Plants & Fungi A - Z
Explore our profiles of plants and fungi.
These illustrated profiles contain a wealth of facts, including details on conservation, uses and habitats – as well as Kew’s connections with the species. They have been chosen to inspire interest in plants, detail our science and conservation work and showcase star plants in the Gardens.
This is a constantly growing resource with new profiles added every week - so do be sure to check back regularly.
Follow Kew
Keep up to date with events and news from Kew
Acacia anegadensis (poke-me-boy)
Few trees are under greater threat from increases in sea level due to climate change than poke-me-boy, found almost exclusively on one of the British Virgin Islands (Anegada), which stands only 8 m above the Caribbean Sea.
More: Building materials, Gums and resins, Kew discoveries, Legume family, Trees
Acacia karroo (sweet thorn)
The fast-growing sweet thorn, with its striking yellow pompom-like flowerheads, is perhaps the most well-used acacia in southern Africa.
More: Legume family, Trees, Gums and resins, Food, Medicinal, Building materials
Acacia mangium (brown salwood)
Fast-growing brown salwood trees are planted on a vast scale for the production of paper and solid wood products.
More: Trees, Legume family, Building materials
Acacia nilotica (acacia)
The wood of Acacia nilotica was used by ancient Egyptians to make statues and furniture.
More: Building materials, Medicinal, Trees, Legume family, Gums and resins, Traditions and beliefs
Acacia senegal (gum arabic)
Gum arabic has been used for at least 4,000 years in the preparation of food, in human and veterinary medicine, in crafts and as a cosmetic.
More: Medicinal, Building materials, Legume family, Trees, Gums and resins, Beauty and cosmetics
Adonidia maturbongsii (manjek)
Adonidia maturbongsii is a solitary palm recently discovered on Biak Island in Indonesia and considered to be Endangered.
More: Palms, Kew discoveries, Building materials
Albizia adianthifolia (flat-crown albizia)
Flat-crown albizia is an African tree with a wealth of uses, from the simple provision of shade to the preparation of a love charm.
More: Legume family, Ornamentals, Gums and resins, Medicinal, Building materials, Plant fungal relationships, Traditions and beliefs, Trees
Araucaria araucana (monkey puzzle)
The monkey puzzle was given its name by an observer who thought that monkeys wouldn’t be able to climb the spiky branches.
More: Trees, Ornamentals, Traditions and beliefs, Building materials, Conifers, Food
Artocarpus altilis (breadfruit)
Breadfruit is a tall tropical tree with divided leaves and large green to yellow fruits with an edible, starchy, white or cream-coloured flesh.
More: Food, Great plant hunters, Medicinal, Textiles and dyes, Building materials, Trees
Betula papyrifera (paper birch)
Paper birch is a North American tree with waterproof bark used in earlier times to make canoes and tepee covers; its wood is now used commercially for toothpicks and ice lolly sticks.
More: Trees, Building materials, Textiles and dyes, Ornamentals
Betula pendula (silver birch)
The silver birch is a temperate tree, grown as an ornamental plant, also for its timber. It is used for a range of purposes, from broom-making and steeple-chase fencing to medicines.
More: Trees, Medicinal, Building materials
Calodendrum capense (Cape chestnut)
An African tree producing a spectacular display of pink flowers, Cape chestnut is a popular ornamental.
More: Ornamentals, Trees, Beauty and cosmetics, Building materials
Carnegiea gigantea (saguaro cactus)
A star of many Western films, the iconic saguaro cactus is a spectacular feature of the Sonoran Desert in south western North America.
More: Fuels, Building materials, Traditions and beliefs, Ornamentals, Little and large
Caryota urens (solitary fishtail palm)
Across India and other Asian countries, the sap of solitary fishtail palm is fermented to produce an alcoholic drink called palm wine or toddy.
More: Palms, Building materials, Food, Ornamentals, Textiles and dyes, Out of the ordinary
Castanea sativa (sweet chestnut)
Sweet chestnut is a medium-sized tree that is widely cultivated for its edible nuts contained in prickly husks.
More: Building materials, Trees, Medicinal, Traditions and beliefs
Coffea arabica (Arabica coffee)
Coffee is one of the world’s favourite drinks, one of the most important commercial crop-plants, and the second most valuable international commodity; Arabica coffee is considered to produce the finest coffee beans.
More: Coffee family, Food, Medicinal, Building materials, Trees
Daniellia alsteeniana (mulombe)
Daniellia alsteeniana is one of the most charismatic and conspicuous trees in the woodlands and dry forests of northeastern Angola, where Kew is documenting species diversity to help build a case for conservation of this unique region.
More: Legume family, Trees, Gums and resins, Building materials, Saving species
Deschampsia cespitosa (tufted hair-grass)
Tufted hair-grass is a large, tussock-forming grass, once used to form the roof of one of the oldest thatched cottages in England.
More: Grass family, Building materials
Dodonaea viscosa (hopbush)
A highly variable, extremely widespread plant with numerous medicinal uses, hopbush is known by over fifty different common names.
More: Building materials, Fuels, Medicinal
Dransfieldia micrantha
Only recently placed in a genus of its own, the Latin name of this palm honours a Kew botanist and palm expert.
