Flowering plants, shrubs and trees provide the environment with much needed oxygen and fight soil erosion. They also provide food and shelter for many animals, as well as contribute to the fertility of soil with their dead leaves and flowers.
Plants that eat other creatures? It sounds like a genetic experiment gone awry. But there's actually nothing unnatural about it; carnivorous plants have been around for thousands of years. Find out all about the Venus Flytrap. See more »
Balsam Apple, an annual vine of the gourd family, cultivated mainly for ornament.
See more »Banyan, a tree of India, noted for its rooting branches. A single banyan tree may cover an area nearly 1,500 feet (460 m) in circumference and have more than 3,000 trunklike roots.
See more »Baobab, a tropical tree of western and southern Africa. It grows to 60 feet (18 m) tall, often with a trunk over 30 feet (9 m) in diameter.
See more »Barberry, a family of low, prickly, ornamental shrubs. There are about 450 species, which are native to temperate climates.
See more »Basswood, or Linden, the common name for about 30 species of handsome trees found in the north temperate zone.
See more »Bayberry, the name given to two different kinds of aromatic plants. The true bayberry, native to the West Indies and South America, yields an oil used in making bay rum.
See more »Beardtongue, or Pentstemon, a large genus of perennial plants of the figwort family.
See more »Beech, a large hardwood tree related to the oak and chestnut. Seven species of beech are found in the temperate regions of North America, Europe, and Asia.
See more »Beefwood, a family of Australian trees. The beefwood tree appears to lack leaves.
See more »Beggarweed, a West Indian forage plant of the pea family. Like clover, it takes free nitrogen from the air and adds it to the soil.
See more »Begonia, a very large genus of flowering plants, most of them native to the tropics.
See more »Bellflower, one of a large group of garden plants, grown for their beautiful blue, purple, or white bell-shaped flowers.
See more »Betel, or Betelnut, the nutlike fruit of the betel nut palm, a tree native to tropical southeast Asia.
See more »Bignonia, the common name for a family of trees, shrubs, vines, and herbs. There are about 700 species, including the trumpet creeper, catalpa, and calabash.
See more »Birch, a tree found in the Northern Hemisphere. The birch family also includes the alder, hazel, hornbeam, and hop-hornbeam trees.
See more »Bitterroot, a plant that grows in mountainous regions of the western United States and Canada.
See more »Bittersweet, a name given to two woody vines. The climbing bittersweet, native to North America, is a low vine with tapering leaves.
See more »Black-eyed Susan, the common name of two different plants. The North American black-eyed Susan, or yellow daisy, has golden-yellow petals with dark-colored central disks.
See more »Bladdernut, an ornamental shrub or small tree grown in the Northern Hemisphere. Of the many species, the most common is the American bladdernut, found in the United States and Canada.
See more »Bladderwort, an insect-devouring plant that lives in water. The threadlike leaves have small, gas bladders that float the plant.
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