(Golden Spider Lily)

A visit to any Pacific Island resort often reveals hedgerows of golden spider lilies. A bulbous perennial, it is native to Melanesia. Don't let the yellow foliage trick you into thinking there's a nutritional deficiency! This crinum lily is also renowned for its large, six-petaled white flowers that resemble spiders. Blooming happens through the warm months. The leaves are strap-shaped and glossy, first emerging light green and then blushing progressively deeper yellow with exposure to light. Foliage...

(Brown Hemp, Indian Hemp, Madras Hemp, Sunn hemp)

Prized as an agricultural forage plant for livestock and a source of fiber stronger than jute, sunn hemp is also an attractive plant producing deep yellow flowers. This upright annual, most likely native to India and Pakistan, is widely cultivated across the tropics in both the wet and dry seasons. In temperate regions, it's sometimes planted as a bedding annual.

The fast-growing sunn hemp is large, shrubby and has elongated light green to gray-green leaves. Flowering is most prolific in the...

(Earth Star, Earthen Star)

As if painted, the variegated stripes on earths tar's foliage resembles an ackward starfish, adding visual texture to the floor of the tropical dappled shade garden. A tender terrestrial (growing in soil) bromeliad with a stemless rosette of leaves, it is from eastern Brazil.

There are from ten to twenty flattened strap-like leaves that have tiny teeth on their wavy edges and taper to a point. A medium green, they are striped in either ivory or pink tones, with colors changing across the growing...

(Earthen Star, Stripe Star)

Wavy foliage that resembles an ackward starfish, stripe star adds visual texture to the tropical dappled shade garden. A tender terrestrial (growing in soil) bromeliad with a stemless rosette of leaves, it is from Brazil.

There are from eight to fifteen flattened strap-like leaves that have tiny teethed edges and taper to a point. A medium green, they have waxy but matte finish with wavy edges and lighter green or ivory stripes; modern selections have more ornate tones of silver, bronze, red...

(Stripe Star, Tricolor Earthen Star)

With varigated wavy-edged foliage that resembles an ackward starfish with rosy center, Tricolor stripe star adds visual texture to the tropical dappled shade garden. A tender terrestrial (growing in soil) bromeliad with a stemless rosette of leaves, it's from Brazil.

There are many flattened strap-like leaves that have tiny teethed edges and taper to a point. A light green, they are waxy but matte finished with wavy edges and ivory stripes with hints of pink. At leaf bases, there is an intensified...

(Zebra Plant, Zebra Star)

The zigzag white stripes across zebra earth star's leaves add visual interest to shaded tropical gardens. This terrestrial (soil growing) bromeliad produces starry rosettes of leaves that hug the ground. The species is Brazilian in origin but wild populations are believed to be extinct. In fact wild Cryptanthus zonatus plants were last recorded in 1972 in Dois Irmãos State Park, Pernambuco, Brazil.

Each rosette produces eight to fifteen flattened, tapered, strap-like leaves with tiny...

(Bamburanta)

Grown for its interesting foliage, bamburanta is a tropical, evergreen perennial native to southeastern Brazil. A popular houseplant, its main feature is its long, showy striped yellow leaves with green markings. On the leaf end there is a small nubbed "tail".

Indoors, plant in a soilless or soil-based potting mix near bright filtered light and feed regularly. Outdoors, use as an annual for accent in containers in partial shade. In tropical regions, give it a fertile soil with lots of water and...

(Never-never Plant)

Never-never plant is a vigorous, compact evergreen perennial native to southeastern Brazil. A popular houseplant, its main feature is its attractive long, leathery leaves with mixed creamy white, silver and dark green markings. Leaf undersides are purple or wine red.

It grows best in either soilless or soil-based potting mixes, filtered light and high humidity. The leaves will brown or curl in low humidity or cold temperatures indoors or out. Growth is most vigorous when air and soil temperatures...

(Never-never Plant, Oppenheim's Bamburanta, Tricolor Bamburanta)

Never-never plant is a vigorous, compact evergreen perennial native to southeastern Brazil. A popular houseplant, its main feature is its attractive long, leathery leaves with mixed creamy white, silver and dark green markings. Leaf undersides are purple or wine red. 'Tricolor' leaves include creamy yellow streaks on the top side.

It grows best in either soilless or soil-based potting mixes, filtered light and high humidity. The leaves will brown or curl in low humidity or cold temperatures indoors...

(Cantaloupe, Casaba Melon, Honey Dew, Melon, Muskmelon)

Garden fresh melons are truly a summertime treat. Fragrant and delicious, these warm season fruits have been bred and revered by cultures worldwide and come in all shapes, sizes and colors. Muskmelons, cantaloupes and "late melons," like honeydew and casaba, are all Cucumis melo variants believed to have origins in Africa.

Melons are tropical annual vines with long, spreading stems that cling via springy tendrils. Their big lobed leaves are coarse, fuzzy and medium to deep green. Bright...