Herbs, Spices, and plants with Aromatic Leaves

Bridal veil, Horseradish tree, Ben Oil Tree. Beautiful flowering tree, and one of the most useful trees in the world, it produces long green pods that have been compared to a cross between peanuts and asparagus. The roots are used as a substitute for horseradish and the edible leaves make a highly nutritious vegetable. The roots have also been used in many folk remedies.

Moujean Tea, Bahamas Berry, Pineapple Verbena. Evergreen shrub, native to the island of Inagua in the Bahamas. It is often used as a bonsai plant due to its miniaturized features. Tiny white flowers are borne in clusters in summer. It prefers full sun, warmth and high humidity. Wants to be consistently moist to wet and never, never dry. If grown indoors it will appreciate warm feet during winter (try a heat mat). A decoction of the fragrant leaves, variously described as having the scent and flavor of citrus, vanilla, or pineapple, is used as an herbal tea.
A good choice for a small topiary or bonsai.

This is a very valuable edible used as a vegetable, with many medicinal properties. One of them is amazing affect on diabetes, people who regularly use this vegetable in their diet claim they were able to get rid of this illness. Stir fry or saute with some onions, garlic, etc.
Prickly Pear is fast-growing desert plant with showy bright red flowers. Drought tolerant, but also doesn't mind Florida rains. It will grow in neglect and pretty much any conditions. Perfect for easy landscaping.

Oxalis triangularis var. purpurea - unusual oxalis with large, dark purple leaves with a pattern design. Pink flowers. An eye stopper! Small perennial, will take both sun or shade. Cute container plant, and it is edible too! Tastes like grape skins.
Young plants have smaller leaves, then they will grow large up to 3" wide as the plant matures.
This plant may go semi-dormant in winter, just reduce watering, and new leaves are coming within a few weeks.

Root Beer Plant, Acuyo, False Kava-Kava. Close relative of Piper methysticum (Kava-Kava), and Piper nigrum (Black Pepper), this herb originated from Tropical America and grows also in the South Pacific. Large-leaved perennial, known for its leaves, which are used for their spicy aromatic scent and flavor, some liken to root beer, others to anise-clove. This species is easily identified by its huge leaves which can grow over a foot long in older specimens. The leaves are chopped and used for flavoring, as well as used whole, as wrappings for meats, tamales, etc. P. auritum is very often confused with Piper methysticum (Kava-Kava), and probably has some similar effects.
See Article about this plant.

Betel leaf - very popular Indian spice with medicinal properties. Great for wrapping food (similar to grape leaves). See Article about this plant.

Chaa-plu, Vietnamese Pepper. Eaten raw in salads or cooked with other greens or dishes, or wrap meats and cook in oven or on stove or grill. It is used medicinally in India and South China as well as Indonesia for feverish diseases, for digestive disorders, and toothache, to treat pain in the bones. When the root is chewed with betel nut, it is said to be helpful for the treatment of coughs and asthma. The leaves are used as food (food wraps) in Vietnam.
See Video and Article about this plant.

Planchonia valida is a large, evergreen tree from Southeast Asia - Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea. Young leaves - eaten raw as a vegetable, eaten as lalab (a vegetable salad served with sambal) with rice. The plant also has some local medicinal uses and valuable timber. The wood is reddish brown with yellow specks, very hard and close-grained, seasons well and takes a fine polish. The flowers can be seen opening up at dusk. Flowers are large, white and fleshy with numerous pink and white stamens. The individual flowers are superbly ornamental.

Camphor plant - previously called as Ocimum kilimanscharicum. Wonderful scent! Very rare herb great for ground cover, xeriscape or rock garden, needs no care, grows fast, very drought tolerant. Plant it along walkway and enjoy pleasant scent as you walk by or brush on it.

Elephant's Food, Elephant Bush, Baby Jade. This interesting plant can be used as an indoor bonsai where sunlight or strong artificial light is sufficiently available. The common names derive from the succulent nature of the plant's leaves and stout trunk. The diameter of the trunk can grow to 9" or more.
In Africa, it is a favorite food for both Elephants and Rhinoceros, and is grown in farms for feeding both animals and people. The foliage when eaten raw, steamed, lightly boiled, or especially stir-fried, is not only delicious but actually very nutritious, containing more beneficial Beta 3 fatty acids than most fish.
Read interesting Article about this plant.

Katuk, Tropical Asparagus. Delicious young shoots! It is one of the most popular leaf vegetables in South Asia and Southeast Asia and is notable for high yields and palatability. The shoot tips have been sold as tropical asparagus. In Vietnam, people cook it with crab meat, minced pork or dried shrimp to make soup. In Malaysia, it is commonly stir-fried with egg and dried achovies. It is among only a few flora containing vitamin K.
See Article about this plant.

Variegated variety of Katuk, Tropical Asparagus. Delicious young shoots! It is one of the most popular leaf vegetables in South Asia and Southeast Asia and is notable for high yields and palatability. The shoot tips have been sold as tropical asparagus. In Vietnam, people cook it with crab meat, minced pork or dried shrimp to make soup. In Malaysia, it is commonly stir-fried with egg and dried achovies. It is among only a few flora containing vitamin K.
See Article about this plant..

