Complete Plant Guide

English Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) is a fragrant perennial shrub native to the Mediterranean region of Europe. Beloved worldwide for its distinctive purple flower spikes and calming scent, it is one of the most widely cultivated aromatic plants, used in cosmetics, aromatherapy, culinary arts, and traditional medicine.

1874

French Lavender

Lavandula dentata

Medium 💧 14 days ☀️ Direct sun

Lavandula dentata, commonly known as French Lavender or Fringed Lavender, is an aromatic evergreen shrub native to the Mediterranean region. It is recognized by its distinctive grey-green toothed leaves and tall purple bottlebrush flower spikes topped with sterile bracts. Highly drought-tolerant, fast-growing, and long-lived, it thrives in full sun with well-draining soil and is prized for its ornamental value, fragrance, and medicinal properties.

1875

Spike Lavender

Lavandula latifolia

Spike lavender is a bushy, evergreen Mediterranean sub-shrub native to Spain, Portugal and southern France. Compared to English lavender, it has broader, grey-green leaves and single, unbranched flower spikes carried on tall stems. It produces the most potent, camphor-rich essential oil of all lavenders and is one of the two parent species used to create lavandin hybrids.

1876

Lavender

Lavandula sp

Lavender (Lavandula sp) is a perennial aromatic shrub from the Lamiaceae family, native to the Mediterranean region. Celebrated for its distinctive fragrance and vibrant purple blooms, it is widely cultivated for ornamental, medicinal, and essential oil production. It thrives in hot, dry climates and is one of the most beloved aromatic plants in the world.

1877

Spanish Lavender

Lavandula stoechas

Easy 💧 10 days ☀️ Bright indirect

Spanish Lavender (Lavandula stoechas) is a compact Mediterranean shrub known for its distinctive purple bracts resembling rabbit ears atop each flower spike. Its silvery, fragrant foliage resembles rosemary. Highly drought-tolerant once established, it thrives in full sun gardens and containers.

1878

Lavandin

Lavandula x intermedia

Lavandin (Lavandula x intermedia) is a sterile hybrid between English lavender (L. angustifolia) and spike lavender (L. latifolia), widely grown across Provence for essential oil production and as a garden ornamental. It forms an aromatic, gray-green shrub with tall purple flower spikes from midsummer to early fall, attracting bees and butterflies.

1879

Rose Mallow

Lavatera trimestris

Easy 💧 12 days ☀️ Direct sun

Lavatera trimestris, commonly known as Rose Mallow or Annual Mallow, is a fast-growing annual plant native to the Mediterranean region. It produces an abundance of large, saucer-shaped flowers in shades of white, pink, and deep rose throughout summer and fall. Growing up to 3-4 feet tall, it is a stunning addition to cottage gardens and borders.

1880

Henna

Lawsonia inermis

Henna (Lawsonia inermis) is a fast-growing evergreen shrub native to North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. It can reach up to 7 meters in height in its natural habitat, with dense branches that develop thorns in mature specimens. Its small flowers, with a scent similar to tea rose, bloom in spring and summer in shades of white, cream, and pink. It is world-renowned for the reddish dye contained in its leaves, lawsone, used for millennia to decorate skin, hair, and nails. In addition to its enormous cosmetic and cultural value, the plant possesses well-documented medicinal properties. It thrives in warm climates, well-drained soils, and full sun, and is highly drought-tolerant once established.

Hard 💧 3 days ☀️ Low light

1881

Brown Birch Bolete

Leccinum scabrum

The Brown Birch Bolete (Leccinum scabrum) is a widespread and highly regarded edible mushroom belonging to the Boletaceae family. It features a grayish-brown to dark brown cap that is slightly sticky to the touch, and a characteristic white stem covered in dark scales. This fungus grows in symbiosis with birch trees, forming a mycorrhizal relationship with them.

