This multi-purpose fruit and also herbal medicinal tree is native to Southeast Asia where it has a variety of uses. For fruit production, because it is a dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown, the large, fleshy, rather olive-like fruits being eaten fresh, salted or in syrup. In addition, a black dye obtained from the fruits is used for making ink. Finally, the wood is soft and light in weight, and is often used for making lightweight furniture and plywood. Very few enormous seeds are ever available. ... Learn More

This spectacular, fast-growing tree, unbelievably, a member of the Mallow family, bears very tropical-looking palmate foliage, and has an extraordinary bulbous green trunk studded with astonishingly-large, triangular-shaped "thorns". It produces extremely beautiful, sizeable pink and cream lily-like flowers, which are fragrant and borne in great profusion, and are followed by large woody pods that split open to release the long white flossy hairs of the famous kapok. It is native to North-Eastern Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Southern Brazil. Although finally becoming an open ground tree in ... Learn More

This universally popular, relatively dwarf palm, most often grown as a houseplant, produces masses of attractive light green fronds on slender, arching stems. An elegant plant, easy to look after, with excellent air purifying qualities, it is undemanding in terms of light, water, temperature, humidity and feed, making it perfect for those of us that like low-maintenance room-mates. On NASA’s list of 50 Indoor plants that clean the air, it is perfect for filtering and purifying stagnant air, and is a popular choice for growing in the work place, and indeed is one of the most heavily sold housep ... Learn More

Potted bamboo palms bring color and warmth to any room in the house. There are many to choose from, but most need bright indirect light in order to thrive. However, this unusual palm is an exception to this rule and will grow in low light conditions, although they will grow taller with more light. Indeed it is also remarkably tolerant of dry air as well as low light levels. It grows as a clustering clump of stems, each ringed similarly to bamboo, and from which the common name Bamboo Palm arises, each stem being topped by an open crown of delicate feathery leaves, usually to 50cm long. ... Learn More

Usually a pale green to yellow when ripe, this amazing fruit is much larger than a grapefruit, with sweet flesh and thick spongy rind. By far the largest citrus in the world, the pummelo can reach 12" in diameter. Similar in appearance to a large grapefruit, it is native to South and Southeast Asia and is a natural citrus fruit, not a hybrid, and is indeed one of the original citrus species from which the rest of cultivated citrus were produced by hybridisation. The pummelo tree itself bears most attractive white flowers and generally has a somewhat crooked trunk and low, irregular branches. ... Learn More

A fascinating and very valuable multi-branched evergreen shrub, boasting showy terminal clusters of yellow flowers with long stamens, that radiate from each flower and protrude outwards. The flowers and the seed pods appear at the same time making an unusual and most attractive sight. Flowering period is from winter into late summer giving a superb period of blossom. Easy-to-grow in almost any aspect, and very undemanding, it provides sweet nectar for pollinating insects over a very long period! ... Learn More

Popularly sought by collectors but not common in cultivation, this recently described, elegant, slender species cycad is suited to tropical gardens which have a seasonally dry climate, although it also makes an impressive pot plant. With an attractive, smooth, yellowish trunk with a nicely rounded base, and green leaves, it is easy to grow, tolerating dry periods, and thrives best in full sun in a well drained soil. In the wild it grows on limestone cliffs from southeast Thailand to southern Vietnam. ... Learn More

Like its closely-related cousins the ordinary common tomatoes, the egg-size fruit makes good eating, and is typically made into jams or conserve, although it is recommended that the skin and seeds are removed before cooking. It is easily grown from seed and makes an attractive contrast to the more typical foliage of cannas, gingers and bananas. The roots of this plant are quite tough surviving moderate frosts, and in relatively mild areas usually re-grow from the base. It therefore makes either a fruiting shrub, or even a perennial tree, with a trunk, producing a crop of fruit yearly in warme ... Learn More

New, rare, delicious, and barely ever available in the Western World, the beige skin of this fruit contains luscious flesh which is sweet, tasty and delicious, and which is translucent white, with the shiny brown seed visible inside, looking like the pupil of an eye. As a result, they resemble the bulging eyes of the dragons often depicted in Chinese art. Closely related to lychees, they are native to China, Taiwan and South East Asia. The skin is hard and smooth, rather than softly-prickly like the common lychee, but peels off more easily than that of the lychee, rather like an egg shell! Con ... Learn More

One of the most beautiful of the clumping/clustering palms, this is a beautiful specimen for smaller gardens and can be used as a smaller dramatic palm in a larger garden design also, and even in a large container. Native to montane forest throughout Madagascar, it is mostly admired for its prominently ringed multiple trunks which rtesemble tyhick sugar canes. It performs best in a sheltered, shaded site, however it will certainly take full sun as well. While it closely resembles the popular Golden Cane Palm (Dypsis lutescens), this one is more tolerant of cool conditions and light frosts, and ... Learn More

Growing on almost any terrain, even on gravelly, sandy or saline soils in tropical America, this large ornamental shrub bears ivy-like leaves, and clusters of yellowish-green flowers and large yellow fruits. Although the plant and seeds are toxic, it is a plant of many uses, being used to manufacture soap, cosmetics, fuel and medicines. It is also being cultivated for biodiesel oil including its use as an airline fuel. In Nigeria, tests with 200 and 400 mg/kg, physic nut extract produced pain relief that compared well to aspirin, the researchers believing the extract works through both central ... Learn More

This compactish, slow growing, pretty palm makes a slender, smooth trunk topped by large, circular, fan-shaped leaves with silvery undersides, which are arranged in a dense crown. A remarkably useful plant, the leaves are a popular thatching material, and are often harvested from the wild for local use, the stem of the plant being used to make poles! It is native to the Caribbean, the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Cuba, Bahamas, Southeast N. America down to the Florida Keys, and much of the Caribbean region. In the wild it grows in open woodlands and coastal areas, but will thrive in an ... Learn More

This rare and totally unique, graceful, fast growing palm has gorgeous, finely divided, weeping fan leaves, and is easy to germinate and fast and easy to grow. Adaptable and hardy in every respect, it is one of the most rustic and most resistant to the cold, in short, a nearly foolproof palm, which will tolerate all types of soil, drought and sea wind. It has an unusual attractively-marked trunk, because dying leaves fall away cleanly. It is ideal either as a pretty landscape specimen, or even as an indoor plant on a commercial basis. It is endemic to the woodlands of Queensland, Australia, an ... Learn More

Individual plants grow to between 3-7 m high, but can reach up to 12 m, with leaves around 3 m in length and 90 cm in width. As the leaves are coloured red on their underside with shoots growing from a creeping, elongated, underground rhizome. The plants thrive best in shade or filtered sun, as intense direct sun can damage the leaves. Unusually, this wild banana has pink fruits and in its native south-east Asia, they are an important wild food source for Asian elephants .This species is increasingly under threat in the wild commercial agriculture is now clearing much of the irreplaceable ... Learn More

A superb, almost hardy, new species of ornamental banana from the Himalayas. The strong vigorous leaves are often tinged with ruby red tints. Very hardy and wind tolerant. Ideal for a large container or border. ... Learn More