James H. Schutte
Endive is a leafy vegetable that’s most commonly eaten fresh in salads or cooked as a green in soups and other recipes. There are two forms: Curly endive, or frisée, which has finely lobed leaves with curly edges, and the broad, smooth-leaved form called escarole. Like lettuce, radicchio and chicory, it is a member of the daisy family, Asteraceae, and is easily grown in the home garden. It is thought to be native to India and possibly Asia but has been become naturalized in Europe, Africa and South...
(Endive, Green Curled Ruffec Endive)
An heirloom variety grown since about 1860, endive ‘Green Curled Ruffec’ is noted for its tolerance to cold, wet conditions. The leaves are much divided and curled or frisée, dark green with a creamy center and have thick tender ribs. This variety is a good choice for salads as wells as cooked, either steamed or boiled. Harvest this selection about 90 days after planting.
This leafy vegetable is surprisingly a member of the daisy family along with radicchio and chicory and easily grown in the...
Big gorgeous heads with tender blanched hearts make escarole ‘Natacha’ a favorite of commercial and home gardeners. The plants are resistant to tipburn, bolting and bottom rot. Natacha is ready fro harvest 48 to 60 days from planting. This selection is great in salads or cooked.
This leafy vegetable is surprisingly a member of the daisy family along with radicchio and chicory and easily grown in the home garden. Thought to be native to India and possible Asia, endive is naturalized in Europe,...
Gerald L. Klingaman
(Radicchio, Wild Chicory)
Native to Europe and the Mediterranean and naturalized worldwide, wild chicory is a clumping perennial grown for its long, lobed, edible leaves and for its stout taproot, which is used as a coffee substitute. It also has medicinal uses, and is sometimes cultivated in ornamental gardens for its flowers.
"Leaf chicories" come in several types. The bitter, dandelion-like leaves of loose-leaf chicories are good in salads (when young) or in cooked dishes. Witloof or Belgian endive bears erect heads...
Forest & Kim Starr
Superior beauty and a spreading evergreen canopy give this shade or street tree good looks in every season. It is a warm climate species native to eastern Asia, Japan and Malaysia. The trees are intensely aromatic, containing oil of camphor, which is highly potent and used primarily in manufacturing. Both the wood, which is very hard, and the leaves bear a strong scent of camphor. This tree produces a strong, dark upright trunk topped by a canopy of medium-sized glossy leaves. This tree sheds some...
(Camphortree, Hardy Cinnamon Tree)
While the most famous cinnamon and camphor trees are best suited to subtropical and tropical climes, the hardy cinnamon is a species perfect for warm temperate climates, too. A broadleaf evergreen tree, it's native to China. As it ages, it develops a dense canopy of foliage on an upright pyramidal frame.
Hardy cinnamon's leaves are elongated, pointy ovals with three obvious parallel veins. As new leaves emerge in spring, they blush a rich rosy copper color with lighter green veins. These highly...
Fragrant in foliage, bark and flower, Japanese camphor has lustrous green leaves and a smooth sandy sienna-brown bark. A broadleaf evergreen tree, it is native to Japan, Korea and a narrow band in eastern China, including Taiwan.
The thin leathery leaves are oval to lance-shaped and are glossy deep green with a gray, blue-green underside. Crush a leaf or scrape a twig or bark and a camphor-cinnamon scent is released. A new leaf emerges a coppery light green. By late spring, the branch tips bear...
Michael Charters, www.calflora.net
Canada thistle is a fierce and aggressive weed foe. Impossibly extensive, deep root systems make this one of the toughest weeds to eradicate from garden spaces. It's small, purplish, brush-like flower heads produce loads of puffy airborne seeds that float away to colonize new space, and its prickly foliage is painful to the touch. Despite the common name, Canada thistle, this species was introduced to North America from Eurasia. Its remarkable tolerance to many growing conditions means it can be...
James H. Schutte
(Arizona Grape Ivy, Ivy Treebine, Possum Grape, Sorrel Vine)
Very fast-growing and displaying attractive teethed green leaves that fall away in winter, sorrel vine is a versatile vine or groundcover. Native to the southern United States and adjacent parts of northern Mexico, it bears tendrils opposite the leaves that will clasp onto any surface that isn't glass-smooth.
The leathery, succulent green leaves are variable in shape. Usually they're three-lobed but occasional deltoid-shaped blades occur with or without lobes, but always with coarse teeth. Tiny...
(Ivy of Paraguay)
At first glance, you may mistake the ivy of Paraguay as a miniaturized Virginia creeper. The small, leathery, green leaves on this tropical evergreen vine -- native from southern Brazil westward to northern Chile -- comprise three or five leaflets.
The medium green leaves on this fast-growing and slender vine are accompanied by tendrils. In summertime, tiny green flowers occur in clusters opposite the leaves. Glossy oval berries ensue. The leaves and fruits contrast the reddish stems nicely.