More: Palms, Kew discoveries, Building materials
Eucalyptus camaldulensis (river red gum)
River red gum is a beautiful tree found along river banks and in valleys in Australia.
More: Building materials, Fuels, Medicinal
Eucalyptus globulus (Tasmanian blue gum)
The principal source of eucalyptus oil, Tasmanian blue gum is a tall, evergreen tree native to Tasmania and Victoria and is the most widely cultivated eucalypt across Australia and the rest of the world.
More: Trees, Eucalyptus family, Building materials, Medicinal, Beauty and cosmetics
Fagus sylvatica (copper beech)
Copper beech trees can be propagated by grafting to maintain the colour of the leaves.
More: Trees, Fuels, Building materials
Ficus benghalensis (banyan)
The banyan is a type of strangling fig, native to India and Pakistan. Known in Hindu mythology as 'the wish-fulfilling tree', banyans represent eternal life.
More: Trees, Traditions and beliefs, Gums and resins, Building materials, Textiles and dyes
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
White ash is a rapidly growing timber tree native to eastern North America. Its shock-resistant timber is used for tool handles and baseball bats.
More: Trees, Building materials, Ornamentals
Fraxinus excelsior (European ash)
One of Europe’s largest native deciduous trees, European ash provides tough, elastic timber that is widely used for furniture and also used to make tennis racquets and cricket stumps.
More: Making the news, Trees, Building materials, Ornamentals, Medicinal, Traditions and beliefs
Gilbertiodendron dewevrei (abeum)
Gilbertiodendron dewevrei is a large, evergreen tree that dominates forests in parts of central Africa.
More: Trees, Legume family, Building materials, Medicinal
Grevillea robusta (silky oak)
Silky oak is one of the finest flowering trees from Australia, with fern-like leaves and rich yellow, comb-like flowers in late spring.
More: Ornamentals, Building materials
Guibourtia ehie (black hyedua)
A tall forest tree from west Central Africa, black hyedua is valued for its timber, which is used in general carpentry in Ghana as a substitute for rosewood (Dalbergia spp.)
More: Legume family, Building materials
Hagenia abyssinica (hagenia)
A beautiful tree from African mountain forests, hagenia is much-used in local medicine.
More: Medicinal, Trees, Building materials
Hevea brasiliensis (rubber tree)
Hevea brasiliensis, better known as the rubber tree, is the primary source of natural rubber.
More: Trees, Building materials, Gums and resins
Isoberlinia doka (doka)
Doka is a vigorously colonising African tree which often dominates the woodland belt that stretches from Guinea in the west to Uganda in the east.
More: Legume family, Building materials, Traditions and beliefs
Kigelia africana (sausage tree)
The sausage tree is sacred to many African communities and has a wide variety of uses in traditional and Western medicine, including commercially available skin lotions.
More: Trees, Food, Medicinal, Building materials
Lagarostrobos franklinii (Huon pine)
Huon pine is a slow-growing Australian tree, some individuals of which are thought to be over 2,200 years old.
More: Trees, Ancient, Building materials, Beauty and cosmetics, Conifers
Mascarenhasia arborescens
An attractive ornamental, Mascarenhasia arborescens was an important source of natural rubber in Madagascar in the early 1900s.
More: Building materials, Gums and resins, Medicinal
Michelsonia microphylla (kasisi)
Michelsonia microphylla is a rare, although once locally abundant, tropical African forest tree from the Congo basin.
More: Legume family, Building materials, Trees
Monodora myristica (calabash nutmeg)
Calabash nutmeg is a large tropical tree with huge leaves and exotic, scented flowers that hang down on cord-like twigs.
More: Building materials, Food, Traditions and beliefs, Medicinal
Parkia bicolor
A tree from the forests of West and Central Africa, Parkia bicolor has large, reddish, pendent flower heads that are pollinated by fruit bats at night.
More: Legume family, Building materials, Medicinal
Pinus caribaea (Caribbean pine)
Caribbean pine is an important timber tree, one variety of which is under threat from an introduced scale insect.
More: Trees, Building materials, Gums and resins, Saving species, Conifers
Platanus orientalis (oriental plane)
Native to southeast Europe and southwest Asia, oriental plane is a long-lived tree with widely spreading branches and spiky round fruits.
More: Trees, Medicinal, Building materials, Ornamentals
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
Quercus robur (English oak)
Unrivalled king of the forest in Britain, English oak (pedunculate oak) is synonymous with strength, size and longevity.
More: Trees, Building materials, Food, Textiles and dyes
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
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
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
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
Styphnolobium japonicum (pagoda tree)
The pagoda tree was introduced to Britain in 1753; Kew’s own specimen is believed to date back to 1760.
More: Legume family, Trees, Building materials, Textiles and dyes, Medicinal
Tarchonanthus camphoratus (camphor bush)
An aromatic shrub from Africa and Saudi Arabia, camphor bush is used in traditional medicine and also valued for its wood.
More: Building materials, Medicinal, Ornamentals
Taxodium distichum (bald cypress)
Bald cypress is an iconic tree that epitomizes the southeastern USA for residents and visitors alike.
More: Trees, Building materials, Conifers
- Print friendly
- Send to a friend
-
Send to a friend Close
- Spread the word
-
Spread the word Close
- Blog this
- Donate
