Follow Us:
Plant Uses
 Edible
 Medicinal
 Other uses
 Top 20 Plants
 Successful Plants
 Perennial Plants
 Top Edible Plants
 Top Medicinal Plants
 Habitat
Plant Uses / Top 20 Plants

Some plants are so good they deserve an article all to themselves. Here are some of our favorites:

  1. Allium SpeciesThe Perennial Onions (Español)
  2. Allium ursinum Wild Garlic (Español)
  3. Amelanchier Alnifolia Juneberries
  4. Apios Americana The American Groundnut
  5. Arbutus unedo The Strawberry Tree
  6. Asclepias species The Milkweeds
  7. Caragana Aborescens The Siberian Pea Tree
  8. Cornus Kousa Japanese Dogwood
  9. Crataegus Species The Hawthorns
  10. Dioscorea batatas The Hardy Yam
  11. Elaeagnus x ebbingei A Plant for all Reasons
  12. Ginkgo biloba The Maidenhair Tree
  13. Hemerocallis Species The Daylilies
  14. Hippophae salicifolia Willow-leaved Sea Buckthorn
  15. Malva Moschata Musk Mallow - Great for Salads
  16. Oxalis deppei Iron Cross Plant
  17. Sassafras Albidum
  18. Viola Odorata Sweet Violet

 We've recently added 3 new sections:

 

Top Rated Plants For Edibility

The 143 plants we consider the best for edibility.