1882

Paradise Nut

Lecythis pisonis

Hard 💧 7 days ☀️ Direct sun

Lecythis pisonis, commonly known as the Paradise Nut or Monkey Pot, is a majestic tropical tree in the family Lecythidaceae, native to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and Amazon rainforest. It is famous for its distinctive urn-shaped wooden fruit pods — the "monkey pots" — from which monkeys extract the edible seeds. The tree can reach up to 40 meters tall in forest conditions. Its seeds are similar to Brazil nuts but with a softer, creamier texture and milder flavor.

1883

Silver Squill

Ledebouria

Easy 💧 10 days ☀️ Bright indirect

Ledebouria is a genus of roughly 65 species of bulbous perennial herbs in the subfamily Scilloideae (family Asparagaceae), most of which were formerly classified within Scilla. Native mainly to sub-Saharan Africa, with South Africa as the center of diversity, these geophytes form basal rosettes of lance-shaped leaves, frequently patterned with silver, purple, or green mottling, growing from teardrop-shaped bulbs that sit partly above the soil surface. The most widely cultivated species, Ledebouria socialis (silver squill/leopard lily), is prized as a low-maintenance houseplant for its decorative variegated foliage.

1884

Cooper's False Scilla

Ledebouria cooperi

Easy 💧 12 days ☀️ Bright indirect

Ledebouria cooperi is a charming deciduous bulbous perennial native to South Africa. It produces narrow, lance-shaped leaves adorned with distinctive purple spots and stripes on an olive-green background, growing up to 25 cm tall. In spring and summer, it sends up graceful drooping racemes of small, star-shaped pink to lilac flowers. This low-maintenance bulb forms dense colonies through underground stolons and is prized as both a houseplant and garden specimen.

1885

Silver Squill

Ledebouria socialis

Easy 💧 21 days ☀️ Bright indirect

Ledebouria socialis, commonly known as Silver Squill, is a charming bulbous houseplant native to the Eastern Cape of South Africa. It features striking lance-shaped leaves with silvery-green spotting on a purple-flushed underside, giving it a leopard-like pattern. The exposed teardrop-shaped bulbs sit above the soil surface, and in spring and summer it sends up delicate pink-and-green flower spikes. It is a remarkably low-maintenance plant that thrives on neglect, making it an ideal choice for beginner plant enthusiasts.

1886

Marsh Labrador Tea

Ledum palustre

Hard 💧 3 days ☀️ Partial shade

Marsh Labrador Tea (Ledum palustre, syn. Rhododendron tomentosum) is a characteristic low-growing evergreen shrub of peat bogs, marshes, and coniferous forests in the Northern Hemisphere. Its leathery leaves, which curl back at the edges, have a dense, rusty-brown felt-like indumentum on their undersides, distinguishing it from similar rhododendron species. In late spring to early summer, small white flowers bloom in umbrella-like clusters, emitting a strong, intoxicating scent. All parts of the plant contain toxic diterpenes (ledol) and grayanotoxins, which can cause severe poisoning, dizziness, convulsions, and loss of consciousness if consumed in large quantities. As a traditional medicinal herb, it was only used in extremely small doses and externally.

1887

Red Leea

Leea guineensis

Easy 💧 5 days ☀️ Low light

Leea guineensis, commonly known as Red Leea or West African Leea, is a lush tropical shrub belonging to the Vitaceae family, native to the tropical rainforests of West Africa and tropical Asia. It grows in a compact and upright manner, reaching up to 3 meters in height in cultivation. Its dense and glossy foliage often features shades of bronze, dark green, or deep burgundy, especially in the 'Rubra' variety. Under ideal conditions, it produces characteristic umbrella-shaped (umbel) inflorescences with small flowers ranging from red to orange and yellow, followed by rounded fruits that ripen from purple to scarlet red. It is an understory plant adapted to partial or full shade, making it excellent for spacious interiors, shaded tropical gardens, and as an ornamental specimen in pots.

1888

Common Duckweed

Lemna minor

Easy ☀️ Partial shade

Common Duckweed (Lemna minor) is one of the smallest flowering plants in the world. It floats freely on the surface of still or slow-moving freshwater bodies, forming dense green mats. Cosmopolitan in distribution, it is found in ponds, lakes, and aquariums worldwide.

