as A. × pentaphylla
    Akebia: Japanese name for the plants.
  • Akebia quinata      [Five-leaf Akebia, Five-leaf Akebin]      Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (plant habit, on wire trellis)  (leaves)  (flower cluster)  (flowers)
          (developing fruit and leaves)  (info)
    Albizia       Fabaceae, Leguminosa
          al-BIZ-ee-a
    From 100 to 150 species in the tropics and subtopics, deciduous shrubs and trees, generally fast growing, and occasionally with thorns.  Leaves are compound, bipinnate, with numerous leaflets.  Mostly native to old world tropics.  A. julibrissin is the hardiest species and very common in the more mild temperate climates.
    Albizia: after Filipppo degli Albizzia, a Florentine nobleman who introduced this genus into cultivation in Tuscany.
  • Albizia julibrissin      [Silk Tree, Mimosa Tree]      Common Name List
          (plant habit, late spring)  (plant habit, summer)  (leaf)  (leaflets)
          (leaf, comparison, summer)  (plant habit, flowering)  (plant habit, flowering)
          (branches and flowers)  (opening flower cluster)  (flowers)  (fruit development)
          (leaf, comparison, fall)  (fruit, fall)  (fruit, winter)  (winter twigs and buds)  (trunk, bark)
          (info)
    Alnus       Betulaceae
    Alder       AL-nus
    Some 35 species of deciduous trees and shrubs having stalked winter buds.  Leaves alternate, serrate or dentate, often with prominent veins, straight and parallel.  Flowers monoecious, in separate male and female catkins; male catkins longer, narrowly cylindrical, often clustered at shoot tips.  Female catkins in clusters of 1-6, short, erect, but later often spreading or pendulous and woody cone-like (but differing structurally from conifer cones).  The roots of many species from associations with soil bacteria to fix nitrogen from the air and subsequently enhance the fertility of the soil.  Native to the Northern Hemisphere from the subarctic to the Himalayas and Andes, extending into the Southern Hemisphere in Peru.
    Alnus: Latin name for alder.
  • Alnus cordata   [Italian Alder]       Common Name List
          (male catkins, spring)  (catkins and old cone)  (female catkins)
          (female catkins (developing cones))  (plant habit)  (info)
  • Alnus glutinosa   [Common Alder, Black Alder]       Common Name List
          (flower clusters and cones, spring)  (plant habit)  (leaves)  (leaves)
          (cones and leaves)  (trunk, bark)  (winter twigs; catkins, cones and buds)  (info)
  • Alnus japonica   [Japanese Alder]       Common Name List
          (plant habit, spring flowering (catkins))  (catkins)  (plant habit, summer)
          (leafy branch)  (leaves)  (leaf)  (cones and male catkins, Sept.)  (spent cones)
          (trunk, bark)  (winter twig, buds)  (info)
  • Alnus rhombifolia   [White Alder]  Native List     Common Name List
          (plant habit, spring)  (flower clusters (catkins), spring)  (plant habit, summer)
          (leafy shoot, July)  (leaf)  (leaves, comparison)  (margin, comparison)
          (developing cones, July)  (leafy shoot, Sept.)  (trunks, bark)  (older trunk, bark)
          (spent cones, comparison)  (twigs, winter)  (info)
  • Alnus rubra   [Red Alder]  Native List     Common Name List
          (flower clusters (catkins), spring)  (plant habit, summer)  (shoot)  (leaves)
          (leaf margin)  (leaves, comparison)  (leaf margin, comparison)
          (seed cone development)  (bud, twig, branch, late summer)  (trunk, bark)
          (spent cones, comparison)  (twigs, winter)  (info)
  • Alnus rugosa   (syn. Alnus incana ssp. rugosa)   [Speckled or Smooth Alder]    Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (leaves)  (young cones and leaves)  (trunk, bark)  (info)
  • Alnus sinuata   [Sitka Alder]  Native List     Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (leafy shoot)  (leaf and buds)  (leaf margin, surface)
          (leaves, cones and catkins)  (stem)  (info)
  • Alnus tenuifolia   (syn. Alnus incana ssp. tenuifolia)  [Thinleaf Alder]  Native List  Common Name List
          (info)
    Amelanchier       Rosaceae
    Serviceberry, Sarvissberry, Juneberry       am-e-LANG-keer
    About 25 species of deciduous shrubs or small trees.  Leaves alternate, simple, entire or sharply serrate.  Flowers white in small clusters (racemes), 5 petals, 10-20 stamens, and 2-5 pistils.  Fruit globose, purple to maroon.  Native to North America, Europe and Asia.
