Plants for a Plant Zoo: Wolfsbane (Aconitum napellus)
Karen Wolfbane has a long a interesting history. According to legend aconite grew on the hill where Hercules fought Cerberus, the three headed dog that guarded the underworld. The dog’s spittle…
Plant Profile: Tatarian orachea (Atriplex tatarica)
Native to saline and alkaline deserts of Middle and western Central Asia, Asia Minor, North Africa, and Eastern Europe, this annual shrub is a member of the amaranth family, Amaranthaceae,…
Plant Profile: Common Horsetail (Equisetum arvense)
Also known as scouring rush, this is a herbaceous perennial that bears spores rather than seeds and is more closely related to ferns than to seed bearing or flowering plants.…
Plant Profile: Camel Thorn (Alhagi maurorum)
Also known as Caspian manna and Persian manna plant, this deciduous shrub is indigenous to temperate and tropical Eurasia and the Middle East where it grows in both wetlands and…
Plant Profile: White Weeping Broom (Retama raetam aka Genista raetam)
This dense, deciduous, flowering shrub is native to arid regions of northern Africa from the Western Sahara to Sudan, Sicily, the Sinai Peninsula, the Palestine region and Saudi Arabia. It…
Plant Profile: Common Reed (Phragmites australis aka P. communis)
Native to temperate wetlands world wide, this perennial aquatic grass is a member of the grass family, Poaceae, that also includes corn, rice, and bamboo. It is a vigorous grower…
Plant Profile: Red Acacia (Vachellia seyal aka Acacia seyal)
Also known as shittah tree, this evergreen tree is native to parts of northern Africa including Senegal, and Egypt where it grows in woodlands, wooded grassland, subtropical and tropical deserts,…
Plant Profile: Tumbling Saltbush (Atriplex rosea)
Also known as red orach, redscale, and tumbling orach this annual shrub is native to Eurasia but has been introduced to many areas including the US especially in the West.…
Plant Profile: Desert Tamarix (Tamarix tetragyna)
Also known as 4-stamen tamarix and salt cedar, this evergreen tree is native to coastal areas of the eastern Mediterrea,n to Iran and the Arabian Peninsula, where it grows in…
Plant Profile: Bear’s Paw (Cotyledon tomentosa subsp. tomentosa)
Native to the semi-desert Little Karoo region of South Africa, this succulent, evergreen. perennial shrub is a member of the stonecrop family, Crassulaceae, that also includes sedum, jade plant, and…