Spanish moss is an epiphytic flowering plant that often grows upon large trees in tropical and subtropical climates. It is native to much of Mexico, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Central America, South America, the Southern United States, and West Indies. It has been naturalized in Queensland (Australia). It is known as "grandpa's beard" in French Polynesia.
The poinsettia is a commercially important plant species of the diverse spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). Indigenous to Mexico and Central America, the poinsettia was first described by Europeans in 1834. It is particularly well known for its red and green foliage and is widely used in Christmas floral displays. It derives its common English name from Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States Minister to Mexico, who is credited with introducing the plant to the US in the 1820s. Poinsettias are shrubs or small trees, with heights of 0.6–4 m (2.0–13.1 ft). Though often stated to be highly toxic, the poinsettia is not dangerous to pets or children. Exposure to the plant, even consumption, most often results in no effect, though it can cause nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.
Cornus florida, the flowering dogwood, is a species of flowering tree in the family Cornaceae native to eastern North America and northern Mexico. An endemic population once spanned from southernmost coastal Maine south to northern Florida and west to the Mississippi River. The tree is commonly planted as an ornamental in residential and public areas because of its showy bracts and interesting bark structure.
American sweetgum, also known as American storax, hazel pine, bilsted, redgum, satin-walnut, star-leaved gum, alligatorwood, or simply sweetgum, is a deciduous tree in the genus Liquidambar native to warm temperate areas of eastern North America and tropical montane regions of Mexico and Central America. Sweetgum is one of the main valuable forest trees in the southeastern United States, and is a popular ornamental tree in temperate climates. It is recognizable by the combination of its five-pointed star-shaped leaves and its hard, spiked fruits. It is currently classified in the plant family Altingiaceae, but was formerly considered a member of the Hamamelidaceae.
Abies religiosa, the oyamel fir or sacred fir, is a fir native to the mountains of central and southern Mexico and western Guatemala. It grows at high altitudes of 2,100–4,100 metres (6,900–13,500 ft) in cloud forests with cool, humid summers and dry winters in most of its habitat regime. In the state of Veracruz, it grows with precipitation all year long. The tree is resistant to regular winter snowfalls.
Ostrya virginiana, the American hophornbeam, is a species of Ostrya native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Manitoba and eastern Wyoming, southeast to northern Florida and southwest to eastern Texas. Populations from Mexico and Central America are also regarded as the same species, although some authors prefer to separate them as a distinct species, Ostrya guatemalensis. Other names include eastern hophornbeam, hardhack, ironwood, and leverwood.
Abies guatemalensis, the Guatemalan fir or pinabete, is an evergreen tree native to Central America and is the southernmost member of the genus Abies being spread to the south lower than 14° N. Its range is from southern Mexico in the north to Honduras and El Salvador in the south. It is a warm-loving and moisture-loving tree of the tropical mountain coniferous and mixed cloud forests of these countries. The Guatemalan fir is an almost completely non-frost-resistant tree. Due to logging and loss of habitat, the tree is considered threatened and is protected in CITES Appendix I.
Tillandsia bartramii, commonly known as Bartram's airplant, is a species of flowering plant in the bromeliad family. It is native to Florida, South Carolina and southern Georgia in the United States as well as Guatemala and Mexico. The name honours William Bartram, an early Florida naturalist.
Mimetes arboreus, or Kogelberg pagoda, is an evergreen, upright large shrub or small tree of 2–6 m (6½–20 ft) high in the family Proteaceae. It grows from a thick trunk with a smooth grey bark that branches at ½–1 m (1½–3 ft) above the ground. It has silvery, lance-shaped, pointy leaves of 5–8¼ cm (2.0–3.3 in) long and ¾–3¼ cm (0.3–1.3 in) wide, at an upward angle and overlapping each other. The inflorescences are set just below the top of the branches, are cylinder-shaped, 8–10 cm in diameter, topped by a crest of more or less horizontal pinkish or reddish tinged leaves. It consists of several flower heads in the axils of pinkish orange leaves that form a hood shielding the underlying flower head. Each flower head contains eight to thirteen individual flowers, with bright red styles and grey silky perianth lobes. It is endemic to the Fynbos ecoregion of South Africa, being confined to the Kogelberg mountain range.
