(Coralberry)

This Asian native is a small tender evergreen shrub with glossy, dark green, serrated leaves. Fragrant white to pinkish flowers appear in late spring and early summer, followed by showy drooping clusters of red berries that remain on the plant through much of the winter.

This shrub requires little maintenance in partial shade and humus-rich, well drained, acid soil. It adds vivid color to shady gardens and greenhouses in winter. Use it as a tall groundcover, in the foundation planting, or as...

(Ardisia, Low Shoebutton)

This Southeast Asian native is a tender evergreen shrub with shiny, leathery, dark green leaves. New foliage may be tinged red. Waxy, long-lasting, pink flowers occur in spring followed by red berries that turn purplish black as they mature in autumn.

This shrub prefers moist, well drained soil and partial shade. It is grown primarily for its foliage and makes an effective low hedge, foundation plant, or potted specimen. It self-sows prolifically and has become invasive in Florida and other areas.

(Betel Nut Palm, Betel Palm)

Towering high above the tropical landscape, this fast-growing, single-stemmed palm from Southeast Asia is valued for its lush foliage and its colorful trunk and fruits. In much of southern Asia its seeds have long been prized as a stimulant.

The smooth tapering trunk of this tall palm is gray toward its base and green toward its tip, with conspicuous pale, bamboo-like bands. Eight to twelve enormous, medium green fronds arch from the trunk's apex, their clasping bases forming a smooth green...

(Orange Crownshaft Palm)

Prized for its bright hues, this small to medium-sized, typically multi-trunked palm is found in rain forests in eastern Indonesia.

The smooth trunks of this palm are greenish gray toward the base and olive-green toward the tip, with conspicuous pale, silvery, orange-tinged, bamboo-like bands. About a dozen enormous, rich green fronds arch from each trunk's apex, their clasping bases forming a "crownshaft" that in some selections is vibrant orange, yellow, or orange-red. The feather-shaped fronds...

(Dwarf Sugar Palm, Formosa Palm)

Valued for its large, lush, tropical leaves and its remarkable cold hardiness, this small clump-forming palm is native to moist forested slopes in Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands. Its stems are monocarpic, each individual trunk dying after it flowers and fruits.

The enormous, feather-like, upright fronds are borne atop short slender trunks clothed with black hairy fibers. Each frond comprises numerous long narrow blade-shaped leaflets, paired along a midrib (or "rachis"). The stiff leaflets are...

(Sugar Palm)

A stately palm with immense fronds and a tall, shaggy trunk, this Indonesian native has long been cultivated in Southeast Asia for its sweet sap and tough fibers. A monocarpic plant, it dies after it flowers and fruits.

Borne on sturdy, fiber-coated leaf stems ("petioles"), the enormous, upright, evergreen fronds can be as long as a small bus. They cluster atop a solitary trunk that is densely thatched with gray or black burlap-like fibers and armed with thin, woody, skewer-like spines. Each...

(Brazilian Dutchman's Pipe, Giant Pelican Flower)

Giant Dutchman's pipe is an evergreen tropical vine from Panama southward into South America regarded for its showy, unusually shaped flowers which occur from summer through early winter. The truly immense burgundy flowers have white and purple veining throughout and emit a pungent lemony scent to attract pollinating flies into its pouch. The throat of the uniquely curved, flared and tubular flower is yellow. The vine's large green leaves are heart-shaped.

Giant Dutchman's pipe is a very fast...

(Calico Flower, Elegant Dutchman's Pipe)

Heart-shaped leaves add beauty year round, but the striped and mottled cream and burgundy-purple blossoms of calico flower are the talk of the town, shaped like a curving pipe with flared horn and smelly fragrance! An evergreen tropical vine native to Brazil, these infamously scented blossoms occur in summertime.

The light to medium green leaves are kidney- or heart-shaped, and are rather small when compared to others; the soft woody stems coil around things for support. In the heat of summer,...

(Breadfruit)

Captain William Bligh of the HMS Bounty brought breadfruit to the West Indies in the 1790s from his journeys across the South Pacific. While the precise origins of the breadfruit tree are not clear, it's likely native to Indonesia and Malaysia. Its movement by man is largely to blame. Through the centuries, peoples cultivated it for its fruit and wood and seeds were carried eastward as the islands of the South Pacific became inhabited.

Breadfruit is a fast-growing tropical tree. Both the...

(Orchid, Rust-red Ascocentrum)

A miniature orchid with an attractive fan of leaves, Ascocentrum miniatum is no less than stunning when its cluster of brilliant orange flowers appears in spring. And the spectacular flowers can last for months! An evergreen frost-tender orchid from Thailand, rust-red ascocentrum is an epiphyte that thrives in tropical climates. It is very similar in habit and flower to Ascocentrum garayi.

The small plant looks like a fan with fleshy, leathery roots that clasp to tree trunks...