Plant Identification

Plant Identification

Abelia X grandiflora

• COMMON NAME: Glossy Abelia• SIZE: 4-6 feet tall, 3-5 feet wide• FORM: Semiglobal, fine texture• FOLIAGE: Summer=dark green,

fall and winter=bronze-green to bronze-red and bronze-purple

• FLOWERS: funnel shaped, white with a hint of pink, slightly fragrant

Abelia X grandiflora

Acer rubrum

• COMMON NAME: Red Maple• SIZE: 60-75 feet tall• FORM: ovoid or rounded crown,

develops ascending branches • FOLIAGE: leaves opposite, simple, 5-10

cm long and wide, usually 3-lobed but often 5, medium to dark green

• FLOWERS: red• FRUIT: samara

Acer rubrum

Growth habit in winter and summer

Acer rubrum

Fall foliage color

Aracaria heterophylla

• COMMON NAME: Norfolk Island Pine

• SIZE: 2-6 feet tall, 1-4 feet wide• FOLIAGE: needle-like, spirally

arranged, to 1 ½” long, drooping branches with age

• FLOWERS: cones, not seen in indoor cultivation

Aracaria heterophylla

Berberis thumbergii

• COMMON NAME: Japanese Barberry• FORM: 3 to 6 feet tall, slightly wider

than tall, very twiggy• FOLIAGE: ovate shape, significantly

wider at the tip than at the base, 0.5 to 1.25 inches long, 0.25-0.5 inches wide

• FRUIT: bright red berries that color in October

Berberis thumbergii

Berberis thumbergii

Summer foliage

Berberis thumbergii

Small, but slightly showy flowers

Berberis thumbergii

Showy fall and winter berries

Betula nigra

• COMMON NAME: River Birch• FORM: medium sized tree, 50 to 70

feet tall or taller, oval or pyramidal• FOLIAGE: lustrous medium or dark

green, alternate, simple leaves, doubly serrate margin, diamond shaped leaves

• FLOWERS: flowers are catkins• BARK: showy exfoliating bark

Betula nigra

Betula nigra

Diamond-shaped, doubly serrate leaves

Betula nigra

Showy, exfoliating bark

Cercis canadensis

• COMMON NAME: Eastern Red Bud• FORM: a small, deciduous tree, 20

to 30 feet tall, 25 to 35 feet wide, shape is rounded to broad and flat-topped

• FOLIAGE: wide, heart-shaped leaves, 3” to 5” long and wide

• FLOWERS: small, purplish-pink pea-like flowers, numerous and appear before the foliage

Cercis canadensis

Cercis canadensis

Cercis canadensis

Chlorophytum comosum

• COMMON NAME: Spider plant• FOLIAGE: arching leaves with

cascading wiry stems• FLOWERS: small white flowers• ID FEATURE: many times will

contain tiny plantlets at the apex of leaves

Chlorophytum comosum

Cornus florida

• COMMON NAME: Flowering Dogwood• FORM: a small deciduous tree, grows

to about 30 feet tall with an equal or greater spread

• FOLIAGE: oval to ovate shape, 3” to 6” long, 1.5” to 3” wide, medium green

• FLOWERS: small and yellowish-green with four showy white bracts

Cornus florida

Cornus florida

Cornus florida

Actual flower is yellowish-green center surrounded by four white bracts

X Cupressocyparis leylandii

• COMMON NAME: Leyland cypress• FORM: narrow-leaved evergreen,

65 ft spread, and 12 ft height, columnar form

• FOLIAGE: small needle like leaves, ends of branches tend to twist

• FRUIT: round, small cone, ½ to ¾” diameter, brown, rarely found




Dieffenbachia maculata

• COMMON NAME: Dumbcane• FORM: erect herb less than 1 meter

tall• FOLIAGE: petiolate, petiole up to 30

cm long, grooved and winged from the base to beyond the halfway point, surface patterned with many irregular yellowish or cream-green splotches



Euonymous alata

• COMMON NAME: Winged Euonymous

• FORM: deciduous shrub, 15-20’ tall with an equal spread

• FOLIAGE: simple, elliptic leaves, 1” to 3” long with fine sharp leaf serrations, dark green leaf color

• BARK: long corky wings on stems

Euonymous alata

Euonymous alata

Euonymous alata

Euonymous alata

Stems have corky wings

Euonymous japonica

• COMMON NAME: Evergreen Euonymous

• FORM: evergreen bush to 10 feet tall with a 6 feet spread

Euonymous japonica

Euphorbia pulcherrima

• COMMON NAME: Poinsettia• FORM: shrub• FOLIAGE: large alternate leaves

with or without teeth on the margin• FLOWER: cup-shaped flowers in a

cluster above the showy red, pink, or creamy leaf bracts with a large yellow gland on the rim of the flower



Red petals are actually bracts, not flowers.

Ficus benjamina

• COMMON NAME: Weeping fig• FORM: evergreen shrub or tree

with drooping branches• FOLIAGE: leaves alternate, simple,

long-tipped, glossy• FLOWERS & FRUIT: enclosed in a

fleshy sac turning from green to orange-red and then purplish-black

Ficus benjamina

Ficus elastica

• COMMON NAME: rubber plant• FORM: straight growing central-

stemmed plant• FOLIAGE: dark green oval-oblong

leaves up to 15 inches long, grow at a 45 degree angle from the main stem

Ficus elastica

Forsythia X intermedia

• COMMON NAME: Border forsythia• FORM: a deciduous shrub 8 to 10

feet tall and 10 to 12 feet wide• FOLIAGE: opposite, ovate to

lanceolate leaves, toothed margins, 3” to 5” long and 0.5” to 1” wide, medium to dark green color above and lighter on underside

• FLOWERS: brilliant yellow color





Hosta sp.

