Plant Information A cactus (plural cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the flowering plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 139 genera with nearly 2,000 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word “cactus” derives, through Latin, from the ancient ancient Greek, kaktos, a name originally used for a spiny plant […]
Post Author: Ely Vea
Ely Vea is the IR-4 Environmental Horticulture Program Assistant Manager
Crop Vignette: Flowering Cherry
Plant Information Ornamental flowering cherries belong to the genus Prunus in the rose family Rosacea, consisting primarily of species native to Asia. The majority of the flowering species are native to Japan and Korea, where centuries of propagation and cultivation have led to the selection of hundreds of genotypes. The most well-known ornamental cherry is […]
Crop Vignette: Ferns
Plant Information Ferns first appear in the fossil record about 360 million years ago in the middle Devonian period, but many of the current families and species did not appear until roughly 145 million years ago in the early Cretaceous, after flowering plants came to dominate many environments. Along with club mosses, spikemosses, horsetails, and […]
Crop Vignette: Hosta
Plant Information Hosta is a genus of plants commonly known as hostas, plantain lilies and occasionally by the Japanese name giboshi. The genus is currently placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae, and is native to northeast Asia (China, Japan, Korea and the Russian Far East). Hostas are widely cultivated as shade-tolerant foliage plants. Hybridization […]
Crop Vignette: Hydrangea
Plant Information The genus Hydrangea is expansive and includes approximately 1,000 species, hybrids, and cultivars, which can be deciduous or evergreen shrubs up to 10 ft tall, small trees or climbers reaching up to 98 ft. They are native to Asia and the Americas, with the greatest species diversity in eastern Asia, notably Korea, China, […]
Crop Vignette: Salvia
Plant Information Salvia is the largest genus of plants in the family Lamiaceae, with the number of species estimated to range from 700 to 1,000. There are 3 main regions for radiation of Salvia: Central and South America with approximately 500 species, Central Asia and the Mediterranean with approximately 250 species, and eastern Asia with […]
Crop Vignette: Gerbera
Plant Information Gerbera belongs to the genus of plants Gerbera in the Asteraceae (daisy family). It is native to tropical regions of South America, Africa and Asia. The first scientific description of a gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii) was published in 1889. This species is known as Transvaal daisy or Barberton daisy or African daisy. The domesticated […]
Crop Vignette: Coleus
Plant Information Coleus, also commonly known as painted nettle, flame nettle, and painted leaf, is a native of Southeast Asia through to Australia. In the most recent taxonomic classification, coleus now belongs to the genera Plectranthus and Solenostemon in the family Lamiaceae. The common garden Coleus (Coleus blumei = Plectranthus scutellarioides = Solenostemon scutellarioides) is […]
Crop Vignette: Pansy
Plant Information Pansies are members of the Viola genus, a taxon of flowering plants in the violet family Violaceae, with around 400–500 species distributed around the world. Viola, was named by Greeks in the 4th century BCE and was cultivated for its medicinal properties. Pansy or garden pansy is the common name for diverse cultivated […]