Plants & Fungi A - Z

Polygonum maritimum (sea knotgrass)

Sea knotgrass is a coastal plant and is the rarest of the knotgrasses in Britain.

Potentilla vesca (woodland strawberry)

A perennial herb from Europe, temperate Asia and North America, woodland strawberry has small, delicate ‘fruits’ considered by many to be superior in flavour to commercial strawberries.

More: Food

Premna serratifolia (malbau)

Malbau is a common beach plant from southeast Asia and the Pacific. The crushed leaves smell of cat's urine.

More: Mint family, Out of the ordinary, Medicinal

Primula beesiana (candelabra primula)

Primula beesiana is a popularly cultivated hardy perennial producing tiers of purple-red flowers in summer, and is especially dramatic when grown en masse.

More: Ornamentals, Alpines

Primula bulleyana (Bulley's primula)

Primula bulleyana is a candelabra primula from China with rich golden yellow-orange flowers.

More: Alpines, Ornamentals

Primula denticulata (drumstick primula)

The drumstick primula is the most common Himalayan primula in the wild and is very popular in cultivation.

More: Alpines, Ornamentals

Primula verticillata (yellow primrose)

An attractive perennial with elegant yellow flowers, Primula verticillata is native to north-east Africa and south-west Arabia, and is one of the parents of the Kew primrose (‘P. kewensis’).

More: Alpines, Ornamentals

Primula vialii (orchid primrose)

Primula vialii is a striking perennial, with unusual spikes of pinkish flowers, tipped with red.

More: Alpines, Ornamentals

Prosthechea cochleata (cockleshell orchid)

The cockleshell orchid is the National Flower of Belize, where it is known to residents as the black orchid.

More: Orchids, Traditions and beliefs

Protea cryophila (snow protea)

A mountain shrub with striking flower heads, the snow protea can withstand impressive extremes of temperature.

More: Amazing adaptations, Saving species

Prunella vulgaris (selfheal)

Selfheal is a common herb in Britain and has a long history of medicinal use.

More: Mint family, Medicinal, Food

Prunus mume (mume)

One of China and Japan's most popular plants, mume blossoms have long been a favourite subject in traditional East Asian art and poetry.

More: Ornamentals, Traditions and beliefs

Prunus spinosa (blackthorn)

A shrub with pure white flowers and dark, thorny branches, blackthorn is perhaps best known for its fruits, which are used to produce sloe gin.

More: Food

Pterocarpus lucens (small-leaved bloodwood)

Small-leaved bloodwood is an African shrub or tree with many uses, and is considered threatened in northern Burkina Faso.

More: Legume family, Building materials, Medicinal, Fuels

Puccinia libanotidis (moon carrot rust)

Unrecorded since 1946, moon carrot rust was regarded as a fungus extinct in Britain until it was rediscovered in 2009 in three populations of its host, a rare plant of the southern English chalk hills.

More: Fungi

Pyrostegia venusta (flame vine)

Flame vine is a rampant climber that carries cascades of bright orange tubular flowers. Although a dazzling spectacle when in full flower, in some parts of the world it has become naturalised and a weed.

More: Ornamentals, Medicinal

Quercus castaneifolia (chestnut-leaved oak)

An extremely rare sight in Britain, the chestnut-leaved oak is native to the mountains of the Caucasus and Iran.

More: Trees, Ornamentals

Quercus robur (English oak)

Unrivalled king of the forest in Britain, English oak (pedunculate oak) is synonymous with strength, size and longevity.

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Quercus rubra (red oak)

Red oak is a North American tree with spectacular reddish brown leaves in autumn.

More: Trees, Building materials, Ornamentals

Quercus suber (cork oak)

The thick bark of the cork oak has been harvested for thousands of years, and was used to make Roman sandals.

More: Trees, Textiles and dyes, Building materials

Rafflesia arnoldii (corpse flower)

A rare, parasitic, rootless and leafless plant, Rafflesia arnoldii has the largest known flower in the world.

More: Little and large, Out of the ordinary, Medicinal

Ramosmania rodriguesii (café marron)

Café marron is endemic to the island of Rodrigues, Mascarene Islands, where it is presently known from just a single wild individual.

More: Coffee family, Saving species

Raphanus sativus (radish)

Grown worldwide for its fleshy, edible taproot, radish is thought to have originated in the eastern Mediterranean region.

More: Food

Rhinanthus minor (yellow rattle)

The yellow rattle may look pretty and innocent – but it is a vampire at heart.

More: Out of the ordinary

Rhizophora mangle (red mangrove)

Red mangrove trees produce thickets of submerged stilt roots which form an important habitat for a variety of marine life, especially young fish.

More: Amazing adaptations, Building materials, Medicinal

Rhodanthe manglesii (Mangles' everlasting)

Mangles' everlasting is an attractive ornamental, native to south-western Australia and introduced to Europe by Captain James Mangles.

More: Ornamentals

Rhodochiton atrosanguineum (purple bell vine)

Rhodochiton atrosanguineum is a delicate and beautiful Mexican climber with heart-shaped leaves that coil around any support.