Plumeria rubra is a deciduous plant species belonging to the genus Plumeria. Originally native to Mexico, Central America, Colombia and Venezuela, it has been widely cultivated in subtropical and tropical climates worldwide and is a popular garden and park plant, as well as being used in temples and cemeteries. It grows as a spreading tree to 7–8 m (23–26 ft) high and wide, and is flushed with fragrant flowers of shades of pink, white and yellow over the summer and autumn.
Tillandsia variabilis, the leatherleaf airplant, is a species of bromeliad in the genus Tillandsia. This species is native to Bolivia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, the West Indies and southern Florida.
Darwinia fascicularis is shrub in the myrtle family and is endemic to areas near Sydney. A small shrub with aromatic foliage and white flowers, turning red as they mature. Nectar feeding birds are attracted to its flowers as a food source.
Lippia substrigosa is a plant from the family Verbenaceae that is native to Central and South America. It can grow as either a shrub or a tree up to 7 metres (23 ft) tall and can be burned to produce fuel. Its essential oil may have pharmaceutical or cosmetic uses.
Dudleya attenuata is a species of perennial succulent plant known by the common name taper-tip liveforever, native to Baja California and a small portion of California. A rosette-forming leaf succulent, it has narrow pencil shaped leaves that can often be found covered in a white epicuticular wax. The thin, sprawling stems branch to form the clusters of rosettes, with plants creating a "clump" up to 40 cm wide. The small flowers are white or yellow, with 5 spreading petals. It is a diverse, variable species that extends from the southernmost coast of San Diego County to an area slightly north of the Vizcaino Desert, hybridizing with many other species of Dudleya in its range. Some plants with white or pinkish flowers were referred to as Orcutt's liveforever, referring to a former subspecies split on the basis of the flower color.
Maianthemum paniculatum is a perennial flowering plant; a species of monocot found from Mexico to Panama. It is often associated with montane environments and is found primarily in forest openings and along roadsides.
Tillandsia kammii is a species in the genus Tillandsia that is native to Honduras, but has also been collected in El Salvador. It was first discovered in Honduras in 1977 in the regions of Olancho, Lempira and Copan. Its common name is Kamm's tillandsia.
Vexatorella obtusata is an evergreen shrub, with narrow, leathery leaves and about 2 cm big, globular flowerheads consisting of well scented, creamy pink flowers, from which a long style with a thickened tip extends. Two subspecies are distinguished, both restricted to different parts of the Western Cape province of South Africa. The creeping V. obtusata subsp. obtusata, also known as the Montagu vexator flowers from September to December, and the upright V. obtusata subsp. albomontana, also known as the Witteberg vexator, that has flowers between August and November.
Wachendorfia thyrsiflora, the marsh butterfly lily, is a plant species of 0.6–2.5 m (2.0–8.2 ft) high when flowering, that has been assigned to the bloodroot family. It is a large to very large evergreen perennial plant with an underground rootstock with clusters of roots produced at the nodes. The rootstock has a distinctive red colour that results from so-called arylphenalenone pigments. The sturdy, entire and broadly sword-shaped leaves have laterally flattened and pleated leaf blades. The golden yellow flowers are set a dense cylindrical panicle on a tall firm stalk. Flowering occurs from spring until mid-summer.
Maianthemum amoenum is a perennial flowering plant, growing as an epiphyte on trees in cloud forests from Mexico south to Honduras.
Lysiloma candidum, most commonly known as the palo blanco, is a tree of the family Fabaceae near-endemic to the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It may grow to a height of 10 metres (33 ft) and is one of the few spineless woody legumes in the region. It has compound leaves with oval gray-green leaflets. The creamy-white, globose clusters of flowers bloom in March through May and perfume the air with a light, spicy fragrance. The flowers are followed by red-brown pods up to 15 centimetres (5.9 in) long that hang delicately on the thin branches. This species is distributed throughout the Baja California Peninsula, from Rancho El Barril in southern Baja California state to the Cape region of Baja California Sur, and is also very rarely found in the state of Sonora.
