Candytuft — Iberis is a genus of flowering plant belonging to the family Brassicaceae. It comprises herbs and subshrubs of the Old World. These species are commonly known as candytufts. Used in Homeopathy for nervousness and muscle soreness. According to the US Dispensatory (1918)the leaves, stem, and root are said to possess medicinal properties, but the seeds are most efficacious. …

Cacao — Cacao (Theobroma cacao) is a small (4-8 m tall (15-26 ft)) evergreen tree in the family Sterculiaceae (alternatively Malvaceae), native to the deep tropical region of the Americas. There are two prominent competing theories about the origins of the original wild Theobroma cacao tree. One group of proponents believe wild examples were originally distributed from southeastern Mexico to …

Cabbage — The cabbage (Brassica oleracea Capitata Group) is a plant of the Family Brassicaceae (or Cruciferae). It is a herbaceous, biennial, and dicotyledonous flowering plant with leaves forming a characteristic compact cluster. Cabbages grown late in autumn and in the beginning of winter are called coleworts. The cabbage is derived from a leafy wild mustard plant, native to the …

Bugbane — Actaea (baneberry or bugbane) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Ranunculaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The genus is closely related to Cimicifuga and Souliea, and many botanists include those genera within Actaea (e.g. Compton et al. 1998, Compton & Culham 2002, Gao et al. 2006, RHS Plant Finder, 2007) based …

Buckwheat — Buckwheat refers to plants in two genera of the family Polygonaceae: the Eurasian genus Fagopyrum, and the North American genus Eriogonum. The crop plant, common buckwheat, is Fagopyrum esculentum. Tartary buckwheat (F. tataricum Gaertn.) or “bitter buckwheat” is also used as a crop, but it is much less common. Despite the common name and the grain-like use of …

Buckthorn — The Buckthorns (Rhamnus) are a genus (or two genera, if Frangula is treated as distinct) of about 100 species of shrubs or small trees from 1-10 m tall (rarely to 15 m), in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. They are native throughout the temperate and subtropical Northern Hemisphere, and also more locally in the subtropical Southern Hemisphere in parts …

Buckeye — The genus Aesculus comprises 20–25 species of deciduous trees and shrubs native to the temperate northern hemisphere, with 7–10 species native to North America and 13–15 species native in Eurasia; there are also several natural hybrids. They have traditionally been treated in their own usually monogeneric family Hippocastanaceae, but genetic evidence has led to this family, along with …

Brussels Sprouts — The Brussels (or brussels or brussel) sprout (Brassica oleracea Gemmifera Group) of the Brassicaceae family, is a cultivar group of Wild Cabbage cultivated for its small (typically 2.5 – 4cm, 1 – 1.5 inches diameter) leafy green heads, which resemble miniature cabbages. The name stems from the original place of cultivation, not because of the vegetable’s popularity …

Broccoli — Broccoli is a plant of the Cabbage family, Brassicaceae (formerly Cruciferae). It is classified as the Italica Cultivar Group of the species Brassica oleracea. Broccoli possesses abundant fleshy flower heads, usually green in colour, arranged in a tree-like fashion on branches sprouting from a thick, edible stalk. The large mass of flower heads is surrounded by leaves. Broccoli …

Bristlecone pine — The bristlecone pines are a small group of pine trees (Family Pinaceae, genus Pinus, subsection Balfourianae) that can reach an age far greater than that of any other single living organism known, up to nearly 5,000 years. Bristlecone pines grow in isolated groves at and just below the tree line. Because of cold temperatures, dry soils, high …