1889

Rough Hawkbit

Leontodon hispidus

Leontodon hispidus, commonly known as Rough Hawkbit, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Asteraceae, native to grasslands and meadows across Europe and Asia. It produces dandelion-like yellow flower heads from June to September, making it a valuable nectar source for bees, butterflies, and other pollinators.

1890

Lesser Hawkbit

Leontodon saxatilis

Hard 💧 10 days ☀️ Direct sun

Leontodon saxatilis, commonly known as Lesser Hawkbit or Hairy Hawkbit, is a low-growing perennial wildflower in the family Asteraceae. It forms a basal rosette of lobed, bristly-haired leaves from which emerge slender, leafless stems bearing solitary bright yellow flowerheads that closely resemble a small dandelion. Native to Europe and North Africa, it thrives in grassy habitats on sandy, calcareous or well-drained soils and flowers prolifically from June through October.

1891

Edelweiss

Leontopodium nivale

Edelweiss (Leontopodium nivale) is a perennial alpine plant from the Asteraceae family, native to the high mountain ranges of Europe — the Alps, Carpathians, Pyrenees, Balkans, and Apennines — where it grows on limestone rocks and scree at altitudes of 1800-3400 m. The flowering stems, 3-20 cm tall (up to 40 cm in cultivation), bear small yellow flowers grouped in a 5-6 ray star shape, surrounded by white bracts densely covered with fine hairs that protect the plant from cold, drought, and intense ultraviolet radiation at high altitudes. It has been a legally protected species in Romania since 1933, declared a monument of nature.

1892

Five-lobed Motherwort

Leonurus quinquelobatus

Easy 💧 7 days ☀️ Bright indirect

Leonurus quinquelobatus is a perennial herbaceous medicinal plant belonging to the mint family (Lamiaceae), found across much of Eurasia, from Sakhalin to Central Europe and Italy. It is a close relative of Common Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca), with which it is often confused, but its palmately divided leaves with five distinct lobes serve as a characteristic identifier. The plant can grow up to 1-1.5 meters tall, featuring square, pubescent stems and pale pink-purple flowers that bloom in axillary whorls between June and August. It thrives best in sunny to partially shaded locations with nutrient-rich, well-drained soil and can live in the same spot for decades. Traditionally known as 'heartwort' or 'strengthening herb,' its flowering shoots have been used since ancient times to soothe heart palpitations and support the female reproductive system.

1893

Lesser Swinecress

Lepidium didymum

Easy 💧 4 days ☀️ Bright indirect

Lesser swinecress (Lepidium didymum, syn. Coronopus didymus) is an annual or biennial herb in the Brassicaceae family, native to South America (Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela) and now naturalized throughout most of the world. It forms a basal rosette from which highly branched, decumbent or ascending stems emerge, reaching up to 40 cm in length. The leaves are alternate and pinnatifid with narrow segments, and the entire plant emits a strong, characteristic odor when crushed. The flowers are tiny, whitish or nearly petal-less, gathered in racemes, giving rise to the bilobed fruits typical of the Lepidium genus. It is common in disturbed ground, roadsides, gardens, lawns, and cultivated areas, where it behaves as a vigorous, fast-growing spontaneous plant.

Hard 💧 2 days ☀️ Low light

1894

Chestnut Dapperling

Lepiota castanea

Lepiota castanea, known as the 'Chestnut Dapperling', is a small, saprophytic mushroom from the Agaricaceae family. It is characterized by a cap covered with small, chestnut-brown scales arranged concentrically on a whitish background. Although its appearance is delicate, this species is extremely dangerous, containing amatoxins similar to those found in Amanita phalloides.

1895

Lepismium cruciforme

Medium 💧 10 days ☀️ Bright indirect

Lepismium cruciforme, commonly known as the Hurricane Cactus, is a striking epiphytic cactus native to the rainforests of South America. Unlike typical desert cacti, it grows on trees and features long, segmented stems that are often three-angled or flat. Under bright light, the foliage can take on a beautiful reddish-purple hue. It produces small, delicate flowers along the stem margins, followed by ornamental berry-like fruits.

