Explore Plants
Indian plants documented for the way people actually garden — filter by what you want the plant to do, the space you have, the month you can sow and the region you are in. The result count below is live.
Use the filters on the plant archive to narrow by goal, growing space and season. Every record carries a Hindi name, a botanical name, a care note and the months in which to sow.
194 plants match your filters Answer three questions on the home page — your region, your space and your goal — and we will name two plants to sow this month.Filters1 on
Resurrection FernसंजीवनीSelaginella bryopterisThe sanjeevani of the rocks — curls up bone dry, then greens again in an hour of rain.
Job’s TearsगुरलुCoix lacryma-jobiHard glossy grain used as food, as beads and as a brewing grain in the hills.Kodo MilletकोदोPaspalum scrobiculatumThe kodo of the Deccan and central hills — drought-proof and long-storing.Proso MilletचीनाPanicum miliaceumA short-season millet of the northern hills, sown when the season has been lost.Silver Fernचांदी फर्नPityrogramma calomelanosA white-backed fern that colonises damp walls and cut slopes on its own.
Foxtail Orchidद्रौपदी मालाRhynchostylis retusaThe kopou phul of Assam — hanging foxtail sprays, and the flower of Bihu.Lady’s Slipper Orchidलेडी स्लिपरPaphiopedilum insigneA pouched terrestrial orchid of the eastern Himalaya, cool-growing and slow.Blue Vandaनील ऑर्किडVanda coeruleaThe blue vanda of Meghalaya — tessellated flowers, and protected in the wild.Staghorn Fernस्टैगहॉर्नPlatycerium wallichiiAn antler-shaped epiphytic fern of Assam’s forests, mounted on a board.
YongchakयोंगचाकParkia timorianaThe tree bean of Manipur — long flat pods with a pungent unmistakable smell.Water Lettuceजल सलादPistia stratiotesA floating rosette that shades a tub and starves the algae — but a weed if it escapes.Lotus-leaf PennywortखुरखुरीHydrocotyle sibthorpioidesA tiny creeping mat for the wet edge of a tub — the softest possible ground cover.Wild Riceजंगली चावलOryza rufipogonThe wild ancestor of cultivated rice, still standing in eastern wetlands.NeelakurinjiनीलकुरिंजीStrobilanthes kunthianaThe shrub that turns the Nilgiri slopes blue once every twelve years, then dies.Wild Nutmegजंगली जायफलMyristica malabaricaThe Malabar nutmeg of swampy Ghats forest — a myristica swamp indicator species.Malabar Plumजामुन कोकमSyzygium caryophyllatumA small-fruited endemic jamun of the southern hills, cropping through the monsoon.
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