Schefflera plant (lat. Shefflera), or umbrella tree, belongs to the largest genus in the family Araliaceae that counts around 200 species. Schefflera flower was named in honor of either the German botanist Christian Jakob Scheffler, who lived in the XVIII century, or the Polish scientist Johann Peter Ernst von Scheffler. In nature, the representatives of this genus are vines, shrubs or trees, reaching a height of 6.5 ft and growing in the tropics of Australia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. Some garden forms of schefflera with variegated foliage are very popular.
China rose plant, or Chinese hibiscus (lat. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis) is one of the most popular species in the culture that belongs to the genus Hibiscus and family Malvaceae. Hibiscus genus includes about two hundred species, but Chinese hibiscus has become the most popular in home horticulture. The flower of China rose is native to the south of China and the north of Indochina from which it began its triumphant spread over subtropical and tropical regions of the Earth.
Croton plant (lat. Croton), or codiaeum (lat. Codiaeum), or rushfoil, belongs to the genus in the family Euphorbiaceae. The gardeners liked the name “croton” more than the scientific “codiaeum” that means “head” in Greek. But what does ”croton” mean? Well, no one knows for sure. Perhaps, this name came from the name of the city in southern Italy, where Pythagoras once founded his school, and probably in some dialect this word means “shrub”. The homeland of wild croton is the islands of the Pacific and Northern Australia, India, as well as the Southeast Asia.
Chrysanthemum (lat. Chrysanthemum) is a herbaceous perennial and annual in the family Asteraceae. In Greek the flower’s name means “golden-colored”, or “flower-sun”, since many species have a yellow coloring of the inflorescences. According to the GRIN site, in nature this genus includes 29 species distributed in the northern and temperate zones, mostly in Asia. Archaeologists say that more than 2,500 years ago chrysanthemum was already cultivated by the ancient Chinese who used its petals for food, and in the treatise “Spring and Autumn” it was mentioned by Confucius himself!
The hydrangea plant, or hortensia, belongs to the genus of flowering plants in the Hydrangeaceae family that according to different sources includes 30 to 80 species of shrubs, lianas and small trees. In the wild, hydrangeas are most often found in East and South Asia – in Japan and China. It also grows in the Far East and North America. The hortensia flower was named after the Princess of the Holy Roman Empire and it received its Latin name “hydrangea” when the scientist systemized the plant referring to its huge water consumption (hydrangea is translated as a “vessel with water”).
Salvia plant (lat. Salvia), or sage, is a large genus of herbaceous perennials and shrubs of the family Labiatae or Lamiaceae, common in tropical and temperate regions of all parts of the world except Australia. The name “salvia” is derived from the Latin word “salvus” meaning “to be healthy”, and this is due to the fact that some species of the plant have long been used for medical purposes. Nothing heals a dental abscess so quickly but a gargle with decoction of sage. There are only about 900 representatives of salvia genus, and they prefer to grow in bright places.
Raspberry plant or red raspberry (lat. Rubus idaeus) is a shrub in the genus Rubus of the rose family. The genus is represented by approximately six hundred species. Many of them were already known in the ancient world: the first mentioning about raspberry fruit can be found in the writings of the third century BC. Raspberry cultivation began in Western Europe in the sixteenth century AD. In the wild raspberry typically grows in forests, along rivers and it became one of the most popular and beloved garden berries many centuries ago.
Blueberry plant vulgaris (Latin Vaccinium uliginosum), or bog blueberry, bog bilberry, or swamp blueberry, belongs to the genus Vaccinium of family Ericaceae. This deciduous shrub can be found in temperate and cold regions around the Northern Hemisphere – Eurasian species range begins from Iceland and comes to the Mediterranean and Mongolia, in North America it stretches from Alaska to California. Blueberry is also called drunk berry or blue grape. All names with negative meaning are given by mistake: people complainted that they had a headache after eating blueberry as if they had a hangover.
Strawberry (lat. Fragaria) is a genus of herbaceous perennials of the rose family, Rosaceae, which includes both wild species – fragaria orientalis, fragaria campestris, fragaria viridis – and cultivated species that are not found in the wild – garden strawberry or pine strawberry. There are also species that grow in nature and in garden – woodland strawberry and musk strawberry. The name of the plant comes from a word “straw” as its tiny yellow seeds scattered over the surface of the berry look like a straw. The plant was first described in 1553 by Jerome Bock, superintendent of the botanical garden in Zweibrücken.
Carrot plant (lat. Daucus) belongs to the genus of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae. The name "carrots" is derived from the Latin language. In the wild, this plant is widespread in Africa, New Zealand, Australia, the USA and the Mediterranean. In agriculture, being a vegetable carrot is presented by the species of domesticated carrot (Daucus sativus) that is subdivided into fodder and table varieties. Carrot has been cultivated for about four thousand years, and during that time many varieties of the plant have been bred. It is believed that the birthplace of carrot is Afghanistan because most of the species of this vegetable are still growing there.
Squash plant, or scalloped squash, is a species of ordinary guard. This herbaceous annual plant is commonly cultivated worldwide and it does not grow in the wild. Originated in North America squash was taken to Europe in XVII century and it became so popular that two centuries later it was grown even in Siberia. The plant name comes from the Narragansett word “askutasquash” meaning "a green thing eaten raw". Squash plant is recorded in international classification as Cucurbita pepo subsp. ovifera, var. Ovifera.
Cabbage (lat. Brassica) is a genus of plants of the cabbage family (Cruciferae) that includes such well known cultivars as headed cabbage, turnip, radish, rutabaga and mustard. There are about 50 species of the genus spread in Central Europe, the Mediterranean, Eastern and Central Asia. In America there are only species that were brought from Europe. Cabbage was grown for food by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. It began feeding the humanity 4,000 years ago. In Russia cabbage was brought by the merchants from Western Europe during the golden age of Kievan Rus in the XIII century.