(Camphortree, Hardy Cinnamon Tree)

While the most famous cinnamon and camphor trees are best suited to subtropical and tropical climes, the hardy cinnamon is a species perfect for warm temperate climates, too. A broadleaf evergreen tree, it's native to China. As it ages, it develops a dense canopy of foliage on an upright pyramidal frame.

Hardy cinnamon's leaves are elongated, pointy ovals with three obvious parallel veins. As new leaves emerge in spring, they blush a rich rosy copper color with lighter green veins. These highly...

(Japanese Camphor)

Fragrant in foliage, bark and flower, Japanese camphor has lustrous green leaves and a smooth sandy sienna-brown bark. A broadleaf evergreen tree, it is native to Japan, Korea and a narrow band in eastern China, including Taiwan. The thin leathery leaves are oval to lance-shaped and are glossy deep green with a gray, blue-green underside. Crush a leaf or scrape a twig or bark and a camphor-cinnamon scent is released. A new leaf emerges a coppery light green. By late spring, the branch tips bear...

(Cinnamon, Cinnamon Bark Tree)

One of the earliest recorded spices, dating back to at least 3000 B.C., cinnamon is an aromatic plant that has essential oils throughout all its parts. A slow-growing, tropical broadleaf evergreen tree that attains a gloriously broad but rounded canopy, it is native to Sri Lanka and southernmost India. Its bark is smooth and gray-brown; the spice is dervied by stripping the tree of the brown inner bark layer and allowed to dry to the familiar orange-brown tone in stick-like quills. The unripe fruits,...

(Canada Thistle)

Canada thistle is a fierce and aggressive weed foe. Impossibly extensive, deep root systems make this one of the toughest weeds to eradicate from garden spaces. It's small, purplish, brush-like flower heads produce loads of puffy airborne seeds that float away to colonize new space, and its prickly foliage is painful to the touch. Despite the common name, Canada thistle, this species was introduced to North America from Eurasia. Its remarkable tolerance to many growing conditions means it can be...

(Grape Ivy)

Given its name for its black fruits, grape ivy boasts handsomely toothed leaves that are glossy and green. A modest, climbing or rambling evergreen vine, it hails from Central and South America and the Caribbean Basin.

The leaves are trifoliate, each comprised of three leaflets that are rhombus-shaped with sparse teeth on their edges. Light bronze-green when young, the leaves mature to a deeper green and bear red hairs on their underside. In summer, unshowy, haired green flowers appear and give...

(Ellen Danica Grape Ivy, Grape Ivy)

Given its name for its black fruits, grape ivy selection 'Ellen Danica' boasts handsomely toothed leaves that are deep glossy green upon hairy stems. A modest, climbing or rambling evergreen vine, it hails from Central and South America and the Caribbean Basin.

The leaves are trifoliate, each comprised of three leaflets that are rhombus-shaped with sparse teeth on their edges. Light bronze-green when young, the leaves mature to a deeper green and bear red hairs on their underside. In summer,...

(Kangaroo Ivy Cissus, Kangaroo Vine)

The common name "kangaroo vine" fittingly traces this tropical evergreen vine to northern Australia. In its native environment, it grows in or near the rainforest. In the home and garden, it is valued for its glossy, deep green, leathery leaves that remain attractive in both sunshine and shade. It makes a trusty houseplant, tender patio specimen or tropical outdoor vine.

Pointed, oval leaves with serrated edges and prominent veins densely line the climbing stems of kangaroo vine. Nor surprisingly,...

(Coral Vine)

Dubbed the coral vine because of the attractive clusters of tiny coral-red flowers, this evergreen tropical vine or liana is native from Mexico to Panama. Its light yellow green leaves mature a glassy bright kelly green. Each leaf comprises three point leaflets. Opposite the leaves on the stems are tendrils that firmly clasp onto tree trunks or other support features. The flowering stems bear scores of tiny coral flowers and collectively make an attractive seasonal feature in summer. Flowers are...

(Dear Three Leaves, Jagged Treebine, Treebine)

A pretty tropical vine native to a wide expanse of Tropical America -- from Central America and the Caribbean into central South America -- jagged treebine bears bright scarlet flowers. It's so admired across Latin America that it carries the colloquial name of caro de tres hojas: literally, "dear three leaves."

The glossy bright green leaves comprise three pointy leaflets and are held on a jagged or grooved petiole stem that has a reddish tint. Opposite the leaves are reddish tendrils. Newly...

(Treebine, Wing Stemmed Grape Ivy)

Squared, succulent stems and pinkish red aerial roots are but a few curious attributes of the wing stemmed grape ivy. An evergreen to partially deciduous tropical vine or liana, it is native to a wide expanse of southern Brazil into nearby Peru and Paraguay. It's believed to have been cultivated and selected by native peoples and may explain why some plants do not flower to produce fruits or seeds.

The stems are squared and often show a wing-like keel. Tendrils with suction cup-like tips grow...