Actinidia arguta  Tara Vine
Actinidia deliciosa  Kiwi Fruit
Agastache foeniculum  Anise Hyssop, Blue giant hyssop
Allium ampeloprasum  Wild Leek, Broadleaf wild leek
Allium canadense mobilense  Canadian Garlic
Allium cepa  Onion, Garden onion
Allium cepa ascalonicum  Shallot
Allium cepa proliferum  Tree Onion, Walking Onion
Allium cernuum  Nodding Onion, New Mexican nodding onion
Allium fistulosum  Welsh Onion
Allium neapolitanum  Daffodil Garlic, White garlic
Allium paradoxum  Few-Flowered Leek
Allium sativum  Garlic, Cultivated garlic
Allium sativum ophioscorodon  Serpent Garlic
Allium schoenoprasum  Chives, Wild chives, Flowering Onion
Allium schoenoprasum sibiricum  Giant Chives
Allium triquetrum  Three-Cornered Leek
Allium tuberosum  Garlic Chives, Chinese chives, Oriental Chives,
Allium ursinum  Wild Garlic
Althaea officinalis  Marsh Mallow, Common marshmallow
Amaranthus cruentus  Purple Amaranth, Red amaranth
Amaranthus fimbriatus  Fringed Amaranth
Amaranthus hybridus  Rough Pigweed, Slim amaranth
Amaranthus palmeri  Careless Weed
Amaranthus powellii  Powell's Amaranth
Amaranthus retroflexus  Pigweed, Redroot amaranth, Wild Beet
Amelanchier alnifolia  Saskatoon, Saskatoon serviceberry, Serviceberry
Amelanchier alnifolia semiintegrifolia  Pacific Serviceberry
Amelanchier confusa  Apple Serviceberry
Amelanchier laevis  Allegheny Shadberry, Allegheny serviceberry, Smooth Serviceberry
Amelanchier lamarckii  Apple Serviceberry
Amelanchier stolonifera  Quebec Berry, Running serviceberry
Amelanchier x grandiflora  Apple Serviceberry
Amphicarpaea bracteata  Hog Peanut, American hogpeanut
Amphicarpaea pitcheri  Hog Peanut
Anacardium occidentale  Cashew, Caju
Ananas comosus  Pineapple
Annona atemoya  Atemoya
Annona cherimola  Cherimoya, Custard Apple
Annona mucosa  Wild Sweetsop
Annona squamosa  Sugar Apple, Sweetsop, Custard Apple
Apios americana  Ground Nut
Apios fortunei  Hodo, Hodoimo
Apios priceana  Traveler's delight
Araucaria araucana  Monkey Puzzle Tree
Artocarpus altilis  Breadfruit
Artocarpus heterophyllus  Jackfruit
Atriplex halimus  Sea Orach, Saltbush
Bactris gasipaes  Peach Palm, Pupunha
Bertholletia excelsa  Brazil Nut
Bolboschoenus maritimus  Cosmopolitan Bulrush
Brassica oleracea italica  Broccoli
Calochortus nuttallii  Sego Lily
Camassia quamash  Quamash, Small camas, Utah small camas, Walpole's small camas
Campanula versicolor  Grecian Bellflower
Caragana arborescens  Siberian Pea Tree, Siberian peashrub
Carica papaya  Papaya, Mamo, Melon Tree
Carnegiea gigantea  Saguaro
Casimiroa edulis  White Sapote, Mexican Apple
Castanea sativa  Sweet Chestnut, European chestnut
Cephalotaxus fortunei  Chinese Plum Yew
Cephalotaxus harringtonia  Japanese Plum Yew
Cephalotaxus harringtonia drupacea  Japanese Plum Yew
Cephalotaxus harringtonia koreana  Korean Plum Yew
Cephalotaxus harringtonia nana  Japanese Plum Yew
Chenopodium quinoa  Quinoa, Goosefoot, Pigweed, Inca Wheat
Chenopodium spp.  Perennial quinoa
Cocos nucifera  Coconut Palm, Coconut
Cornus kousa  Japanese Dogwood, Kousa dogwood, Chinese Dogwood,
Cornus kousa chinensis  Japanese Dogwood
Corylus avellana  Common Hazel, Common filbert, European Filbert, Harry Lauder's Walking Stick, Corkscrew Hazel, Hazel
Corylus hybrids & neohybrids  Hybrid & Neohybrids, Hazel, Filbert
Corylus maxima  Filbert, Giant filbert
Crataegus arnoldiana  Arnold Hawthorn
Crataegus ellwangeriana  Scarlet Hawthorn
Crataegus festiva  Festive Hawthorne
Crataegus missouriensis  Missouri hawthorn
Crataegus pedicellata  Scarlet Haw, Scarlet hawthorn
Crataegus pennsylvanica  Pennsylvania Hawthorn
Crataegus schraderana  Blue hawthorn
Crataegus tanacetifolia  Tansy-Leaved Thorn
Cucurbita maxima  Winter Squash
Cucurbita moschata  Squash, Crookneck squash
Dacryodes edulis  Bush Butter Tree, Butterfruit, African Plum, bush pear, bush plum, safou
Daucus carota sativus  Carrot
Dioscorea batatas  Chinese Yam
Diospyros lotus  Date Plum
Diospyros virginiana  American Persimmon, Common persimmon, Persimmon
Durio zibethinus  Durian
Elaeagnus cordifolia 
Elaeagnus macrophylla  Broad-leaved Oleaster
Elaeagnus multiflora  Goumi, Cherry silverberry
Elaeagnus multiflora ovata  Goumi
Elaeagnus pungens  Elaeagnus, Thorny olive, Thorny Elaeagnus, Oleaster, Silverberry, Silverthorn, Pungent Elaeagnus
Elaeagnus x ebbingei  Elaeagnus, Ebbing's Silverberry
Elaeis guineensis  African Oil Palm
Euterpe edulis  Jucara Palm, Assai Palm
