Get to know 11 plants selected from Shefa. Discover their scientific names, identifying features and growing needs.
Delonix regia
A tropical, evergreen tree to 10m tall and wide in its native Madagascar. It bears elegant, fern-like leaves and clusters of exotic-looking, bright red flowers. In frost-prone areas grow in a temperate greenhouse as foliage plants, since th
Learn more →Codiaeum variegatum
Codiaeum variegatum, commonly known as croton, is a striking evergreen shrub grown primarily for its bold, leathery leaves. The leaves come in a dazzling array of colors including green, yellow, orange, red, and purple, often with variegate
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Asplenium nidus
An evergreen fern forming a striking rosette of strap-shaped, undivided, bright green, fronds to 1.2m in length
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Hibiscus rosa-sinensis
A compact evergreen shrub with ovate to broadly lance-shaped glossy dark green leaves. Single 5-petalled flowers 10cm across with yellow anthered red stamens are produced from the leaf axils from summer to autumn, though in cultivation semi
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Barringtonia asiatica
Barringtonia asiatica is a tropical evergreen tree reaching 10–25 m in height. It has large, obovate leaves that are glossy and leathery, and produces showy, night-blooming flowers with numerous long white stamens and pinkish petals. The di
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Alpinia purpurata
A tender perennial up to 4m high, with lance-shaped, slightly glossy green leaves to 80cm long. In summer, produces long, semi-upright flower spikes, with small white flowers surrounded by overlapping, bright red bracts
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Carica papaya
A tree-like, evergreen,herbaceous plant that can reach 6m in tropical conditions. The single, upright stem is topped with a palm-like spread of large, long stemmed, deeply divided leaves. Cream, scented flowers, which may be male, female or
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Capsicum annuum
This is the wild plant from which many of our cultivated sweet peppers and chillies have been bred. It shows a wide range of fruit shapes, colours, sizes and degree of capsaicin production - from where the heat may or may not be felt. It ha
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Cordyline fruticosa
Cordyline fruticosa is an evergreen shrub reaching up to 2-3 meters in height. It has erect stems with a tuft of sword-shaped or lanceolate leaves at the top, each 30-60 cm long. The foliage exhibits a wide range of colors, including deep g
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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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Mimosa pudica
M. pudica is a spiny annual or short-lived evergreen perennial of low, spreading habit, with divided leaves that are sensitive to touch, and fluffy pale pink or pale purple flowerheads in summer
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