(Alcantarea, Fragrant Alcantarea)

No tropical garden is complete without a fragrant alcantarea! Larger than a bushel basket, the rosette of strappy light green and silver-banded leaves eventually forms a towering red flower stalk with canary yellow flowers. This evergreen perennial bromeliad is a lithophyte (growing among and upon rocks) native to the montane cliffs in extreme southeastern Brazil.

Each pointed, strappy leaf is light green to silver with phantom bandings. It tapers to a soft point while the base of the leaf congregates...

(Colicroot, Yellow Colicroot)

An ankle- to shin-high flower stem carrying bright yellow blossoms above a foliage rosette is indicating of the yellow colicroot. This herbaceous perennial is native to the American Southeast, from Savannah, Georgia to New Orleans and south to the Florida Keys. It naturally grows in pinelands, bogs, wet ditches and seasonally flooded prairies.

The leaves arise from the ground to create a basal rosette of attractive light green leaves. Leaf blades are narrow, pointed lances with parallel veins,...

(Candleberry, Candlenut, Kukui)

Handsome foliage that is maple-like and a frosty gray and green, candlenut produces flushes of pretty white flowers year 'round and crops of green fruits that have dark seeds rich in flammable oils. A tropical, evergreen tree that has many economic uses, it is native to the lowland forests of Southeast Asia and the southwestern Pacific. Although the state tree of Hawaii, it is not native and is actually considered quite invasive there and in other tropical regions. It attains a rounded, spreading...

(Seashore Palm)

One of the most salt and drought tolerant palms, Allagoptera arenaria, or seashore palm, is a beautiful tropical palm from the coastal regions of Brazil. Based on fossil records, it is also regarded as the most ancient of palms, a predecessor to all others. It maintains a relatively small size, so it is suitable for dune stabilization, landscapes and containers.

Long pinnate (feather-like) leaves emerge directly from an underground stem and at many angles giving it a fluffy, mounded...

(Allamanda)

Allamanda is a small genus of 12 species of evergreen climbers and shrubs native to the tropical areas of Central and South America; however it has escaped cultivation and naturalized throughout the tropics.

Habit varies from species to species. Allamanda can have a shrubby habit, long and arching branches or be twining woody vines. The bark is commonly brown, furrowed on mature stems and yellow-green on younger branches. These emit a milky irritating sap when broken. The leaves...

(Allamanda, Cherries Jubilee Allamanda)

Cherries Jubilee Allamanda is an tropical evergreen climbing shrub growing from 5 to 10 feet in height. This hybrid is an excellent clambering shrub for full sun and coastal exposures. The bell-shaped flowers are a muted salmon and burgundy with a dark red throat and blooms nearly year-round in tropical climates. Hummingbirds may check out the flowers.

Give the Cherries Jubilee allamanda a full to partial sun exposure in a well draining soil. Overly alkaline or dry sandy soil will result in...

(Purple Allamanda)

A large, evergreen climber native to the tropical areas of Central and South America; purple allamanda is a striking addition to any frost-free landscape.

Pretty violet-shaded flowers are trumpet-shaped, very showy and appear all year in consistently warm climates. This vine has thin, arching, twining woody branches. The bark is brown, furrowed on mature stems and yellow-green on younger branches. These emit a milky irritating sap when broken. The leaves are elliptical in shape, slightly fuzzy,...

(Compact Golden Trumpet, Golden Trumpet, Yellow Allamanda)

Yellow allamanda is a massive climbing evergreen shrub native to tropical South America. Its cultivar 'Grandiflora' has large, abundant, light yellow flowers. The fragrant, loosely clustered blooms appear nearly year-round in tropical conditions. Spiny seed capsules follow the flowers. The coarse oval leaves are leathery and glossy. The long, scrambling stems will climb any structures available, or will grow as a freestanding shrub if their tips are regularly pruned. They are relatively compact compared...

(Yellow Allamanda)

Yellow allamanda is a massive climbing evergreen shrub native to tropical South America. Its cultivar 'Grandiflora' has especially large, abundant, light yellow flowers. The fragrant, loosely clustered, trumpet-shaped blooms appear nearly year-round in tropical conditions. Spiny seed capsules follow the flowers. The coarse oval leaves are leathery and glossy. The long, scrambling stems will climb any structures available, or will grow as a freestanding shrub if their tips are regularly pruned. They...

(Golden Trumpet, Henderson's Golden Trumpet, Yellow Allamanda)

Yellow allamanda is a massive climbing evergreen shrub native to tropical South America. Its cultivar 'Hendersonii' has especially large, orange-yellow, bronze-tinged flowers with white-spotted throats. The fragrant, loosely clustered, trumpet-shaped blooms appear nearly year-round in tropical conditions. Spiny seed capsules follow the flowers. The coarse oval leaves are leathery and glossy. The long, scrambling stems will climb any structures available, or will grow as a freestanding shrub if their...