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.
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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 baileyana (Cootamundra wattle)
Cootamundra wattle is a graceful tree with beautiful fern-like foliage and bright golden-yellow flower heads, and is widely cultivated as an ornamental.
More: Legume family, Ornamentals, 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 menabeensis
Acacia menabeensis is a Critically Endangered shrub, which is restricted to Madagascar.
More: Legume family, Trees
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
Acer griseum (paperbark maple)
The paperbark maple is an ornamental tree with peeling, copper-brown bark; its leaves start orange in spring, then turn successively pinkish-brown, yellow and deep green through summer and finally end up deep red in autumn.
More: Trees, Ornamentals
Adansonia digitata (baobab)
Baobab, Africa’s iconic ‘upside-down’ tree, is pollinated by bats and bushbabies.
More: Food, Medicinal, Trees, Traditions and beliefs, Textiles and dyes
Aesculus indica (Indian horse chestnut)
A relative of the common horse chestnut, the Indian horse chestnut from the Himalaya is a spectacular early summer flowering tree, which produces smaller seeds than the common horse chestnut, making it less useful for the 'conker' player.
More: Ornamentals, Trees, Medicinal
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
Aloe dichotoma (quiver tree)
The strange-looking quiver tree is an icon of southern Africa’s most arid habitats.
More: Trees, Ornamentals, Medicinal
Aloe plicatilis (fan aloe)
Fan aloe is an unusual, many-branched succulent with striking scarlet flowers and fan-like clusters of leaves.
More: Ornamentals, Medicinal, 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
Banksia integrifolia (coast banksia)
Coast banksia is an open tree or large shrub with smooth-edged leaves when mature, and heads of pale yellow flowers. In some forms, the leaf edges are wavy.
More: Great plant hunters, Trees
Berlinia razzifera
Berlinia razzifera is a rare rainforest tree from river banks in the Loango National Park of Gabon.
More: Trees, Legume family, Plant fungal relationships, Kew discoveries
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
Broussonetia papyrifera (paper mulberry)
A shrub or tree, with mulberry-like leaves, paper mulberry is important as a source of fibre for cloth and paper.
More: Trees, Textiles and dyes, Ornamentals, Medicinal
Callicarpa argentii
Callicarpa argentii is one of four new species of Callicarpa recently described from the island of Borneo.
More: Mint family, Trees
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
Caloncoba welwitschii
In the dense, green, tropical forest undergrowth in Africa, the profusion of petals of the bright white flowers of Caloncoba welwitschii provide quite a spectacle.
Camellia sasanqua (Christmas camellia)
Christmas camellia is an attractive shrub with beautiful white to red flowers and contrasting dark green evergreen leaves.
More: Ornamentals, Food, Trees
Carpinus fangiana (Fang’s hornbeam)
The leaves and fruiting catkins of Fang’s hornbeam are larger than those of any other hornbeam.
More: Trees, Ornamentals
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
Cochlospermum orinocense (Tefé rose)
A striking South American tree, the empty fruits of which may turn up in your potpourri.
More: Trees, Textiles and dyes, Beauty and cosmetics
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
Cojoba graciliflora (Guadeloupe blackbead)
Guadeloupe blackbead has beautiful clusters of creamy-white flowers and stunning red pods shaped like a string of beads and containing black seeds.
More: Legume family, Ornamentals, Medicinal, Trees
Cola nitida (kola nut)
A tropical tree from West African rainforests, kola nut seeds are popularly chewed as a caffeine-containing stimulant and are an ingredient in some soft drinks.
More: Food, Medicinal, Traditions and beliefs, Trees
Colophospermum mopane (mopane)
The mopane tree is reputed to provide the best fuelwood in Africa.
More: Fuels, Trees, Legume family
Dalbergia andapensis (hazovola)
An endangered tree from northeast Madagascar, Dalbergia andapensis is threatened by local deforestation.
More: Legume family, 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
Davidia involucrata (handkerchief tree)
Native to China, handkerchief tree was once considered to be the Holy Grail of exotic flora, and seeds were first sent to England by the legendary botanist Ernest Wilson in 1901.
More: Great plant hunters, Ornamentals, Trees
Delonix decaryi (fengoky)
Delonix decaryi, a tree with a cigar-shaped trunk, is found in the dry spiny forest of Madagascar, and sometimes planted as a living fence.
More: Trees, Legume family
Delonix regia (flamboyant)
Although widely cultivated in the tropics since the 19th century, the native habitat of flamboyant was unknown to science until the 1930s, when it was rediscovered growing in the wild in Madagascar.
More: Trees, Legume family, Ornamentals
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
Euphorbia pulcherrima (poinsettia)
A small tree or shrub from Mexico and Guatemala, poinsettia is cultivated for its striking red bracts, and potted forms are the basis of a lucrative Christmas industry.
More: House plants, Ornamentals, Medicinal, Traditions and beliefs, Trees
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
Ginkgo biloba (maidenhair tree)
Ginkgo biloba, or maidenhair tree, has been described as a ‘living fossil’ because it is the sole survivor of an ancient group of trees older than the dinosaurs.
More: Trees, Kew favourites, Medicinal, Ancient
Gmelina arborea (gamhar)
Gamhar is a southeast Asian tree that produces high-quality wood, which is used to make furniture and musical instruments, such as Indian sitars and drums.
More: Trees
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
Ilex aquifolium (common holly)
Well-known as a festive winter decoration, common holly is one of Britain's few native evergreen trees.
More: Traditions and beliefs, Trees
Illicium verum (star anise)
An evergreen tree from China and Vietnam, star anise is cultivated for its aromatic fruits that are used to produce a spice similar in flavour to aniseed.
Juglans nigra (black walnut)
A North American tree with dark-coloured timber and bark, black walnut produces timber and edible nuts (seeds) used in confectionery.
More: Trees, Ornamentals, Medicinal
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