    Amelanchier: the French name for A. ovalis.
    Serviceberry:  "It is from the fruits that the Sarrvissberry takes its name, for the word is a transformation of the sorbus given by the Romans to a related kind of fruit.   Sarviss is a good Shakespearean English form of the most classic Latin, whereas Serviceberry is meaningless as a name, or is at least a genteel corruption of an older and more scholarly form." (Peattie, 1966, p. 336).
  • Amelanchier alnifolia   [Western or Pacific Serviceberry, Saskatoon Berry]  Native List
        Common Name List
          (plant habit, spring flowering)  (plant habit, spring flowering)  (flowers and leaves)
          (flower)  (leaves at petal fall)  (fruiting branches, summer)  (fruit and leaves)
          (leaves, fall)  (twig and buds, winter)  (info)
  • Amelanchier canadensis   [Shadblow, Shadblow Serviceberry, Thicket Serviceberry]  Common Name List
          (plant habit, fall)  (leaves, fall)  (twig, buds)  (info)
  • Amelanchier × grandiflora   [Apple Serviceberry]  Common Name List
          (info)


    •       Two selection of Amelanchier × grandiflora:
  • Amelanchier laevis   [Allegheny Serviceberry]  Common Name List
          (plant habit, flowering)  (flowering branches)  (young leaves and flowers)
          (flowers)  (mature leaves)  (trunks, bark)  (info)
    • Amorpha       Fabaceace (legume)   (Pea Family)
          a-MOR-fa
    A genus of some 15 species of deciduous shrubs.  Leaves alternate, compound (odd-pinnate), small leaflets, entire margins.  Flowers small, in dense terminal clusters, whitish, bluish-violet, or dark purple.  Fruit a short pod, usually 1-seeded.  Native to North America.
    Amorpah: from the Greek amorphos, deformed, shapless; alluding to the incomplete corolla, only has one petal, others aborted.
  • Amorpha nana      [Fragrant False Indigo]      Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (leafy shoot)  (leaf)  (fruit cluster and leaves)  (info)
    • Ampelopsis       Vitaceace   (Grape Family)
          am-pe-LOP-sis
    About 20-25 species of deciduous vines often having tendrils, branches have lenticels and white pith.  Leaves opposite, simple or compound.  Flowers small greenish, usually 5 parted, in long stalked clusters (cyme).  Fruit a berry with 1-4 seeds.  Native to North America and Asia.
    Ampelopsis: from the Greek ampelos, grape, and opsis, appearance, a reference to its resemblance to grape vine.
  • Ampelopsis brevipendiculata       [Porcelain Ampelopsis]      Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (plant habit)  (leaves and flowers)  (leaf)  (fruit and leaves)  (info)
    • Andromeda       Ericaceae
    Bog Rosemary       an-DROM-e-da
    Two species of low evergreen shrubs (A. glaucophylla and A. polifolia).  Leaves simple, alternate, linear-lance sphaped to oblong, short petioled.  Flowers small, white or pink, urn-shaped, 5-lobed, nodding, in terminal clusters (umbels).  Fruit a capsule, 5-segmented, somewhat spherical.  Native to cool-temperate regions of the Northen Hemisphere.
    Andromeda: after the mythological maiden who was chained to a rock as an offering to the sea-monster and rescued by Perseus.
  • Andromeda polifolia    [Bog Rosemary]    Common Name List
          (plant habit, flowering)  (flowers and leaves)  (plant habit, summer)  (info)
    Araucaria       Araucariaceae
          a-row-KAH-ree-a
    Some 20 species of evergreen trees, whorled leaves, columnar or widely branching and conical, to 200 ft (60 m) tall.  Leaves broadly-triangular to needle-like, stiff, uniformly clothing the branches.  Native to the southwestern Pacific and South America.  Probably the most common species found in U.S. commerce are A. araucana, Monkey Puzzle; A. bidwillii, Bunya-Bunya; and A. heterophylla, Norfolk Island Pine.
    Araucaria: after the Arauco Indians of central Chile, in whose territory the species A. araucana is native.
