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Asparagus Fern
Asparagus setaceus
A soft, feathery South African plant that resembles a fern but is actually a relative of garden asparagus, popular as a houseplant and floral filler.
Below are plants that contain the letter S anywhere in the name. Each of the 57 plants below opens to a full profile.
Table of contents
List of Plants That Contain S
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Aspidistra
Aspidistra elatior
A tough, broad-leaved evergreen houseplant from East Asia known as the cast-iron plant for its near-indestructible tolerance of low light and neglect.
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Bear Grass
Xerophyllum tenax
A North American mountain plant with grass-like leaves and tall summer plumes of cream-white flowers, important to several Indigenous craft traditions.
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Boston Fern
Nephrolepis exaltata
A graceful arching fern from tropical Americas, immensely popular as a hanging houseplant since the Victorian era for its lush sword-shaped fronds.
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Bunny Ear Cactus
Opuntia microdasys
A Mexican prickly pear with flat oval pads arranged in pairs that resemble rabbit ears, popular as a small windowsill cactus despite its tufts of irritating bristles.
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Burros Tail
Sedum morganianum
A trailing Mexican succulent whose blue-green leaves overlap densely along long pendant stems, making it a popular hanging-basket houseplant.
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Chinese Evergreen
Aglaonema commutatum
A tough Southeast Asian houseplant grown for its silver- or red-mottled leaves, widely chosen for offices for its tolerance of low light and dry air.
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Christmas Cactus
Schlumbergera bridgesii
A Brazilian epiphytic cactus with flat segmented stems that bursts into magenta, pink, or white tubular flowers around the winter holidays.
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Coleus
Coleus scutellarioides
A Southeast Asian foliage plant grown for its kaleidoscopic leaves in red, purple, lime, and chocolate, popular in beds, containers, and as a houseplant.
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Devils Ivy
Epipremnum aureum
Another name for golden pothos, a vigorous trailing aroid from French Polynesia, prized as the most forgiving and fast-growing of indoor vining plants.
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Dusty Miller
Jacobaea maritima
A Mediterranean shrub grown as a tender perennial or annual for its felted silver-white foliage, a popular contrast plant in summer bedding schemes.
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Easter Cactus
Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri
A South American epiphytic cactus with flat scalloped segments that produces star-shaped pink, orange, or red flowers in springtime.
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Edelweiss
Leontopodium nivale
A small alpine herb of the Eurasian high mountains with white woolly star-shaped bracts, a national symbol of Austria and Switzerland.
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English Ivy
Hedera helix
A vigorous evergreen woody vine from Europe, widely grown for cover on walls and as a houseplant, but invasive in parts of North America and Australia.
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Eucalyptus Plant
Eucalyptus cinerea
Juvenile foliage of Australian eucalyptus trees, grown for their round silver-blue scented leaves popular in cut and dried flower arrangements.
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Ficus
Ficus benjamina
A vast genus of tropical figs that includes giant strangler trees, small houseplants, and the iconic rubber and fiddle-leaf figs of interior design.
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Fountain Grass
Pennisetum alopecuroides
A graceful African and Asian ornamental grass with arching foliage and feathery summer flower plumes, a backbone of modern naturalistic plantings.
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Ginseng
Panax ginseng
A slow-growing East Asian and North American forest herb with branched fleshy roots used for thousands of years in traditional medicine as a tonic.
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Hens and Chicks
Sempervivum tectorum
A European alpine succulent forming a mother rosette surrounded by clusters of small offsets, a classic hardy plant for rock gardens and green roofs.
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Hosta
Hosta plantaginea
A shade-loving Asian perennial famous for sculptural mounds of broad leaves in green, blue, gold, and variegated patterns, the backbone of woodland gardens.
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Impatiens
Impatiens walleriana
A shade-tolerant African annual loved for non-stop summer flowers in pink, red, white, and orange, traditionally one of the worlds best-selling bedding plants.
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Japanese Iris
Iris ensata
A water-loving Japanese perennial with enormous flat flowers in violet, blue, and white, prized in Japanese garden ponds and traditional flower arrangements.
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Kentucky Bluegrass
Poa pratensis
A Eurasian cool-season turf grass, the standard lawn species across temperate North America despite originating in Europe and northern Asia.
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Lambs Ear
Stachys byzantina
A Turkish and Iranian perennial herb with soft silvery felted leaves that feel like a lambs ear, a popular tactile plant for childrens and sensory gardens.
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Lipstick Plant
Aeschynanthus radicans
A Southeast Asian epiphytic vine grown as a hanging houseplant for its tubular red flowers that emerge from dark calyxes like a lipstick from its tube.
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Mistletoe
Viscum album
A semi-parasitic European evergreen shrub that grows in the canopy of host trees, famous for sticky white berries and the Christmas kissing tradition.
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Monstera
Monstera deliciosa
A tropical American climbing aroid famous for huge fenestrated heart-shaped leaves, one of the most photographed and traded houseplants of the modern era.
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Moss
Bryophyta
A worldwide group of small soft nonvascular plants that form green carpets on rocks, soil, and tree bark, ancient ancestors of land plants today.
