Plant Profile: Wild Jujube (Ziziphus lotus)
Karen Also known as lotus tree, this deciduous shrub or small tree is a member of the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae, and is native to the arid and semi arid areas of…
Plants of Colonial Williamsburg: Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare aka Chrysanthemum vulgare)
Tansy is a perennial herb and a member of the aster family, Asteraceae, that also includes daisy, yarrow, and lettuce. It is native to Europe and Asia but was introduced…
Plant Profile: Red Sandalwood (Pterocarpus santalinus)
Endemic to the dry deciduous forests in the southern Eastern Ghats in South India, red sandalwood is also know as red sanders, Rakt Chandan, and saunderswood. It is a member…
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: 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,…
Plants of the Bible: Egyptian Balsam (Balanites aegyptiaca)
Egyptian balsam is a shrub or small tree native to much of Africa and parts of the the Middle East where it grows in arid and sub-arid tropics and subtropics…
Plant Profile: Chameleon Plant (Houttuynia cordata)
Native to Southeast Asia, this herbaceous perennial is known by many names including fish mint, rainbow plant, heart leaf and Chinese lizard tail. A member of the lizard-tail family, Saururaceae,…
Plants of the Bible: Eaglewood (Aquilaria agallocha aka A. malaccensis)
Also known as agarwood, this large evergreen tree is native to Northeast India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and parts of Southeast where it grows as an undercanopy tree mainly in the plains…
Plant Profile: Black Nightshade (Solanum nigrum)
Also known as hounds berry, black nightshade is an annual or short-lived perennial native to wooded areas and disturbed sites of Europe and Asia but is found in the United…