Name: Mexican honeysuckle Botanical name: Justicia spicigera Description: In the same family of plants as Brazilian plume and shrimp-plant, this Justicia has brilliant flowers that sparkle in our equally brilliant light. The species name means spike or spike-bearing, which aptly describes the orange tubular flowers.
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Name: old man palm Botanical name: Coccothrinax crinita Description: This threatened palm from Cuba is as charming as any plant you could want. Topped with circular palmate fronds, the old man is loved for the hairy thatch that adorns its slender trunk, making it appear a great deal thicker than it is. It's quite slow-growing, which means it won't beanstalk skyward like coconuts and veitchias.
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Name: Guatemalan bird of paradise Botanical name: Heliconia subulata Description: A small heliconia from Central and South America, it grows from Guatemala to Paraguay, through Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, according to the online Global Biodiversity Information Facility. The flower bracts are red and contain the flowers, which are lemon yellow with lime-green tips. In spite of its common name, this heliconia isn't a true bird of paradise, which is in the genus Strelitzia.
Name: Vietnam gardenia Botanical name: Gardenia augusta `Vietnam' Description: A gardenia is a plant for skilled gardeners who like a challenge. This gardenia from Southeast Asia likes acid conditions. Growing it in alkaline soils means keeping on top of its nutrition, but the beautiful, solitary flowers, with lustrous white petals forming pinwheel-like corollas, should make the effort worthwhile.
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Name: Two ''terete vanda'' species Botanical name: Papilionanthe teres and Papilionanthe tricuspidata Description: These species, once classified as vandas, are among the 10 that have terete or cylindrical leaves that may have formed by rolling in on themselves to thrive in full sun. The plants are from the warm Asian tropics and grow to be quite tall.
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Name: Flor de rosa, rose of Venezuela, scarlet flame bean Botanical name: Brownea coccinea subspecies capitella Description: A gorgeous orange-red ball of flowers characterizes this leguminous shrub/small tree that is native to northern South America, Brazil and Trinidad and Tobago. The stamens are golden yellow and joined at the base, topped with golden anthers, adding liveliness and depth to the spectacular flower clusters that appear from late winter to spring.
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Name: Silk cotton tree Botanical name: Bombax ceiba Description: A flowering tree of great scale that produces fiercely colored red or orange flowers. The silk cotton drops its leaves in late winter, making its bold flowers highly visible.
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Name: Flame vine Botanical name: Pyrostegia venusta Description: When a western sun strikes it just right, the flame vine seems to ignite with dramatic clusters of slender flowers. The lobes of the flowers curl back to reveal the stigma and stamens, and a day later flowers will drop like spent embers.
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Botanical name: Zamia tuerckheimii De- scription: A cycad from Guatemala with gracefully arching leaves. Leaflets are glossy, pointed and full on the individual fronds, resulting in a beautiful abundance.
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Botanical name: Alcantarea odorata Description: A glorious bromeliad that has blue-green leaves covered in a white powder. Use this as a focal point in your garden, as it looks especially lovely against dark green leaves. Related to the Alcantarea imperialis (once called Vreisea imperialis), this plant and its relatives are large, elegantly formed and eye-catching.
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Name: Guayabilla, cafecito Botanical name: Samyda dodecandra Description: A rare multitrunked shrub or small tree from dry evergreen forests of Mexico, Central America and the West Indies, guayabilla has pretty leaves and small flowers that range from whitish to pink and deep pink. The species name dodecandra means 12 stamens, and if you pull out a hand lens, you can check them out.
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Name: Beach sunflower Botanical name: Helianthus debilis subspecies debilis Description: A cheery and bright plant that graces our coastal areas, the beach sunflower performs well in many settings, provided the plants are fairly dry. It grows quickly. It spreads by underground runners, by seed and when a stem hits the ground. The leaves are deltoid shaped and toothed. The flowers are two or three inches across.
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Name: Necklace pod Botanical name: Sophora tomentosa var. truncata Description: Until this native shrub develops fruit, it's hard to see why it would be given its common name. Then, when it dangles a few pods, it's a duh moment: of course.
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Name: Dahoon holly Botanical name: Ilex cassine Description: From the edges of low-lying areas in the Everglades, this true holly is a Florida native useful for planting in areas that retain moisture, perhaps a lakefront. Leaves are leathery and dark green, and when the trees are young, the leaves have a few spines. There are male and female trees; this photo shows the female with red berries. The trunks are whitish, with some gray and black patches, making a lovely contrast to the leaves and fruit...
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Name: Cyrtosperma johnstonii Description: An aquatic and semi-aquatic aroid that comes from somewhere in Oceania, probably the Solomon Islands. This attractive plant has a surprise: beautifully mottled but wickedly armed leaf stems. The upward pointing arrow-shaped leaves are marked with red veins and the petioles or leaf stems are maroon and brown to charcoal. The prickles are short and in bands or spirals around the stems. This makes a show-stopping pond plant when it reaches its mature size, which...
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Name: Cockspur; devil's smooth claws or smooth devil's claws Botanical name: Pisonia rotundata Description: Round, glossy leaves distinguish this small tree that grows only on No Name Key and Big Pine Key and is on the state's endangered species list. It is briefly deciduous and also dioecious, meaning there are male and female trees. Pisonia flowers in the spring.
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Name: Flask philodendron Botanical name: Philodendron martianum (mar-shee-AY-num) Description: A beautiful, slow-growing plant that makes an attractive container specimen. The leaves are substantial and dark green. A central portion of the leaf stalk continues into the blade and tapers at its apex.
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Name: Phalaenopsis violacea Description: A summer blooming species from low-lying and shady riversides in Sumatra, Borneo and Malaya, the small but colorful flowers emit a spice-citrus fragrance that belies their size. Phal. violacea has a wide range of colors. Eric Christenson, author of Phalaenopsis, A Monograph, says ''It is quite likely that these differences represent . . . a more or less continuous gradation from one end of the species range to the other.'' There also are white and even blue...
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Name: Baby sunrose Botanical name: Aptenia cordifolia Description: A member of the ice plant family, this South African succulent is a good ground cover for the Florida Keys in particular, but also for rock gardens and sunny, sandy soils. Baby sunrose also makes a good candidate for hanging baskets, according to the University of Florida's Cooperative Extension Service.
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