Vascular Plant Families - Trees & Shrubs - Gymnosperms - Wildflowers - Graminoids
Pteridophytes - Bryophytes - Lichens

Cultivated Plants - Rare Plants - Weeds & Invasive Species - Poisonous Plants - Ethnobotany - First Nations

North America - Canada - U.S.A. - Other Countries

Taxonomic Databases - Miscellany - Glossaries & Dictionaries

Choose one of the links above for a list of plant-related websites about that category. Selected websites include only non-commercial, free-access sites that do not require passwords. The links provided have all been checked as of April 18, 2008, but visitors should note that most large websites have a regular downtime for editing and uploading more information. Often, this downtime occurs on the weekends, especially Sunday night (students take note!). If you find a link that doesn't work, try that site again at a different time or on a different day; if it still does not work, please report the problematic link to the NOPD.

Cultivated Plants

Arboles Ornamentales
http://www.arbolesornamentales.com/index.htm
An excellent Spanish website of cultivated plants by José Manuel Sánchez de Lorenzo-Cáceres with keys to the cultivars and a glossary of botanical terms in Spanish. Access the species list for ornamental trees or ornamental plants, including many cycads.

Canada's Plant Hardiness Site
http://planthardiness.gc.ca/ph_main.pl?lang=en
A map of Canada's Plant Hardiness Zones, developed at Great Lakes Forestry Centre (McKenney et al. 2001), is accessible on this site. Information on cultivated and native North American species is also presented and gardeners with a good knowledge of their plants are encouraged to enter data on which species survive in their area.

East Coast Native Azaleas
http://www.tjhsst.edu/~dhyatt/azaleas/index.html
The Middle Atlantic Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society has compiled a series of beautiful webpages on the azaleas, all members of the genus Rhododendron, native to eastern North America. Many of these species are now grown as cultivated shrubs.

Gallery of the World's Bulbs
http://www.bulbsociety.org/GALLERY_OF_THE_WORLDS_BULBS/index.html
An excellent image gallery from the International Bulb Society. Select a genus from the alphabetical drop-down menus, then select a species from the thumbnails.

GardenBreizh.org - Jardins et plantes exotiques pour tout climat
http://gardenbreizh.org/
An extensive website from France that contains thousands of images of cultivated plants, as well as articles on various plant groups or genera and links to botanical gardens worldwide. Click on this link, Les fiches de plantes exotiques, to access the descriptive pages for each species, including a list of cultivars. A great site for Canadian gardeners to brush up on their French.

Garden Plant Conservation
http://www.gloucestershire.nccpg.com/
This British website, from the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens (NCCPG), features a Plant Portrait section that presents excellent images and interesting historical information on a different cultivated plant each week. Access these pages from the Plant Portrait Index link in the left column of the webpage.

Kemper Center for Home Gardening
http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Alpha.asp
A useful website for gardeners from the Missouri Botanical Garden, with plant culture information and images of different cultivars, though not all pages have images.

Landscape Plants - Oregon State University
http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ldplants/1plants.htm
An image collection of primarily cultivated trees and shrubs, but images of many herbaceous ornamentals are also presented. Images of plant habit, flower, fruit, leaf, bark, and twig details are provided, as well as descriptions and basic horticultural information. A great reference for gardeners.

Mansfeld's World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops
http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/Mansfeld/Taxonomy/search_names-mf.htm
A searchable database of crop plants, very useful for crop species and cultivar information, but the site does not always include the latest taxonomic information.

Maples and Japanese Culture
http://homepage2.nifty.com/chigyoraku/Etop11.html
An excellent website dedicated to sharing information on maples of the world, by Hajime Hayashida, which provides scientific and Japanese common names, foliage autumn colour, and distribution, as well as a page of images for each species (click on the number at the end of each line). Comparison pages of leaves, flowers, fruit, and twigs for each species are very useful for identification. Access this species list for North American maples, or choose other species from the home page.

Perennial Gardening on the Prairies
http://www.em.ca/garden/home.html
See what ornamental species survive in a well-cultivated garden in our northern climate (hardiness zones 2b-3a). Included are links to webpages on annuals, perennials, and grass species, as well as links to native plants. An excellent series of webpages by Maureen and Glen, Regina, SK, and A companion to their website on Saskatchewan Native Plants.

Plantag - Plant Index
http://www.plantago.nl/plantindex/
Gardeners will appreciate learning about this interesting website, which is an index of cultivated plants available at nurseries throughout the Netherlands and Belgium. Links to images, from various sources, are provided for most species and can be accessed by botanical name or Dutch, English, German, or French common name.

Plant Encyclopedia - Michigan State University
http://msuplants.com/pd_search.html
A very useful website with images and brief descriptions of cultivated species known to survive in Michigan - and in most cases adjacent Ontario and other Canadian Provinces.

Plant Fact Sheets - North Carolina State University and Cooperative Extension Service
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/index.html
This website includes a very informative collection of Fact Sheets on a variety of horticultural topics, including herbs, ground covers, roses, etc.

Primula World - A Visual Reference for the Genus Primula
http://www.primulaworld.com/PWweb/index.shtml
A wonderful website compiled by Pam Eveleigh, which features over 2500 images of species in the genus Primula. A great resource for rock gardening enthusiasts. The list of Primula species can be accessed through this link.

Rhododendron and Azalea Images - American Rhododendron Society
http://www.rhododendron.org/rhododendronA-Z.htm
This link brings you to a list of all Rhododendron species and hybrids. Each page includes an image and brief, but useful descriptive information. For information on azalea hybrids (also in the genus Rhododendron), click on this link.

Royal Horticultural Society
http://www.rhs.org.uk/index.asp
A comprehensive website from the Britain's Royal Horticultural Society, which provides gardening advise and access to many gardening related topics. One of the most useful portions of the website for Canadians is Plant of the Month, which features descriptions and gardening information on many cultivars available in Canadian nurseries.

Stapeliads - Orchids of the Succulent World
http://www.cactus-mall.com/stapeliad/index.html
A website with stunning photographs by Gerald S. Barad of the unusual Stapeliads (now in the Apocynaceae) with cactus-like stems and very un-cactus-like flowers sporting waxy, starfish-like or tassel-tipped petals; some flowers even look like sea anemones or sea cucumbers. Taxonomy students will want to read Barad's article Pollination of Stapeliads.

The Asclepiad Expedition
http://www.asclepiad-exhibition.org/
Another website on the most bizarre group of cultivated plants, ranging from the starfish-like Huernia and Stapelia, to the hooded lanterns of Ceropegia, with excellent photographs by Chris Moore.

The Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl
http://www.paghat.com/gardenhome.html< br> An unusual name for an unusually delightful website that features excellent descriptions of cultivated species and many cultivars, photographed in their garden settings in Washington State. The home page provides a list of plant categories to browse, or access the species by scientific name.

The Plant Kaleidoscope
http://www.biologie.uni- ulm.de/systax/dendrologie/index.html
A database of "rare and unusual" cultivated plant species in Europe, by Rainer Oberle, but very useful for Canadian gardeners.

The Succulent Plant Page
http://www.succulent-plant.com/
A very informative site on cactus-like plants with succulent leaves or stems. Contains links to several different groups of interesting cultivated plants.

UCONN Plant Database of Trees, Shrubs, and Vines
http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/new.htm
A very good website on cultivated plant species from the University of Connecticut's Department of Plant Science, including dichotomous keys to the woody species and descriptive Plant Pages, accessed here by the alphabetical list of Latin Names.