• COMMON NAME: Hosta• FORM: clumping growth habit• FOLIAGE: medium green or

variegated large clasping leaves with prominent veins

• FLOWERS: varying colors from white to purple

Hosta sp.

Hosta sp.

Juniperus horizontalis

• COMMON NAME: Creeping juniper• FORM: dense, evergreen shrub,

branches very long and flexible, 1 to 2 feet tall and 4 to 8 feet wide

• FOLIAGE: two kinds of needles: awl- shaped and scale-like, awls are found in opposite pairs, tip sharply pointed, green to blue-green



Lagerstroemia indica

• COMMON NAME: Crape Myrtle• FORM: deciduous shrub to small

tree, to 20 feet or more• FOLIAGE: oblong-elliptic to

rounded, to 2.75 inches long, glabrous or pubescent on veins

• FLOWERS: pink white or purple calyx tube is showy part

• BARK: smooth exfoliating bark



Liquidambar styraciflua

• COMMON NAME: Sweetgum• FORM: deciduous shade tree,

typically 60 to 80 feet tall and 40 to 60 feet wide

• FOLIAGE: alternate “maple-like” star shaped leaves, 5 to 7 lobed, 4-8 inches long and wide

• FRUIT: 1” to 1.5” spiny balls change from green to brown




Magnolia grandiflora

• COMMON NAME: Southern Magnolia• FORM: a large evergreen tree, 60 to

80 feet tall and 30 to 50 feet wide• FOLIAGE: elliptic leaf shape, 5 to 10

inches long 2 to 5 inches wide, color dark green and pubescent on underside

• FLOWERS: white flowers, blooms in spring, up to 12” in diameter, saucer shaped


• FRUIT: elongated aggregates of follicles, 3” to 8” long, red seeds, very showy





Malus sp.

• COMMON NAME: Flowering crabapple

• FORM: height range of 6 to 50 feet with most in the 15 to 25 feet range, form varies from weeping, spreading, columnar, vase-shaped to pyramidal

• FLOWERS: colors range from white to pink to red

Malus sp.

Malus sp.

Myrica cerifera

• COMMON NAME: Wax Myrtle• FORM: aromatic shrub or small tree

as clumps of trunks up to 25’ in height

• FOLIAGE: semi-evergreen leaves • FRUIT: waxy gray fruit attached to

the twigs, glandular and smell like bayberry when crushed

Myrica cerifera

Myrica cerifera

Nephrolepis exaltata

• COMMON NAME: Boston Fern • FORM: evergreen fern, up to 5

feet tall• Reproduces by spores located on

the bottom side of leaves



Pelargonium X hortorum

• COMMON NAME: Geranium• FORM: small to medium-sized

herbaceous perennial, ranges from 12 to 18 inches tall and 18” to 24” wide, spreading mound growth form

• FOLIAGE: leaves 3 to 4 inches across, medium to dark green, cordate in shape, bold-textured, thick and clustered


• FLOWERS: white, pink, red, salmon, orange, violet, and all shades in-between, with bicolors and double flowers available, spherical clusters atop long stiff peduncles



Pinus strobus

• COMMON NAME: Eastern White Pine• FORM: evergreen tree, conical when

young, less defined with age, 50 to 80 feet tall and 30 to 50 feet wide

• FOLIAGE: light green with a bluish cast, 5 needles per fasicle, thin flexible needles, 4” long, serrated margins

• FRUIT: light brown cones, 6-8” long

Pinus strobus

Pinus strobus

Pinus strobus

Prunus serrulata ‘Kwanzan’

• COMMON NAME: Japanese flowering cherry

• FORM: a large deciduous tree, 60 to 70 feet tall, round to vase-like shape

• FOLIAGE: ovate leaf shape, 3” to 5” long and up to 2” wide, serrate margin

• FLOWERS: range from white to pink• FRUIT: blackish purple fruit



Pyrus calleryana ‘Bradford’

• COMMON NAME: Bradford Pear• FORM: a medium-sized deciduous

tree, 30 to 40 feet tall and about 1/3 as wide

• FOLIAGE: ovate leaves that are 2 to 3 inches long and almost as wide

• FLOWERS: white flowers, 3 inches in diameter, usually peak before leaf set





Quercus palustris

• COMMON NAME: Pin oak• FORM: a large, deciduous tree, 75 feet

tall and 40 feet wide at its maximum• FOLIAGE: alternate leaf arrangement

with sharply pointed lobes, 5 to 7 lobes each with terminal bristles, 3 to 6” long

• FRUIT: small acorns around 0.66” to 0.75” in diameter

Quercus palustris

Quercus palustris

Quercus palustris

Fruit are pale yellow-green catkins

Quercus phellos

• COMMON NAME: Willow oak• FORM: medium-sized, deciduous

tree, 50 to 70 feet tall and 30 to 50 feet wide

• FOLIAGE: lanceolate leaf shape, 2 to 5” long, bristle-tipped leaf apex, dark green leaf color

• FLOWERS: pendulous yellow-brown catkins

Quercus phellos

Rhododendron catawbiense

• COMMON NAME: Catawba Hybrid Rhododendron

• FORM: an evergreen shrub, typically 6 to 10 feet tall with an equivalent spread

• FOLIAGE: evergreen, elliptical leaves 3 to 6” long and 1 to 2” wide, dark green

• FLOWERS: 2.5” across and funnel-shaped, clusters are 5 to 6” in diameter and comprised of 5 to 10 flowers





Viola X wittrockiana

• COMMON NAME: pansy• FORM: low, bushy growing habit

with a height of .25 to .75 feet tall and a width of .5 to .75 feet

• FLOWERS: white, yellow, black, brown, lavender, purple, blue, pink, often with blotches that resemble animals’ faces




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Plant Identification