A Guide to Popular Flowering Plant Families
Acanthaceae is a family of tropical flowering shrubs from Africa, Central America, and Oceania. Most plants from this family are known for their showy flowers. Popular genera in this family include:
- Acanthus
- Aphelandra
- Crossandra
- Fittonia
- Justicia
- Megaskepasma
- Ruellia
- Thunbergia
Acanthus Mollis, Image by meggle (flickr)
Amaranthaceae is a large family of herbs and flowering shrubs from tropics to temperate regions of the world. Plants in this family are known for their bright and attractive flowers. Popular genera include:
- Amaranthus
- Iresine
- Celosia
Iresine Herbstii, The Bloodleaf Plant, Image by Leonora Enking (flickr)
Amaryllidaceae is an ancient and popular family of bulbous flowering plants. Originally native to southern Africa, many species from this family are grown worldwide for their ornamental and commercial value. Popular genera from this plant family are:
- Amaryllis
- Allium
- Boophane
- Clivia
- Crinum
- Narcissus
- Nerine
Clivia miniata/ Image by Maja Dumat
Apocynaceae, also known as Frangipani family, is a family of flowering plants, shrubs, vines and tress from many tropical regions of the world. Popular genera are:
Araceae is a family of tropical plants known for their foliage and unusual flowers. Most plants from this family are grown for their horticultural value: Popular genera are:
- Alocasia
- Anthurium
- Caladium
- Colocasia
- Diffenbachia
- Philodendron
Caladium, Colorful Foliage Plants, Image from wikipedia
The family of Arecaceae, also known as Palm family, is known for tropical trees, climbers, shrubs grown for their usually evergreen foliage. Popular genera include:
- Archontophoenix
- Areca
- Bismarckia
- Calamus
- Cocos
- Phoenix
- Thrinax
- Veitchia
- Washingtonia
Washingtonia Robusta, Image by floresyplantas.net
Asclepiadaceae, also known as milkweed family, is a sub-family of Apocynaceae. Plants in this family are characterized by succulent usually waxy stem and unusual flowers. Popular members of this family are:
- Hoya
- Hoodia
- Stapelia
Stapelia Gigantea Flower, Photo © The Lovely Plants
Asteraceae, also known as Aster family, is one of the largest families and includes many popular flowering plants. Most plants in this family are grown for their horticultural value. Popular plants include:
- Calendula
- Chrysanthemum
- Dahlia
- Gazania
- Gerbera
- Helianthus
- Liatris
- Rudbeckia
- Senecio
- Tagetes
- Zinnia
Rudbeckia hirta, Image by Joshua Mayer