Euterpe oleracea  Acai, Assai Palm, Acai Palm
Foeniculum vulgare  Fennel, Sweet fennel
Fragaria bracteata  Woodland Strawberry
Fragaria vesca 'Semperflorens'  Alpine Strawberry
Fragaria x ananassa  Strawberry
Garcinia mangostana  Mangosteen, Manggis
Gaultheria shallon  Shallon, Salal
Ginkgo biloba  Maidenhair Tree, Ginkgo
Helianthus annuus  Sunflower, Common sunflower
Hemerocallis fulva  Common Day Lily, Orange daylily, Tawny Daylily, Double Daylily
Hemerocallis middendorffii  Amur daylily, Middendorf, Daylily
Hemerocallis middendorffii esculenta 
Hippophae rhamnoides  Sea Buckthorn, Seaberry
Hippophae rhamnoides turkestanica  Sea Buckthorn
Hippophae salicifolia  Willow-Leaved Sea Buckthorn
Hippophae sinensis  Chinese Sea Buckthorn
Ipomoea batatas  Sweet Potato, Black Sweet Potato, Sweet Potato Vine
Lathyrus tuberosus  Earthnut Pea, Tuberous sweetpea
Lens culinaris  Lentil
Lepidium meyenii  Maca
Lepidium spp.  Perennial Lepidium
Litchi chinensis  Lychee, Litchi
Lupinus mutabilis  Pearl Lupin, Tarwi
Malus domestica  Apple
Malva alcea  Vervain mallow, Hollyhock Mallow
Malva moschata  Musk Mallow
Malva verticillata  Chinese Mallow, Cluster mallow
Mangifera indica  Mango, Bowen Mango
Manihot esculenta  Cassava, Tapioca Plant, Yuca
Manilkara zapota  Sapodilla, Nispero
Morus nigra  Black Mulberry
Musa acuminata  Dwarf Banana, Edible banana
Musa x paradisiaca  Plantain Banana
Nephelium lappaceum  Rambutan, Hairy Lychee
Oryza sativa  Rice, Common Rice
Oxalis tuberosa  Oca
Passiflora ligularis  Sweet Grenadilla, Passion Flower
Perideridia gairdneri  Yampa, Gardner's yampah, Common yampah
Persea americana  Avocado, Alligator Pear
Phaseolus vulgaris  French Bean, Kidney bean
Phoenix dactylifera  Date Palm
Phragmites australis  Common Reed, American common reed, Hybrid common reed, European common reed, Subtropical common re
Phyllostachys aurea  Golden Bamboo, Fishpole Bamboo
Phyllostachys nidularia  Big-Node Bamboo, Broom bamboo
Physalis peruviana  Goldenberry, Peruvian groundcherry
Prunus domestica  Plum, European plum
Prunus domestica italica  Gages, Greengage
Prunus insititia  Damson
Prunus persica  Peach, Flowering Peach, Ornamental Peach, Common Peach
Psidium guajava  Guava, Tropical Guava, Goiaba, Araçá-goiaba
Psoralea esculenta  Breadroot, Large Indian breadroot
Pyrus communis sativa  Pear
Quercus ilex  Holly Oak, Evergreen Oak
Quercus ilex ballota  Holm Oak
Reichardia picroides  French Scorzonera, Common brighteyes
Ribes nigrum  Blackcurrant, European black currant
Ribes uva-crispa  Gooseberry, European gooseberry
Ribes x culverwellii  Jostaberry
Rosa rugosa  Ramanas Rose, Rugosa rose
Rubus arcticus  Arctic Bramble, Arctic raspberry, Dwarf raspberry
Rubus fruticosus  Blackberry, Shrubby blackberry
Rubus idaeus  Raspberry, American red raspberry, Grayleaf red raspberry
Rubus laciniatus  Oregon Cut-Leaf Blackberry, Cutleaf blackberry
Rubus loganobaccus  Loganberry
Rubus nepalensis  Nepalese Raspberry
Rubus phoenicolasius  Japanese Wineberry, Wine raspberry
Rubus procerus  Himalayan Giant Blackberry
Rumex acetosa  Sorrel, Garden sorrel
Sagittaria latifolia  Duck Potato, Broadleaf Arrowhead
Sagittaria sagittifolia  Arrow Head, Hawaii arrowhead
Salacca zalacca  Salak Palm, Snake Palm
Sassafras albidum  Sassafras, Common Sassafras
Sauropus androgynus  Sweet Leaf, Sweetleaf Bush, Katuk
Secale hybrids  Perennial cereal rye
Secale strictum  Mountain Rye
Secale strictum kuprijanovii 
Semiarundinaria fastuosa  Narihiradake, Narihira bamboo
Solanum lycopersicum  Tomato, Garden Tomato
Solanum tuberosum  Potato, Irish potato
Sorbus domestica  Service Tree
Terminalia kaernbachii  Okari Nut
Theobroma cacao  Cacao, Cocoa Tree
Tilia cordata  Small Leaved Lime, Littleleaf linden
Tilia platyphyllos  Large Leaved Lime, Largeleaf linden, Bigleaf Linden
Tilia x europaea  Linden, Common Lime
Torreya nucifera  Kaya, Japanese torreya
Typha angustifolia  Small Reed Mace, Narrowleaf cattail
Typha latifolia  Reedmace, Broadleaf cattail, Bullrush, Nailrod
Ugni molinae  Uñi, Chilean guava
Urtica dioica  Stinging Nettle, California nettle
Viola odorata  Sweet Violet, English Violet, Garden Violet, Sweet Violet, Florist's Violet
Vitis vinifera  Grape, Wine grape, Purpleleaf Grape, Common Grape
x Sorbo­crataegus hybrid  Haw x mountain ash
Zea hybrids  Perennial corn, Perennial Maize
Zea mays  Sweet Corn, Corn
Zizania aquatica  Wild Rice, Annual wildrice