More: Ornamentals

Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)

A rapidly growing tree native to southeastern North America, black locust is loved by many as an elegant ornamental of parks and city streets.

More: Trees, Legume family, Building materials, Beauty and cosmetics, Ornamentals

Rodgersia pinnata

Rodgersia pinnata is a large, spreading perennial with bold divided leaves, tall branching lower stems, and masses of small pink flowers.

More: Alpines, Ornamentals

Rondeletia buxifolia (pribby)

In 2006 Kew botanists discovered several populations of pribby using data from specimens rescued from Montserrat’s volcano-damaged herbarium.

More: Coffee family, Kew discoveries, Saving species

Rosa chinensis (China rose)

Flowers of the China rose can vary greatly in colour and may open red, creamy white, or unusually a beautiful pale pink that later becomes red. This hardy rose is renowned for darkening over time, whereas other species lighten after opening.

More: Ornamentals, Medicinal

Rosa graciliflora (slender stalked rose)

Rosa graciliflora is a pink- or red-flowered wild rose that is native to China; the solitary flower has a characteristic long and slender pedicel (stalk).

More: Ornamentals

Roscoea capitata

Roscoea capitata is a rare Nepalese plant with pink to purple flowers in a tight head held well above the leaves.

More: Alpines, Medicinal, Ornamentals

Roscoea purpurea (bhordaya)

Roscoea purpurea is a vigorously growing plant with flowers in a wide variety of colours, usually purple, but also pink, white and rarely bright red.

More: Alpines, Ornamentals, Medicinal

Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary)

The 'wonder-herb' rosemary has been used variously as a medicine, food preservative, stimulant, memory enhancer, and of course as a flavoursome cooking ingredient.

More: Mint family, Food, Medicinal, Traditions and beliefs

Roussea simplex

Restricted to the island of Mauritius, Roussea simplex is a critically endangered shrub or liana that is pollinated by a gecko.

More: Out of the ordinary, Saving species

Rumex acetosa (common sorrel)

Common sorrel is today used in sauces and as a spinach or salad leaf; the sap can be used as a laundry stain-remover.

More: Food, Medicinal

Russula meleagris

The fungus Russula meleagris is always found in a mutually beneficial association with a tropical legume tree species, Gilbertiodendron dewevrei, and has a smell that has been described as resembling that of a public toilet!

More: Fungi, Out of the ordinary, Plant fungal relationships

Saccharum officinarum (sugar cane)

Sugar is extracted from the sweet, juicy stems of sugar cane, and is used worldwide as a sweetener, preservative and in the cosmetics industry.

More: Grass family, Food, Beauty and cosmetics, Fuels

Salix x sepulcralis (golden weeping willow)

Golden weeping willow is an artificial hybrid of two willow cultivars, from which it has inherited a weeping habit and golden branches. It is widely grown as an ornamental, especially near water.

More: Trees, Ornamentals

Salvia africana-lutea (beach salvia)

Beach salvia is a spreading shrub with rounded, greyish leaves and unusual orange-brown flowers.

More: Mint family, Ornamentals, Medicinal

Salvia caymanensis (Cayman sage)

For nearly 40 years it was thought that the Cayman sage was extinct, but after the distribution of 'Wanted' posters in 2007 it was rediscovered.

More: Mint family, Saving species

Sambucus nigra (elder)

The elder, although a much-appreciated source of food and medicine, was once reviled as the tree from which Judas Iscariot supposedly hanged himself. However, since elder is not native to the Palestine region, this story is probably apocryphal.

More: Medicinal, Food, Traditions and beliefs

Sarracenia purpurea (huntsman’s cup)

Sarracenia purpurea is a fairly common, but nevertheless spectacular, carnivorous pitcher plant that grows in wetlands in eastern North America.

More: Ornamentals, Carnivorous, Medicinal

Sauromatum venosum (voodoo lily)

A distinctive plant from upland areas of Africa and Asia, voodoo lily has flowers that emit a smell resembling rotting meat.

More: Ornamentals, Out of the ordinary

Saxifraga burseriana (Burser's saxifrage)

Most saxifrage species are associated with spring and early summer, but the flowers of Burser’s saxifrage can be produced amid the snow, and during the bleak and dull weather of mid-winter.

More: Alpines, Ornamentals

Scilla verna (spring squill)

A hardy spring bulb with attractive blue-violet flowers, spring squill is native to western Europe.

More: Ornamentals

Sclerocarya birrea (marula)

Marula is an African tree, the juicy fruits of which are highly prized by humans and other animals.

More: Food, Medicinal, Trees, Building materials

Scutellaria galericulata (skullcap)

Skullcap is a common waterside plant found throughout the United Kingdom and the Northern Hemisphere.

More: Mint family, Medicinal

Sequoiadendron giganteum (giant redwood)

Giant by name and giant by nature, this huge Californian conifer is by volume the largest tree in the world.

More: Trees, Little and large, Conifers