Vanilla planifolia, a member of the Orchid Family (Orchidaceae) is the primary species of orchid grown commercially to produce the very expensive vanilla extract. This orchid is actually a vine which starts out in the shade and grows up the trunks of trees, eventually flowering, when it gets high enough up in the tree it…
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Colocasia gigantea ‘Thai Giant’ is a very large herbaceous plant with an underground tuberous rhizome. The leaves are attached to very succulent leaf stalks that can reach 4-8′ long and the leaf itself can be 3-5′ wide. In a pinch, the leaves are large enough to duck under in a light rain to avoid getting…
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The Fukien Tea Plant is named for the Fukien or Fujien Province of S. China where it is native. Its botanical name which most people are familiar with is Carmona microphylla. However, recently it has been renamed Ehretia buxifolia. It is a member of the Boraginaceae family, or Borage Family. In the Philippines, the leaves…
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Brazilian Red Cloak (Megaskepasma erythrochlamys), a winter bloomer which can tolerate shady conditions, and attract hummingbirds to your landscape. What’s not to like? A very tropical looking shrub with large green leaves, contrasting against the bright red bracts which house tubular white flowers. It can be planted as a single specimen shrub, or as a…
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Lady of the Night is a shrub in the Brunfelsia genus that has large white tubular flowers that give off a spicy vanilla fragrance in the evening, thus the descriptive common name. There are generally three species for sale in S. Florida. Brunfelsia nitida is probably the most common, and most compact of the three.…
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