1896

Manuka

Leptospermum scoparium

Medium 💧 10 days ☀️ Direct sun

Leptospermum scoparium, commonly known as Manuka or New Zealand Tea Tree, is an evergreen shrub native to New Zealand and southeast Australia. It is widely recognized for its delicate five-petaled flowers and small, pointed, intensely aromatic leaves. This plant is the primary source for the production of the famous Manuka honey, valued worldwide for its unique antibacterial properties.

Medium 💧 3 days ☀️ Low light

1897

Redlead Roundhead

Leratiomyces ceres

Leratiomyces ceres, commonly known as the 'Redlead Roundhead', is a striking mushroom recognizable by its bright red to brick-red cap. It frequently appears on woodchip mulch in urban gardens and parks. Although visually attractive, it is considered poisonous and must not be consumed.

1898

Golden Conebush

Leucadendron laureolum

Hard 💧 9 days ☀️ Direct sun

Leucadendron laureolum, the golden conebush, is a hardy evergreen shrub native to the fynbos of South Africa's southwestern Cape. Reaching 1-2 m tall on a single woody stem, it produces vivid yellow-green flowerheads formed by leafy bracts that blaze through the winter months. Male and female plants look distinct: compact, golden-hued males and looser, greener females that mature into woody, fire-resistant seed cones. This adaptation lets the plant survive wildfires common to its habitat, releasing its stored seed to regenerate the landscape afterward.

1899

Leadtree

Leucaena leucocephala

Easy 💧 12 days ☀️ Direct sun

Leucaena leucocephala is an extremely fast-growing leguminous tree native to Mexico and Central America. It is widely recognized for its delicate, feathery foliage, white globular flowers, and long seed pods. It is a valuable pioneer species for reclaiming degraded soils due to its nitrogen-fixing ability, although it can become invasive in tropical climates if not properly managed.

1900

Shasta Daisy

Leucanthemum

Easy 💧 7 days ☀️ Bright indirect

Leucanthemum is a genus of herbaceous perennials in the Asteraceae family, native to Europe and Asia. The most cultivated species are L. × superbum (Shasta daisy) and L. vulgare (oxeye daisy). They produce classic white flowers with golden-yellow centers, blooming from spring through summer. Hardy, low-maintenance, and beloved in gardens and as cut flowers.

1901

Shasta daisy

Leucanthemum × superbum

Shasta daisy (Leucanthemum × superbum) is a popular hybrid herbaceous perennial prized for its large white, daisy-like flowers with golden-yellow centers. Bred by horticulturist Luther Burbank, it blooms profusely from late spring through early fall and is relatively easy to grow.

1902

Oxeye Daisy

Leucanthemum ircutianum

Leucanthemum ircutianum, commonly known as the oxeye daisy, is a herbaceous perennial in the Asteraceae family, native to Eurasia. It produces iconic white-petalled flowers with a golden-yellow central disc, blooming from spring through autumn. A hardy, low-maintenance wildflower, it is highly attractive to pollinators including bees, butterflies, and hoverflies.

1903

Max Chrysanthemum

Leucanthemum maximum

Leucanthemum maximum, commonly known as the max chrysanthemum or great daisy, is a herbaceous perennial in the Asteraceae family, native to the Pyrenees mountains of France and Spain. It produces classic white daisy-like flowers with bright white ray petals surrounding a golden-yellow disc center, blooming from late spring through summer. This species is one of the parent plants used by horticulturist Luther Burbank to create the beloved Shasta daisy hybrid. It is widely grown in cottage gardens, borders, and as a long-lasting cut flower.

1904

Oxeye Daisy

Leucanthemum vulgare

Leucanthemum vulgare, commonly known as the Oxeye Daisy, is a hardy perennial wildflower native to Europe, belonging to the Asteraceae family. It produces cheerful white ray flowers with a flattened yellow center disk, growing 30–90 cm tall. Blooming from spring through summer, it is a magnet for pollinators including bees, butterflies, and hoverflies. Though graceful in wildflower meadows and cottage gardens, it can spread vigorously and is considered invasive in parts of North America and Australia.