WATCH IT GROW

Shower of yellow flowers

Name: Golden shower. Botanical name: Cassia fistula. Description: Racemes of yellow flowers cascading abundantly and gracefully from the twig ends. Originally from India, the tree is widely loved throughout the tropics. In South Florida, it has been overshadowed in recent years by its cousins, the pink C. javanica, the apple blossom cassia, and the newcomer C. bakeriana, the pink shower, but here and there are beautiful specimens. The leaves are compound, fairly large, and sometimes show micronutrient deficiencies by turning yellow. The tree is slow-growing.

WATCH IT GROW

This palm has a fat base for water storage

Name: Ponytail tree, ponytail palm, elephant foot tree.

Botanical name: Beaucarnia recurvata.

WATCH IT GROW

Orchid hybrid easier, but still a little picky

Name: Brassidium Lillian Oka `Hawaii.' Description: A cross between a Brassia, the spider orchid, and an oncidium, dancing lady orchid, that makes the hybrids a little easier to grow and the flowers a little larger. Even so, the ideal temperatures are mid-80s in the day and mid-60s at night, closer to the needs of intermediate conditions than warm conditions, so this is a good plant for the more advanced orchid hobbyist.

WATCH IT GROW

White alder awakens when the sun rises

Name: White alder. Botanical name: Turnera subulata. Description: From Panama through Brazil and Bolivia, this relative of the South Florida yellow alder is a summer-flowering perennial, often called a sub-shrub because of its smaller stature. The leaves are serrated and flowers appear singly. The flowers have a dark center with whitish petals, and they open when the sun hits them, closing midafternoon. Butterflies like them. The white alders mix and match well with wildflowers and butterfly-attracting...

WATCH IT GROW

Crape myrtles are summer's hot flower

This column by former Miami Herald writer Georgia Tasker has run in earlier editions. Name: Crape myrtle Botanical name: Lagerstroemia indica

WATCH IT GROW

Lovely lotus is symbol of purity

This column by former Miami Herald writer Georgia Tasker has run in earlier editions. Name: Lotus. Botanical name: Nelumbo nucifera `Green Maiden.'

WATCH IT GROW

South American beauty has a ball of flowers

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.

WATCH IT GROW

Bold flowers, tall trunk define silk cotton tree

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.

WATCH IT GROW

Sun sets flame vine aglow

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.

WATCH IT GROW

Coffee grower found cycad in rain forest

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.

WATCH IT GROW

Elegant bromeliad makes its presence known

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.

WATCH IT GROW

Shrub's flowers look like pieces of blushing popcorn

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.

WATCH IT GROW

Beach sunflower happiest when dry

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.

WATCH IT GROW

Pods look just like pop beads in this rangy native shrub

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.

WATCH IT GROW

Dahoon holly tree is happiest in a moist home

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...

WATCH IT GROW

This mottled aroid grows large and prickly

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...

WATCH IT GROW

Small tree may be the devil to find

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.

WATCH IT GROW

Flask philodendron grows in a spiral

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.

WATCH IT GROW

These sweet-smelling phals like humidity, heat

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...

WATCH IT GROW

Sunrose covers ground in a very colorful way

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.