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Mussaenda erythrophylla (Common Name Tropical Dogwood)

Characteristics: The mussaenda is an evergreen shrub related to coffee trees and native to Asia. It may be a rather small shrub, or large to 30 feet, like a small tree. Commercial nurseries often train mussaenda to be tree-like in form for landscape use. Their natural habit is to produce many stems and it is quite a rambler. It has silky, hairy, soft medium-green leaves. The plant's color comes from bracts and not the small, often yellow, white or orange, flowers at the center of each bract. This is the same color-producing system used by tropicals such heliconia and bougainvillea. Bracts may be seen in several colors including rose, white, red, pale pink and some mixtures. Uses: In some areas of the world such as tropical Africa the fruits of Mussaenda species are consumed as subsistance food. The root of M. erythrophylla is chewed in Africa as an appetite stimulant. Bark and leaves of Mussaenda are used medicinally in Samoan and Fijian culture. In landscape it is used as a common house plant and is cultivated without any special care. It is also used as accents.

Amaranthus hybridus l. (Common Name Amaranth Lily)


Characteristics: It is an herbaceous perennial plant growing from tuberous roots, with stems 40150 cm tall. The leaves are linear, 5090 cm long and 12.8 cm broad. The flowers are 512 cm across, with a pale central line; they are produced from early summer to late autumn on spikes of 1020, with the individual flowers opening successively, each one only lasting one day.

The fruit is a three-valved capsule 22.5 cm long and 1.21.5 cm broad which splits open at maturity to release the seeds. Both diploid and triploid forms are known in the wild, but most cultivated plants are sterile triploids which only reproduce vegetatively by stolons or division Uses: The tubers, inflorescenses, buds and flowers can all be cooked and eaten. Dried or fresh flowers are used in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, and Vietnamese cooking, and are known as golden needles. It is also used as part of flower arrangements in commercial use. It is laos sold as Amaranthus lily. In landscape it is used in beds of flowering plants.

Anthurium andraeanum (Common Name Anthurium)


Characteristics: Anthurium grows in many forms, mostly evergreen, bushy or climbing epiphytes with roots that can hang from the canopy all the way to the floor of the rain forest. There are also many terrestrial forms which are found as understory plants, as well as hemiepiphytic forms. They occur also as lithophytes. The stems are short to elongate with a length between 15 and 30 cm The simple leaves come in many shapes; most leaves are to be found at the end of the stems, although terrestrial plants show less of this pachycaul tendency. Leaves may be spatulate, rounded, or obtusege from leathery to fragile and papery. The leaves are petiolate at the apex. Anthurium flowers are small (about 3 mm) and develop crowded in a spike on a fleshy axis, called a spadix, a characteristic of the Araceae.

Uses: They are competitively bred for flower shows and exhibitions by breeders and farmers. It is very valuable in flower arrangements and other commercial sales. It is also used in greenhouse landscape, since it requires specific amount of care and number of different criteria to be followed in order for it to flourish.

Antirrhinum majus (Common Name Snapdragon)


Characteristics: It is an herbaceous perennial plant, growing to 0.51 m tall, rarely up to 2 m. The leaves are spirally arranged, broadly lanceolate, 17 cm long and 2-2.5 cm broad. The flowers are produced on a tall spike, each flower is 3.5-4.5 cm long, zygomorphic, with two 'lips' closing the corolla tube; wild plants have pink to purple flowers, often with yellow lips. The fruit is an ovoid capsule 1014 mm diameter, containing numerous small seeds. The plants are pollinated by bumblebees, and the flowers close over the insects when they enter and deposit pollen on their bodies. Uses: Though perennial, the species is often cultivated as a biennial or annual plant, particularly in colder areas where it may not survive the winter. Numerous cultivars are available, including plants with lavender, orange, pink, yellow, or white flowers, and also plants with peloric flowers, where the normal flowering spike is topped with a single large, symmetrical flower.

Calliandra haematocephala (Common Name Powder Puff)


Characteristics: The genus comprises herbaceous perennial plants, shrubs and rarely small trees growing 0.56 m tall, with bipinnate leaves. The flowers have numerous long slender stamens, and are produced in cylindrical or globose inflorescences; the stamens give rise to the common name of Powder-puff/ Powder puff Plant and Fairy Duster. These plants flower all year round, but the best blooming is in spring and summer. They can be easily pruned. Calliandra haematocephala is a fast growing shrub that can grow tall but also spreads wide. The red powder puff flower are attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds but only appear from November -April. Uses: This large shrub can be grown indoor if trimmed and grown in a pot but it will be best if you can grow it outside in a warm climate. It is used in ladscape as shade trees and also as trees along roads and pathways. It can also be used as accents.

Chrysanthemum moriofolium (Common Name Chrysanthemum or Mum)


Characteristics: Chrysanthemum species are herbaceous perennial plants growing to 50150 cm tall, with deeply lobed leaves with large flower heads that are generally white, yellow or pink in the wild. They are the preferred diet of larvae of certain lepidopterans. The plant is 13 feet (0.300.91 m) high and wide.

Uses: Yellow or white chrysanthemum flowers of the species C. morifolium are boiled to make a sweet drink in some parts of Asia. The resulting beverage is known simply as "chrysanthemum tea" Chrysanthemum plants have been shown to reduce indoor air pollution by the NASA Clean Air Study It is economically important as a natural source of insecticide. The flowers are pulverized, and the active components called pyrethrins, contained in the seed cases, are extracted and sold in the form of an oleoresin. It is also cultivated as a show flower used for bouquets and flower arrangements.

Wodyetia bifurcata (Common Name Foxtail Palm)


Characteristics: Flowering: White flowers stalk that comes from the base of the crownshaft. Foliage: Variance of greenish colors; deep green to light green colors. Received its more commonly known AustralianEnglish name from the appearance of its foliage, which is in a shape of a foxs tail. Fruits: 2 inches long. Olive green to green in the early stages. Orange red when ripe. Trunk: Similar to the king palm, the foxtail palm trunk is smooth, thin, and self-cleaning. It grows a single, double, or triple trunk that is slightly spindle-shaped to columnar reaching heights of about 30 ft. The trunk also has a closely ringed, dark grey to light gray color which slowly turns more and more white. The crownshaft of the foxtail palm is light to bright green and slightly swollen at the base. Uses: After it became known to the world, the Foxtail Palm's seeds were so highly sought after that a thriving blackmarket trade formed, with illegal collectors nearly decimating the in situ populations, but ultimately resulting in the palm becoming widely distributed across the world, fruiting in the many tens of thousands, being progressively planted out as one of the "world's most popular" palms.

Foxtail palm is considered by palm enthusiasts and landscapers to be a useful accent in a wide spectrum of landscape settings. It is prized for its robust trunk and its unique bushy leaves. Foxtail palm may be used alone as an accent specimen and may also be planted in groups of three or more for a stunning massed effect. Foxtails are being planted in rows along streets and driveways. Foxtail palm is also grown as a house or conservatory plant in well lit areas. Foxtail palm can be used effectively as a patio or deck plant in a large pot or tub. Plant foxtail palm outdoors in a site that can accommodate the large spread of leaves (15-20 ft (4.6-6.1 m) average landscape size). Foxtail palm may be planted in areas having strong winds and moderate amounts of salt spray.

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