Very rare, collectible and extinct species! This plant propagated at TopTropicals nursery from Robert Riefer's unique specimen, the biggest potted specimen in the World grown in 100 gal pot, originated in 1927, awarded in 2011 with CHM certificate of Horticultural Merit by American Orchid Society. Leafless Vanilla Orchid is amazing exotic vanilla that forms a multi-branched, leafless vine reaching lengths up to 15 ft. The light green flowers are similar to Vanilla barbellata but the petals and sepals are longer and the fluted lip is a deep reddish-purple with a yellow crest. Vanilla dilloniana is distributed throughout the West Indies and had been reported on the banks of the Miami River in South Florida.
Vanilla dilloniana is a very rare species and considered vulnerable, endangered across its range. Pieces of plants from the original colony have been shared and may be found in local collections.
See the Video of the original specimen.

Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Bean, French Vanilla, Vanilla Orchid. Make your own vanilla! Fast growing, providing right conditions for orchids. Bright filtered light, high humidity.

Vanilla Tahitensis is a cross between Vanilla planifolia and Vanilla odorata. These vanilla beans are generally shorter, however they contain a much higher oil and water content than Vanilla planifolia.
Fast growing, providing right conditions for orchids. Bright filtered light, high humidity.
Vanilla Bean, French Vanilla, Vanilla Orchid. Make your own vanilla!

Spice Ginger, Cooking Ginger - Plant this ginger in the garden to produce your own fresh ginger. This plant is deciduous, leaves die back in winter and grow back in spring.

Pine cone ginger, Shampoo Ginger. All parts of this ginger are spicy fragrant. The cone shaped flowers are long lasting and useful for cut flower arrangements. This plant is most widely known around the world as the Shampoo Ginger for the milky substance in the cones, and it is in fact used as a shampoo in Asia and Hawaii, and as an ingredient in several commercial shampoos.
Pinecone ginger is considered a canoe plant, that is, a plant introduced throughout the Pacific by the ancient Polynesian settlers.

Lemon Bay Rum Tree, Citrus Bay - all plant parts have strong lemon scent, very pleasant and relaxing. One of the rarest plants, cuttings are hard to root.
Bay Rum is a small sized tree related to the Allspice, with leaves containing and aromatic oil that somewhat resembles clove oil. This essential oil is distilled from the leaves and is used in perfumes. A type of cologne named 'Bay Rum' was historically made in the early 20th century by distilling the oil using rum and water, hence the common name of the plant. Leaves of can be used in cooking and tea. For generations, Bay Rum has been used in folk medicine. This spice scent will be with you right away and will stay all the time, don't have to wait till bloom or fruit...

This is an extremely rare variety of the European Holistic Medicinal Plant - Golden Tendril. It has showy variegated leaves and makes a beautiful houseplant on top of its medicinal value. It tolerates wide range of conditions and requires very little water; takes both bright sun or shade and is very fast growing and easy. Leaves will turn purplish at the edges when placed in bright light. It has small, white fragrant flowers arranged in clusters of three. This is a good groundcover for mild, moderately dry climates, as well as a nice container or hanging basket plant. With a good care Callissia fragrans can reach more than 3 feet high as an indoor plant. In this case, you need to make a support to it that the plant wouldn't break under its own weight. The plant has wide medicinal use in Europe and Russia, literally every household, millions of Europeans use this plant as a home remedy. According to scientific research, active biological substances from steroid group contained in this plant can struggle with any types of infections, stimulates metabolic processes, strengthens immunity and circulatory system, has a positive influence on growths and much more... some people consider it a virtual panacea. Whether it works for everybody or not, it is definitely fun to own such a legendary plant!
See article about this plant: Callisia fragrans, Golden Tendril - Holistic Medicinal Plant

Tea plant. Yes, tea comes from a camellia! Small evergreen tree, usually pruned back to shrubs in cultivation. Interesting white flowers with golden stamens in fall and winter. Tea is the second most commonly drank liquid on earth after water. It has numerous medicinal benefits mainly due to its antibacterial and antioxidant properties.

See instructions how to make tea

An exceptionally distinct pepper, it is likely an ancient hybrid of Capsicum annuum (bird pepper) and Capsicum chinense (habanero group).
While of small size (something around an inch or so long), these oddly shaped bright orange to finally red fruits are prolifically produced along the branches of compact plants with small leaves.
What separates this variety from others is its unique flavor which packs quite a bang! Not because of its heat (because our strain has either no heat what-so-ever, or so little it is hard to even detect), but because of its intense fruity habanero flavor.
If one who knows that distinct habanero super fruit flavor (which is then normally followed by the heat blast), then tries a biquinho pepper, the flavor is so distinctly habanero that when the heat blast doesn

Wiri Wiri Pepper. A variety from Guyana, the Wiri Wiri pepper is the illustrious gem; hard sought and rarely found. This plant produces good yields of small 1/2" berry shaped hot peppers. Peppers grow upright, are very hot, and turn from green, to orange, to red when mature.
What makes it so much different than any other hot pepper grown in the garden or bought at the store?
Hot? Yes, it is important that hot peppers are, but the people who really know, know that it is not just about heat, it is about flavor! And that is exactly what makes this little red gem so special. Guyanese dinners will only take one of those meals for you to never forget! The secret of their food is the flavor, and one of the cornerstone ingredients in many of their dishes is the Wiri pepper. The Guyanese population claim that it is not just a key ingredient to their diet, but also to why they are so good looking, live so long, and have such great skin.

Clinacanthus nutans, or Phaya-Yor in Thai, has been traditionally used in Thailand for the treatment of Herpes infections. In addition this herb also exhibits an excellent and rapid-acting anti-inflammatory activity which makes Clinacanthus nutans topical product a good natural product for the relief of minor skin inflammation and insect bites well.