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Nasturtium
Tropaeolum majus
An Andean trailing annual with round shield-shaped leaves and bright orange, yellow, or red spurred flowers, all parts edible and pleasantly peppery.
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Night Blooming Jasmine
Cestrum nocturnum
A tropical American shrub whose small green-white flowers release an intense sweet perfume after dusk, intoxicating in warm gardens.
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Ornamental Grass
Miscanthus sinensis
A broad horticultural group of clumping grasses grown for foliage, flower plumes, winter structure, and movement in modern naturalistic gardens.
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Ostrich Fern
Matteuccia struthiopteris
A large North American and European fern named for its vase-shaped clumps of plume-like sterile fronds, the source of edible spring fiddleheads.
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Oxalis
Oxalis triangularis
A vast genus of small clover-like plants found worldwide, grown as a houseplant for purple shamrock and dreaded as a weed in some species and climates.
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Pampas Grass
Cortaderia selloana
A massive South American grass with cream-white feathery flower plumes that reach four metres, a dramatic landscape grass and now popular in dried bouquets.
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Parsley
Petroselinum crispum
A Mediterranean biennial culinary herb grown for fresh green or curled leaves used worldwide as a garnish, flavoring, and tabletop salad ingredient.
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Pencil Cactus
Euphorbia tirucalli
An East African succulent that looks like a tangle of green pencils, popular as a sculptural houseplant despite its highly irritating milky sap.
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Pothos
Epipremnum aureum
A South Pacific trailing aroid with heart-shaped leaves, the most widely sold houseplant in the world and an emblem of beginner-friendly indoor gardening.
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Prickly Pear Cactus
Opuntia ficus-indica
A widespread group of paddle-segmented cacti native to the Americas, valued for edible pads and brilliant red fruits that flavor candies and beverages.
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Quack Grass
Elymus repens
A Eurasian perennial cool-season grass spreading aggressively by underground rhizomes, considered one of the worst lawn and crop weeds in temperate zones.
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Quaking Grass
Briza media
A graceful European grass whose heart-shaped flat seed heads tremble on slim stems in the slightest breeze, popular in dried bouquets.
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Queen Annes Lace
Daucus carota
A European biennial wildflower with flat lacy white flower heads on tall stems, the wild ancestor of the cultivated carrot and a meadow favorite.
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Rabbits Foot Fern
Davallia fejeensis
A Fijian fern with finely cut bright green fronds rising from hairy creeping rhizomes that look like soft rabbit feet creeping over the pot rim.
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Rattlesnake Plant
Goeppertia insignis
A Brazilian rainforest calathea with long wavy green leaves marked with dark blotches that look like a rattlesnakes pattern, popular as a houseplant.
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Sage
Salvia officinalis
A Mediterranean shrubby herb with grey-green pungent leaves used in cooking, herbal medicine, and traditional Native American smudging.
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Saguaro Cactus
Carnegiea gigantea
The iconic columnar cactus of the Sonoran Desert, growing to 12 metres with branching arms and white night-blooming flowers that crown its tip in early summer.
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Sansevieria
Sansevieria trifasciata
The classic botanical name for the snake plant group, an African succulent prized as a near-indestructible houseplant in many leaf colors and forms.
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Snake Plant
Dracaena trifasciata
A tough West African succulent with stiff upright sword-shaped leaves, one of the most forgiving houseplants and a NASA-listed air purifier.
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Spider Lily
Hymenocallis caribaea
A tropical American bulb with strap-like leaves and large fragrant white spidery flowers that bloom in summer above clumps of foliage.
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Spider Plant
Chlorophytum comosum
A South African hanging plant with arching striped grass-like leaves and dangling baby plantlets, one of the easiest and most prolific houseplants.
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Staghorn Fern
Platycerium bifurcatum
An Australian epiphytic fern with antler-shaped fronds that grows wedged to tree branches and is mounted on boards as a popular living wall plant.
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String of Pearls
Curio rowleyanus
A South African trailing succulent with green pea-shaped leaves strung along threadlike stems, popular in hanging baskets for its jewelry-like cascade.
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Sweet Flag
Acorus calamus
A wetland herb with fragrant strap-shaped leaves that smell faintly of cinnamon when crushed, used in medicine and ritual across Eurasia and North America.
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Sword Fern
Polystichum munitum
A large evergreen Pacific Northwest fern with stiff dark green sword-shaped fronds, common in coastal coniferous forests and a popular shade landscape plant.
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Tillandsia
Tillandsia
A large genus of soilless American bromeliads, including Spanish moss and many air plants, that absorb moisture and nutrients straight through their leaves.
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Tradescantia
Tradescantia fluminensis
A genus of fast-growing trailing American herbs popular as houseplants, with colorful striped foliage and small three-petaled pink, purple, or white flowers.
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Venus Flytrap
Dionaea muscipula
A small carnivorous American bog plant with hinged leaves that snap shut on insects, perhaps the most famous of all carnivorous plants.
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Zoysia Grass
Zoysia japonica
A warm-season Asian turf grass that forms a dense slow-growing lawn tolerant of heat, drought, and salt, popular on golf courses and in southern lawns.
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