Plants & Trees Encyclopedia

Dogbane — Apocynum is a genus with about seven species, commonly known as Dogbane and Indian Hemp. The genus occurs throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere, except for being absent from western Europe. Apocynum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Mouse Moth. Dogbane, Apocynum, or Indian hemp, is an herb of …

Deutzia — Deutzia is a genus of about 60 species of shrubs in the family Hydrangeaceae, native to eastern and central Asia (from the Himalaya east to Japan and the Philippines), and Central America and also Europe. By far the highest species diversity is in China, where 50 species occur. The species are shrubs ranging from 1-4 m in height. …

Dieffenbachia — Dieffenbachia is a genus of tropical plants in the Family Marantaceae noted for their patterned leaves. Members of this genus are popular as houseplants because of their tolerance to shade. The Dieffenbachia is often referred to as the “King of Plants”. The cells of the Dieffenbachia plant contain needle-shaped calcium oxalate crystals called raphides. If a leaf is …

Day Lily — Daylilies comprise the small genus Hemerocallis of flowering plants in the family Hemerocallidaceae. They are not true lilies which are Lilium in Liliaceae. Daylilies are not commonly used as cut flowers for formal flower arranging, yet they make good cut flowers otherwise as new flowers continue to open on cut stems over several days. Originally native from …

Daisy — The family Asteraceae or Compositae, known as the aster, daisy or sunflower family, is the second largest family of flowering plants, after Orchidaceae, in terms of number of species. The name ‘Asteraceae’ is derived from the type genus Aster, while ‘Compositae’, an older but still valid name, means composite and refers to the peculiar inflorescence. According to the …

Delphinium — Delphinium is a genus of about 250 species of annual, biennial or perennial flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere and also on the high mountains of tropical Africa. The common name, shared with the closely related genus Consolida, is Larkspur. The leaves are deeply lobed with 3-7 toothed, pointed lobes. The main …

Date — The Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera) is a palm in the genus Phoenix, extensively cultivated for its edible fruit. Due to its long history of cultivation for fruit, its exact native distribution is unknown, but probably originated somewhere in the desert oases of northern Africa, and perhaps also southwest Asia. It is a medium-sized tree, 15–25 m tall, often …

Dahlia — Dahlia is a genus of bushy, tuberous, perennial plants native to Mexico, Central America, and Colombia. There at least 36 species of Dahlia. Dahlia hybrids are commonly grown as garden plants. The Aztecs gathered and cultivated the dahlia for food, ceremony, as well as decorative purposes, and the long woody stem of one variety was used for small …

Daffodil — Narcissus is the botanic name for a genus of mainly hardy, mostly spring-flowering, bulbs in the Amaryllis family native to Europe, North Africa, and Asia. There are also several Narcissus species that bloom in the autumn. Though Hortus Third cites 26 wild species, Daffodils for North American Gardens cites between 50 and 100 excluding species variants and wild …

Cypress — Cypress is the name applied to many plants in the conifer family Cupressaceae (cypress family). Most plants which bear the common name cypress are in the genera Cupressus and Chamaecyparis, but several other genera in the family also carry the name. The Cupressaceae or cypress family is a conifer family with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27 to …