Get to know 16 plants selected from Idlib. Discover their scientific names, identifying features and growing needs.
Cicer arietinum
More commonly known as the Chickpea, this annual legume has small, green feathery leaves either side of the stem and produces fat green seedpods containing two or three peas to each pod in spring or early summer. Crops are usually ready fo
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Aloe vera
An evergreen perennial to 0.6m, forming rosettes of fleshy, narrow, dull green leaves with spiny margins, with long racemes of tubular greenish-yellow flowers 3cm in length in racemes to 90cm in length
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Ficus elastica
Large, tropical evergreen tree, often grown as a houseplant. Large, broadly oval-shaped, glossy dark green leaves, occasionally red-flushed, with bronze-coloured undersides are 30-45cm long. Yellow figs are produced in clusters on mature tr
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Catharanthus roseus
A woody-based evergreen perennial, to 45cm in height, with somewhat fleshy stems bearing ovate leaves and 5-petalled flowers, to 4cm across, pink, red or white in colour
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Ocimum basilicum
An aromatic tender annual or short-lived perennial, 30-60cm tall and 30cm wide, with bright green, elliptic leaves approximately 5cm long and 2-3cm wide. Many different cultivars available, varying in size and colour. Small, tubular white o
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Coleus scutellarioides
A tender, evergreen perennial to 60cm, with semi-succulent, square stems bearing ovate, toothed leaves. The species shows some leaf variegation and numerous brightly coloured cultivars have been developed from it. Small, blue flowers are bo
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Kalanchoe blossfeldiana
K. blossfeldiana is a bushy evergreen succulent perennial to 40cm, with fleshy, ovate leaves, and terminal panicles of tubular red flowers spreading lobes in early spring
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Gardenia jasminoides
A large evergreen shrub with deep glossy green, elliptic leaves and very fragrant, broadly funnel-shaped white flowers 8cm across in summer and autumn
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Arum italicum
In its 'wild' form is more modest than the commonly grown 'Marmoratum' but has pleasantly glossy green leaves with a tracery of paler veins
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Tradescantia zebrina
A trailing evergreen perennial to 15cm, with lance-shaped, deep bronze-green leaves with two longitudinal silvery bands above, purple beneath; rosy-purple flowers in small terminal clusters appear sporadically throughout the year
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Olea europaea
Has a rugged, much-branched habit and slow growth, eventually 4.5-9m. Leaves are narrowly obovate or oval, to 7.5cm long, leathery, silvery beneath. Very small white flowers are borne in axillary racemes to 5cm long. Many cultivated varieti
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Nerium oleander
N. oleander is an evergreen shrub with narrowly lance-shaped grey-green leaves and terminal clusters of salver-shaped, pink, white or red flowers 3-4cm across, in summer
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Citrullus lanatus
Citrullus lanatus, commonly known as watermelon, is a vigorous annual vine with deeply lobed, rough-textured leaves and yellow, monoecious flowers. The fruit is a large, oblong to round berry with a hard green rind often striped or mottled,
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Cucurbita pepo
This is the original parent plant, from which many cultivars of courgette, summer and winter squash, pumpkins and gourds have been bred. The tender annual plants can be trailing or bushy. They have yellow flowers and both male and female fl
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Prunus persica
A spreading, deciduous tree to 6m, with narrow, glossy, mid- to dark green leaves up to 15cm long. Bowl-shaped, pink or red flowers, 4cm across, are produced in spring, before the leaves, followed by spherical, downy, edible, red-blushed, y
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Vitis vinifera
Woody plant, climbing by tendrils, about 15-18m tall. Leaves are 3 or 5-lobed, coarsely toothed, to 15cm long and wide, with stalks half as long as the blade. Flowers are tiny, greenish, in loose panicles, fruit oval or globose grapes. This
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