Top Rated Plants For Medicinal Uses

The 54 plants we consider have the best medicinal properties.

Abies balsamea  Balsam Fir Allium sativum  Garlic, Cultivated garlic
Allium sativum ophioscorodon  Serpent Garlic Aloe arborescens  Candelabra Aloe, Tree Aloe, Mountain Bush Aloe
Aloe ferox  Cape Aloe, Bitter Aloe, Red Aloe, Cape Aloe, Alligator Jaw Aloe Aloe vera  Aloe Vera, Barbados aloe, First Aid Plant, Medicinal Aloe
Althaea officinalis  Marsh Mallow, Common marshmallow Ammi visnaga  Visnaga. Khella. Bishop's Weed, Toothpickweed
Angelica sinensis  Dang Gui - Dong Quai - Chinese Angelica Arctium lappa  Great Burdock, Gobo
Arctium minus  Lesser Burdock Asparagus racemosus  Shatavari
Astragalus membranaceus  Huang Qi Calendula officinalis  calendula, Pot Marigold
Camptotheca acuminata  Happy Tree, Cancer Tree Centella asiatica  Gotu Kola, Spadeleaf
Chamaemelum nobile  Chamomile, Roman chamomile Cinchona calisaya  Peruvian Bark, Quinine
Cinchona officinalis  Lojabark Cinchona pubescens  Quinine tree, Red Bark, Cinchona, Quina, Quinquina, Quinine Bark, Peruvian Bark, Jesuit's Bark
Citrus limon  Lemon Citrus x meyeri  Lemon
Crataegus laevigata  Midland Hawthorn, Smooth hawthorn, English Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna  Hawthorn, Oneseed hawthorn
Cynara cardunculus  Cardoon Cynara scolymus  Globe Artichoke
Dioscorea batatas  Chinese Yam Echinacea angustifolia  Echinacea, Blacksamson echinacea, Strigose blacksamson
Echinacea pallida  Cone Flower, Pale purple coneflower Echinacea purpurea  Echinacea, Eastern purple coneflower, Hedge Coneflower, Black Sampson , Purple Coneflower
Eleutherococcus senticosus  Siberian Ginseng Gentiana lutea  Yellow Gentian
Ginkgo biloba  Maidenhair Tree, Ginkgo Gynostemma pentaphyllum  Sweet Tea Vine
Hamamelis virginiana  Witch Hazel, American witchhazel, Common Witchhazel, Virginian Witchhazel, Witchhazel Hippophae rhamnoides  Sea Buckthorn, Seaberry
Hippophae rhamnoides turkestanica  Sea Buckthorn Humulus lupulus  Hop, Common hop, European Hop,
Matricaria recutita  German Camomile Melaleuca alternifolia  Tea Tree
Melissa officinalis  Lemon Balm Mentha x piperita officinalis  White Peppermint
Mentha x piperita vulgaris  Black Peppermint Oenothera biennis  Evening Primrose, Sun Drop, Common evening primrose
Panax ginseng  Ginseng, Chinese ginseng Panax pseudoginseng notoginseng  San Qi
Pausinystalia johimbe  Yohimbe Pausinystalia macroceras  False johimbe
Phyllanthus emblica  Emblica, Indian Gooseberry Prunus africana  Pygeum
Pueraria montana  Kudzu Vine Pueraria montana lobata  Kudzu Vine
Rheum palmatum  Turkey Rhubarb, Chinese Rhubarb - Da Huang, Chinese rhubarb Rheum palmatum tanguticum  Da Huang
Salvia officinalis  Sage, Kitchen sage, Small Leaf Sage, Garden Sage Schisandra chinensis  Magnolia Vine, Wu Wei Zi
Schisandra sphenanthera  Silybum marianum  Milk Thistle, Blessed milkthistle
Symphytum officinale  Comfrey, Common comfrey Symphytum uplandicum  Comfrey
Tanacetum parthenium  Feverfew, Matricaria Terminalia chebula  Black Myrobalan, Chebulic Myroblan,
Trigonella foenum-graecum  Fenugreek, Sicklefruit fenugreek Ulmus rubra  Slippery Elm
Urtica dioica  Stinging Nettle, California nettle Vitellaria paradoxa  Shea Butter Tree
Vitex agnus-castus  Agnus Castus, Lilac chastetree, Vitex, Chastetree Zingiber officinale  Ginger: Common,Cooking Stem, Canton

Most common plant look-ups

These are the 50 most common plants that people have looked up. (Numbers in brackets are number of lookups)
 
© 2010, Plants For A Future. Plants For A Future is a charitable company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Charity No. 1057719, Company No. 3204567.