  • Araucaria araucana    [Monkey Puzzle Tree]     Common Name List
          (in habitat, Chile)  (plant habit)  (plant habit, branches, cones)  (branch, leaves)
          (trunk)  (info)
    • Arbutus       Ericaceae
          ar-BU-tus
    About 15 species of evergreen trees or shrubs (including the ornamental "strawberry trees"), bark on branches and young stems is smooth and exfoliating, often reddish.  Leaves alternate, flowers are in panicles, and the fruit is a berry-like drupe with mealy flesh, usually granular on the outside.  Found in southwest Ireland, Canary Islands, southeastern Europe, Mediterranean region, western North America, Mexico, and Central America.
    Arbutus: old Latin name, possibly for Strawberry Tree.
  • Arbutus menziesii   [Pacific Madrone]  Native List     Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (shoots and leaves)  (leaves and developing flower clusters)
          (plant habit, flowering and fruiting)  (flower clusters)  (early fruit development)
          (leaves, immature and mature fruit)  (mature fruit)  (trunks, bark)  (info)
  • Arbutus unedo      [Strawberry Tree]      Common Name List
          (plant habit, summer)  (leaves)  (plant habit, fall)  (flowers and leaves)
          (developing fruit)  (plant habit, fall)  (leaves and fruit)  (leaves and fruit)
          (bark, stem and trunk)  (info)
    • Arctostaphylos       Ericaceae
    Bearberry, Manzanita       ark-tow-STAF-i-los
    Mostly evergreen shrubs, partly procumbent, or small trees, twigs densely foliate, often curvy with smooth reddish or brownish bark. Leaves alternate, simple, usually entire and obtuse. Flowers in terminal, nodding, clusters (panicles or racemes), pitcher shaped, 8-10 stamens enclosed. Fruit a berry-like drupe with 4-10 nutlets. Some 50-70 species in Northern and Central America, mostly in California. However, two species are circumpolar (A. alpinus and A. uva-ursi).
  • Arctostaphylos bakeri subsp. bakeri      [Baker Manzanita]      Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (leafy branch)  (info)
  • Arctostaphylos canescens       [Hoary Manzanita]      Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (shoot and leaf)  (info)
  • Arctostaphylos columbiana   [Hairy Manzanita]  Native List   Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (leaves)  (developing flower clusters, fall to sping)  (plant habit, spring flowering)
          (foliage and flowers)  (flower cluster)  (immature fruit)  (leaves and fruit)  (bark)  (info)
  • Arctostaphylos densiflora   [Sonoma Manzanita]     Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (leaves)  (flowers and leaves)  (info)
  • Arctostaphylos montaraensis      [Montara Manzanita]      Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (leafy stem and leaf)  (info)
  • Arctostaphylos montereyensis      [Monterey Manzanita]      Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (leaves, growing shoot and stem)  (info)
  • Arctostaphylos nevadensis      [Pinemat Manzanita]      Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (branches and flowers)  (leaves)  (leaves and flowers)  (info)
  • Arctostaphylos patula   [Green Manzanita]  Native List   Common Name List
          (in habitat)  (plant habit, flowering)  (leaves)  (flowers and leaves)  (immature and mature fruit)
          (info)
  • Arctostaphylos pungens      [Pointleaf or Mexican Manzanita]      Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (flowers and leaves)  (info)
  • Arctostaphylos tomentosa      [Wolly or Woollyleaf Manzanita]      Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (leafy shoots)  (leaf, underside)  (info)
  • Arctostaphylos uva-ursi   [Kinnikinnik, Kinnikinick, Bearberry]  Native List   Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (branches)  (plant habit, flowering)  (flowers and leaves)
          (branches, "portrait")  (leaves and fruit)  (branches, two cultivars)  (info)
  • Arctostaphylos viridissima ‘White Cloud’  [White Cloud McMinn's Manzanita]  Common Name List
          (plant habit, flowering)  (shoot and flower cluster)  (seed cluster and stem)
          (leaves and stem)  (info)
    • Ardisia       Myrsinaceae
          ar-DIZ-i-a
    About 250 species of evergreen, small trees, shrubs, subshrubs, some more or less climbing.  Leaves simple, in spirals or whorls, short petioles, margins entire or toothed.  Flowers small, white, pink, or violet, in pendulous clusters (corymbs), calyx and corolla 5-parted, 5 stamens.  Fruit a small, globose, fleshy drupe, 1-seeded.  Native to tropical and warm temperate areas of Asia, Australia and the Americas.
