A herby, short-lived shrub to about 2 m tall with reddish stems and deeply, palmately lobed leaves. Okra is widely cultivated for its immature, pentagonal seed pods that are cooked and eaten as a vegetable. Abelmoschus esculentus is a perennial in tropical regions and grown as an annual in temperate..
A small tree with a spreading crown of finely pinnate, silvery leaves and bright yellow, strongly scented puffball-like flowers. The cultivar "Purpurea" has beautiful purple new foliage. Originally native to New South Wales, Australia, Acacia baileyana is widely grown elsewhere in temperate climates..
This unusual forest palm from high altitudes (to 2000 m (6600 ft.)) on Réunion Island (Mascarene Islands) has been reduced from populations with uncountable numbers of trees in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to a dangerous level by the uncontrolled collection of its edible "cabbage" in the ..
A rare, tall Acanthophoenix that was discovered on the island of Réunion some years ago and has been newly described only in 2006 (see PALMS Vol 50(2)). It grows in a drier habitat in Trois-Mares in the southeast of the island at moderate altitude between 600 and 850 m (2000 to 2800 ft.). It is simi..
This solitary palm has a slender, reddish brown trunk, a well-developed, velvety, reddish brown crownshaft that is armed with long spines when young but unarmed in older plants, and elegantly arching, pinnate leaves that are whitish below. Seedlings are densely covered in small, soft spines and have..
A small, deciduous tree, rarely more than 5 m tall with lobed leaves that turn intensely red in autumn. Acer ginnala is widespread in eastern Asia and makes a wonderful and extremely cold hardy ornamental for temperate climates...
A small, deciduous tree with smooth bark, slender, spreading branches and small, palmately lobed, light green leaves. The leaves turn bright red to pinkish, orange or maroon in autumn. Acer palmatum is native to the understory of woodlands in Japan and Korea. It has a long history of cultivation in ..
A small, deciduous tree with smooth bark, slender, spreading branches and small, palmately lobed, red to maroon leaves. Acer palmatum is native to the understory of woodlands in Japan and Korea. It has a long history of cultivation in these countries and makes a stellar and widely popular ornamental..
A beautiful, large tree to 35 m tall with a well branched crown and small, lobed leaves that turn a stunning yellow and red in autumn. Acer saccharum is widesperad and common in northeastern North America and the source of maple syrup, which is obtained by tapping the trunk in Winter and boiling dow..
Aciphylla is a most unusual genus of plants, native to New Zealand with one exception. It belongs in the Apiaceae and is thus related to carrot, parsley, dill, celery etc. In appearance however, Aciphylla has little in common with these vegetables but rather has thick, very hard, spiky foliage in ro..
Even though one of the more commonly seen palms in New Caledonia, where it is found in rainforests at low and high elevations to 1100 m (3600 ft.), mostly in the southern half of the island, Actinokentia is definitely rare in cultivation, mainly because of the lack of seeds for propagation. It is sl..
Even though one of the more commonly seen palms in New Caledonia, where it is found in rainforests at low and high elevations to 1100 m (3600 ft.), mostly in the southern half of the island, Actinokentia is definitely rare in cultivation, mainly because of the lack of seeds for propagation. It is sl..
Already highly popular and much sought after in Asia, this beautiful form of the popular Christmas palm has a crownshaft and leaves tinged with a fantastic yellowish-golden color. A great ornamental for the tropics. Seeds are rarely available...
An attractive, usually epiphytic bromeliad native to rainforests in Central and South America between Honduras and Bolivia, usually at low to medium elevations but in Colombia found to 2000 m. It forms an upright rosette of broad, pale green leaves with prickly edges and a long-lasting, very colorfu..
A very large bromeliad native to forests from the Caribbean to Central and northern South America, where it is found growing on trees and cliff faces. It has broad, straplike, green leaves with spiny margins and upright, pinkish red inflorescences. Aechmea aquilega makes a bold plant for the tropica..
A large, epiphytic bromeliad native to the Atlantic Coastal Forest in southeastern and southern Brazil. It has broad, straplike, green leaves with a silvery sheen and smooth margins and produces an upright, pink inflorescence with blue flowers. Aechmea coelestis makes a great ornamental for the trop..
A large, epiphytic bromeliad, widely distributed but uncommon in deciduous and semideciduous forests between sea level and 1700 m from central Mexico throughout Cental America and south to Ecuador. It has broad, straplike, green leaves with toothed margins and produces an upright, whitish wooly infl..
An artificial first generation (F1) hybrid between the extremely fast growing Trachycarpus sp. 'Nova' and the fabulous Trachycarpus princeps. The resulting palms will be tall, very fast growing plants...
An artificial first generation (F1) hybrid on a female Trachycarpus wagnerianus, hand-pollinated with pollen of the rare Trachycarpus ukhrulensis that has been flowering for the first time in Europe. ...
A beautiful, small, dry deciduous tree native to scrub and woodlands and coastal dune forest in southeastern South Africa that sports coppery-colored, papery, flaking bark and large, pinnate leaves. I...