The Gadget Project

Gerard De Nerval

The zigzag plant (Euphorbia tithymaloides ‘Variegatus’) is a succulent spurge whose distinctive shape makes it a fun houseplant. The medium green stems grow in a zigzag pattern, with leaves at the outer points of each zigzag. Leaves are medium to light green with pink and white variegation. This plant rarely flowers indoors. It should be grown in well-draining sandy soil in a terra-cotta pot. Allow the plant to become root-bound before transplanting it. It can be easily propagated by cuttings. Like the poinsettia, another member of the Euphorbia family, the zigzag plant has white latex sap that can be irritating; care should be taken when handling it.

Spanish bayonet has an erect trunk, 3-5 in (7.6-12.7 cm) in diameter, reaching up to 5-20 ft (1.5-6.1 m) tall before it becomes top heavy and topples over. When that happens, the tip turns upward and keeps on growing. The trunk is armed with sharp pointed straplike leaves each about 2 ft (0.6 m) long. The young leaves near the growing tip stand erect; older ones are reflexed downward, and the oldest wither and turn brown, hanging around the lower trunk like an Hawaiian skirt. Eventually the tip of the trunk develops a 2 ft (0.6 m) long spike of white, purplish-tinged flowers, each blossom about 4 in (12.7 cm) across. After flowering, the trunk stops growing, but one or more lateral buds are soon formed, and the uppermost becomes a new terminal shoot. Any other buds become branches, but these are usually few, and the plant has an open, airy habit. Spanish bayonet also produces new buds, or offshoots, near the base of the trunk, forming a thicket. There are several cultivars available, including 'Marginata' with yellow margined leaves and a variety (var. draconis) with a branching trunk and wider, recurved leaves.

Sagebrush buttercup is known to grow in Ponderosa forests as well as in sagebrush deserts. This perennial buttercup has fleshy lower leaves with three lobes on the end. Being a small plant that grows amoung grasses it only reaches about 5-20 centemeters high.

It is an evergreen herbaceous perennial plant forming dense stands, spreading by way of its creeping rhizome, which is sometimes above ground, sometimes underground. Its stiff leaves grow vertically from a basal rosette. Mature leaves are dark green with light gray-green cross-banding and usually range between 70–90 cm (27–36 in) long and 5–6 cm (2–2.5 in) wide.

I. coccinea is a dense, multi-branched evergreen shrub, commonly 4–6 ft (1.2–2 m) in height, but capable of reaching up to 12 ft (3.6 m) high. It has a rounded form, with a spread that may exceed its height. The glossy, leathery, oblong leaves are about 4 in (10 cm) long, with entire margins, and are carried in opposite pairs or whorled on the stems. Small tubular, scarlet flowers in dense rounded clusters 2-5 in (5–13 cm) across are produced almost all year long.

D. lutescens grows 6–12 m (20–39 ft) in height. Multiple stems emerge from the base. The leaves are arched, 2–3 m (6 ft 7 in–9 ft 10 in) long, and pinnate, with 40-60 pairs of leaflets. It bears panicles of yellow flowers in summer. Offsets can be cut off when mature enough, as a propagation method.It is grown as an ornamental plant in gardens in tropical and subtropical regions, and elsewhere indoors as a houseplant. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. One of several common names, "butterfly palm" refers to the leaves which curve upwards in multiple stems to create a butterfly look.

The funnel-shaped, solitary or grouped flowers are white or pale yellow with a darker yellow 5-pointed star shape and have a dark purple throat and 5 green, hairless to lightly hairy, egg-shaped sepals. The flowers are followed by rounded, hairless, point-tipped seed capsules with reflexed sepals. The leaves are green, alternate, hairless to sparsely hairy, and either heart-shaped or oval-shaped. The stems are slender, twining or trailing, and almost hairless to sometime hairy.

Pennisetum alopecuroides (Chinese Pennisetum, Dwarf Fountain Grass, Foxtail fountain grass, Swamp foxtail grass) is a species of perennial grass native to Asia and Australia. Culms are erect, and 60–100 cm long; leaf-blades are erect or drooping; flat, or conduplicate, or involute; and from 10–45 cm long by 3–6 mm wide.