    Ardisia: from Latin ardis, a point, a reference to the acutely pointed anthers.
  • Ardisia japonica     [Japanese Ardisia, Marlberry]     Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (leaves)  (flowers and fruit)  (info)
    • Aronia       Rosaceae
    Chokeberry       a-RO-nee-a
    Two species of deciduous shrubs native to North America, A. arbutifolila and A. melanocarpa, in addition there is a hybrid of these species, A. × prunifolia, which is sometimes listed as a species.   Leaves alternate, simple, crenate margins, with blackish glands on the midrib above.  Flowers white or pink, in small clusters (corymbs), 5 petals, anthers purple, 5 pistils.  Fruit is a small pome, with persistent calyx tips.
    Aronia: from the Greek aria, a name for Whitebeam, Sorbus aria, the fruit of which resembles that of Aronia.
  • Aronia arbutifolia ‘Brilliantissima’       [Brilliant Red Chokeberry]       Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (leaves)  (flowers)  (plant habit and ripening fruit, fall)  (fruit, winter)  (info)
  • Aronia melanocarpa      [Black Chokeberry]       Common Name List
          (plant habit, spring flowering)  (flowers and leaves)  (leaves, flowers and fruit)
          (leaves and fruit, summer)  (fall color)  (leaves, fall)  (leaves and fruit, fall)
          (plant habit, winter)  (fruit and buds, winter)  (twig and buds, winter)  (info)
    Artemisia       Compositae, Asteraceae
    Sagebrush, Woodworm       ar-te-MIZ-i-a
    Some 400 species of annuals, perennials, subshrubs, and shrubs, occassionally tree-like, usually aromatic.  Leaves alternate, from simple unlobed to more commonly palmately and pinnately compound, often whitish-silver, hairy.   Generally many small flowers per cluster.
    Artemisia: after the Greek goddess Artemis.
  • Artemisia tridentata   [Big Sagebrush]  Native List    Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (branches, preflowering)  (leaves)  (plant habit, late summer)  (branches)
          (flower buds and leaves)  (flowers and leaves, fall)  (in habitat, fall)  (plant habit, fall)
          (fruit clusters, fall)  (info)
    • Asimina       Annonaceae
    Pawpaw, Custard Apple       a-SIM-i-na
    A genus of 10 or so species of evergreen or deciduous shrubs or small trees.  Leaves alternate, simple, relatively large.  Flowers axillary, solitary or few, nodding, on short stalks.  Fruit one or a few oval to oblong berries with large seeds in 1 or 2 ranks.  Native to North America, most speices found in soutern regions, especially Florida.
    Asimina: a Latinize version of a French form of a Native American name.
  • Asimina triloba      [Common PawPaw]     Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (leafy branches)  (leaves)  (flowers)  (fruit and leaves)
          (plant habit, fall)  (leaves, fall)  (dormant twig, buds)  (info)
    • Atriplex       Chenopodiaceae
    Salt Bush, Orach       AH-tri-plex
    A genus of some 100 species of shrubs, subshrubs, or annuals which are usually gray or white.  Leaves alternate or opposite, flat, toothed or lobed, sometimes entire.  Flowers small, usually unisexual, in terminal clusters.  Widely distributed in temperate and subtropical regions, often in deserts and salt marshes, adapted to alkaline or high salt conditions.
    Atriplex: Latin name for these plants.
  • Atriplex hymenelytra      [Desert Holly]     Common Name List
          (in its habitat)  (leaves)  (leaves and fruit)  (info)
    • Aucuba       Cornaceae (Dogwood Family)
    Aucuba       aw-KU-ba
    A genus of 3-4 species of broadleaf, evergreen, dioecious shrubs or small trees, forming a rounded habit; thriving in almost any soil or situation.  Leaves opposite, lanceolate, glossy, entire or serrate.  Includes A. chinensis, shrub; A. himalaica, tree; and the much more common A. japonica.
    Aucuba: the Japanese name for the plant.
  • Aucuba japonica      [Japanese Aucuba]     Common Name List
          (plant habit)  (leaves and fruit)  (fruiting branch, "portrait")  (info)

       Several variegated selections of Aucuba japonica:
    Azara       Flacourtiaceae
    Azara       a-ZA-rah
    Ten speices of evergreen shrubs or small trees with small, petalless, fragrant flowers.  Leaves simple, alternate or sub-opposite, usually glossy, margins entire or toothed.  Native to South America, esp