Primrose — Primula is a genus of 400-500 species of low-growing herbs in the family Primulaceae. They include primrose, auricula, cowslip and oxlip. Many species are grown for their ornamental flowers. They are native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere, south into high altitude tropical mountains in Ethiopia, Indonesia and New Guinea, and are also found in temperate southern South America. …

Potato — Potato is the term which applies either to the starchy tuberous root vegetable crop from the perennial plant Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae, or nightshade, family, or to the plant itself. Potato is the world’s most widely grown tuber crop, and the fourth largest food crop in terms of fresh produce — after rice, wheat, and maize (corn). …

Poppy — A poppy is any of a number of showy flowers, typically with one per stem, belonging to the poppy family. They include a number of attractive wildflower species with showy flowers found growing singularly or in large groups; many species are also grown in gardens. Those that are grown in gardens include large plants used in a mixed …

Poison Ivy — Toxicodendron radicans (syn. Rhus toxicodendron, Rhus radicans; Poison ivy) is a plant in the family Anacardiaceae. The name is sometimes spelled “Poison-ivy” in an attempt to indicate that the plant is not a true Ivy (Hedera). It is a woody vine that is well known for its ability to produce urushiol, a skin irritant that causes an …

Poison Hemlock — Poison Hemlock, Conium is a genus of two species of perennial herbaceous flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to Europe and the Mediterranean region (C. maculatum), and to southern Africa (C. chaerophylloides). By far the most familiar species is Conium maculatum (Hemlock or Poison Hemlock), the most common of several species of hemlock noted for their …

Philodendron — Philodendron is a large genus of flowering plants from the arum family (Araceae), consisting of close to 1000 or more species according to TROPICOS (a service of the Missouri Botanical Garden). Taxonomically it is still poorly known with many undescribed species. Many are grown as ornamental and indoor plants. The name derives from the Greek philo or “love” …

Petunia — Petunia is a, trumpet shaped, widely-cultivated genus of flowering plants of South American origin, in the family Solanaceae. The popular flower got its name from French, which took the word petun ‘tobacco’ from a Tupi-Guarani language. Most of the varieties seen in gardens are hybrids (Petunia x hybrida). The origin of P. x hybrida is thought the be …

Persimmon — A Persimmon is a fruit of a number of species of trees of the genus Diospyros in the ebony wood family (Ebenaceae), and the edible fruit borne by them. The word persimmon is derived from putchamin, pasiminan, or pessamin, from Powhatan, an Algonquian language (related to Blackfoot, Cree and Mohican) of the eastern United States, meaning “a dry …

Pepper (Spice) — Black pepper (Piper nigrum) is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The same fruit is also used to produce white pepper, red/pink pepper, and green pepper. Black pepper is native to South India and is extensively cultivated there and elsewhere in …

Peony — The peony or paeony (Paeonia) is the sole genus in the flowering plant family Paeoniaceae. They are native to Asia, southern Europe and western North America. Most are herbaceous perennial plants 0.5–1.5 metres tall, but some are woody shrubs up to 1.5–3 metres tall. They have compound, deeply lobed leaves, and large, often fragrant flowers, ranging from red …