Mango trees are deep-rooted, symmetrical evergreens that attain heights of 90 feet and widths of 80 feet. Mango trees have simple alternate lanceolate leaves that are 12 to 16 inches in length and yellow-green, purple, or copper in color when young. Mature leaves are leathery, glossy, and deep green in color. New leaves arise in terminal growth flushes that occur several times a year. Mature terminal branches bear pyramidal flower panicles that have several hundred white flowers that are about a 1/4 inch wide when open. Most of the flowers function as males by providing pollen, but some are bisexual and set fruit. Pollination is by flies, wasps, and bees. The fruit weighs about 1/4 pound to 3 pounds. Fruit may be round, ovate, or obovate depending on the variety. The immature fruit has green skin that gradually turns yellow, orange, purple, red, or combinations of these colors as the fruit matures. Mature fruit has a characteristic fragrance and a smooth, thin, tough skin. The flesh of ripe mangos is pale yellow to orange. The flesh is juicy, sweet, and sometimes fibrous. Some undesirable seedlings or varieties are described as possessing a turpentine-like off-taste. The fruit has one seed that is flattened and sticks to the flesh. The seed contains one or more embryos depending on the variety or type.

Catharanthus roseus, commonly known as the Madagascar periwinkle, is a species of Catharanthus native and endemic to Madagascar. Other English names occasionally used include Cape periwinkle, rose periwinkle, rosy periwinkle, and "old-maid". It is an evergreen subshrub or herbaceous plant growing to 1 m tall. The leaves are oval to oblong, 2.5–9 cm long and 1–3.5 cm broad, glossy green, hairless, with a pale midrib and a short petiole 1–1.8 cm long; they are arranged in opposite pairs. The flowers are white to dark pink with a darker red centre, with a basal tube 2.5–3 cm long and a corolla 2–5 cm diameter with five petal-like lobes. The fruit is a pair of follicles 2–4 cm long and 3 mm broad. In the wild, it is an endangered plant; the main cause of decline is habitat destruction by slash and burn agriculture. It is also however widely cultivated and is naturalized in subtropical and tropical areas of the world.

A glabrous slender herb, 30-40 cm high, erect or diffuse. Leaves very variable; the lower petioled, lyrate or obovate, toothed or entire; the cauline more or less amplexicaul and auricled, usually acute. Heads few, reaching 1.3 cm long, laxly corymbose; flowers purplish.

Lantana camara, also known as Spanish Flag or West Indian Lantana or LAVA, is a species of flowering plant in the verbena family, Verbenaceae, that is native to the American tropics. It has been introduced into other parts of the world as an ornamental plant and is considered an invasive species in many tropical and sub-tropical areas. L. camara is sometimes known as "Red (Yellow, Wild) Sage", despite its classification in a separate family from sage (Lamiaceae), and a different order from sagebrush (Asterales).

Kalachuchi is a small, deciduous tree, standing at 3 to 7 meters. Its crooked trunk bears fleshy, thick branches, and contains a sticky, milky sap. The bark is smooth and papery, while the wood is yellowish-white and soft. The leaves are alternate, oblong or oblanceolate, 20 to 40 centimeters long, pointed at both ends, and arranged in a spiral at the ends of the branches. The flowers are large, 5 to 6 centimeters long. They are white or purplish outside and pale yellow within. They are borne in compound peduncled cymes, usually when the tree is leafless. The fruit is of two follicles, cylindrical, pointed at the tip, 15 to 20 centimeters long, and 1.5 to 2 centimeters in diameter. The seeds are numerous and winged.

The plants are tall, usually annual herbs, reaching a height of 2-4 m, unbranched or with only a few side branches. The leaves are alternate, simple, lanceolate, 5-15 cm long, with an acuminate tip and a finely serrated or lobed margin. The flowers are small (2-3 cm diameter) and yellow, with five petals; the fruit is a many-seeded capsule. It thrives almost anywhere, and can be grown year-round.

A tree that can grow up to 15 feet, with sturdy limbs that can be used for building small huts. Its leaves are compound and tiny. It also bears a long, oval fruit that can contain as much as 15 seeds.