Tagalog --- English
adelfa - (klase sa buwak) oleander n. 
alangilan – ilang-ilang , ylang ylang n. , perfume tree n. laing termino: ilang-ilang
antuwanga – Rose of Sharon n. laing paglítok: antulanga
asusena – tuberose n. 
bayoleta – (klase sa tánom) sweet violet n. 
bombil - Bougainvillea
kadena de amor – pink vine n. ; coralvine n. 
kalachuchi – frangipani n. , pagoda tree n. 
kamias – garland flower n. 
kapa-kapa – rose grape n. medinilla n.
kosmos – (klase sa bulak) pot marigold n. , Scottish marigold n. 
gumamela – China rose n. , rose of China n. , hibiscus n. , Chinese hibiscus n. 
hasmin – Spanish jasmine n. , Spanish jessamine n. scientific name: Jasminum grandiflorum (jasmin=tag.)
ilang-ilang – ilang-ilang , ylang ylang n. , perfume tree n. Scientific name: Cananga odorata laing termino: alangilan
manan-aw – moth-orchid n. moth-plant n. Genus:: Phalænopsis
olibo – sago palm n. scientific name: cycas revoluta itandî sa: lumbia
pitogo – queen sago n.
romero – (klase sa tánom) rosemary n. scientific name: rosmarinus officinalis
rósal – (klase sa tánom) cape jasmine n. , cape jessamine n. gardenia n. 
sabila – aloe vera n. scientific name: 
santan – ixora n. , flame of the woods n. 
sampagita – Arabian jasmin n. sampaguita n. laing termino: manul 
tapay-tapay – chenille plant n. scientific name : acalypha hispida
tsitsirika – periwinkle n. , Madagascar perwinkle n. , cape periwinkle n. 
walingwaling -walingwaling
Unique Parks and Botanical Gardens (repost)
Intricately shaped topiaries, ponds full of lily pads and koi, greenhouses brimming with dazzling arrays of exotic flowers, strange and fascinating sculptures – these 14 botanical gardens, private gardens and parks around the world show off the beauty of cultivated nature. Representing a fusion of the wild, untamed natural world and the architectural genius of humans, these parks are the closest to paradise that we can craft with our own hands.
Claude Monet Foundation at Giverny, Normandy, France
Immerse yourself in the landscape that inspired some of French Impressionist painter Claude Monet’s most beautiful and celebrated works at the artist’s former estate. Walking through these gardens, it’s almost as if time has stood still, as you can view what seem to be the very same lily pads that the artist saw and painted. Giverny is located 50 miles outside Paris, on the banks of the River Seine.
Kirtenbosch National Botanical Garden, Western Cape, South Africa
Founded in 1913, South Africa’s Kirtebosch National Botanical Graden may just be the most beautiful botanical garden in the entire world. In this preserve you can view live samples of plants that grow in five out of South Africa’s six biomes and a stunning selection of 'protea' flowering plants, all within view of Table Mountain.
Villa Lante, Bagnaia, Italy
One of the most important gardens in Italy, Villa Lante was in the possession of the Lante family from the 17th century, when it was already 100 years old, until the 20th century, when it was opened to the public. Bordered by two nearly identical homes, the garden is characterized by beautiful stone fountains, lush grottoes and intricate patterns of hedges.
Jardin Botanique de Montreal, Quebec, Canada
The Montreal Botanical Garden has such extensive collections and facilities, it’s considered one of the most important botanical gardens in the world. An indoor greenhouse holds a wide variety of labeled plants, and four themed outdoor gardens including the Chinese Garden, the Japanese Garden, the First Nations Garden and the Alpine Garden showcase the indigenous flora of various cultures and locales. In fact, Montreal boasts the largest Chinese garden in the world, outside of China.
The Lost Gardens of Heligan, Mevagissey, UK
A part of the Heligan estate in Cornall, England, these gardens fell into disuse in the 1970s and were forgotten for decades – hence the name. But when ownership of the estate transferred to a trust, a group of enthusiasts revitalized them, planting hundreds of varieties of plants, a vegetable garden, a walled garden and a ‘jungle’. A stroll through the gardens will reveal fanciful ‘creatures’ covered in grass and moss including ‘The Mud Maid’ and a ‘Giant’s Head’.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, Australia
View both downtown Sydney and the infamous Sydney Opera House from the Royal Botanic Gardens, located on the site of Australia’s first ever farm, which was established in 1788. Centuries of improvements to the soil have enabled a gorgeous array of plants to flourish, including many that grow inside the Pyramid Glasshouse. Up until May 2011, a colony of over 22,000 flying foxes – a large species of fruitbat – called the gardens home, but the bats killed dozens of trees and were eventually driven out.
Byodo-in Temple, Oahu, Hawaii
Surrounded by Oahu’s greenery-cloaked mountains, the Byodo-in Temple is a replica of a historic Kyoto, Japan, temple of the same name, but it has many merits of its own – especially its gardens, which include two acres of koi ponds. Stone paths cut through emerald-green lawns and Zen-style gardens.
Parco dei Mostri (Park of the Monsters), Bomarzo, Italy
A large monster, referred to as the ‘Door of Hell’, opens its mouth to admit you into a dark, cramped space with a small table. A watchtower tilts at a rather disturbing angle. Mythological creatures and unidentified monsters leer at passersby. The Parco die Mostri (Park of the Monsters) in Bomarzo, Italy is so surreal it is said to have greatly inspired the artists Salvador Dali and Jean Cocteau. The chaotic style of the gardens, which were created in the 16th century by Pier Francesco Orsini in honor of his beloved deceased wife Giulia Farnese, may be an intentional contrast to the orderly symmetry of the nearby Villa Lante.
Monte Palace Garden, Madeira, Portugal
The Monte Palace Tropical Garden is a surprising glimpse of Asia found in Madeira, Portugal. Once a hotel, the gardens have been open to the public since 1989 and include a collection of ceramic tiles from the 15th – 20th centuries and various gardens that highlight both indigenous and exotic species. A group of educational panels explain the reason for the oriental gardens, telling of “The adventures of the Portuguese in Japan.”
Kew Gardens, London, UK
More than 30,000 live species of plants can be viewed at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in southwest London, England – and if you think that’s impressive, consider this: inside the glassed ‘herbarium’ are over seven million preserved specimens. The Kew Gardens are well-deserving of their worldwide fame, thriving despite locally unfavorable growing conditions. In addition to the outdoor gardens and greenhouses are a number of educational and research facilities and architectural features like a treetop walkway and a 49-foot-tall pagoda.
The Gardens of Las Pozas, Xilitla, Mexico
More of a surrealist sculpture park than a garden, Las Pozas is the playground of British poet Edward James, a patron of the arts. James was a passionate supporter of the Surrealist art movement and his love for the stile is evident in Las Pozas (the pools), which includes more than 80 acres of natural waterfalls and pools as well as concrete sculptures. The spindly, strange sculptures were built between 1949 and 1984; the whole project cost James over $5 million, which he raised by selling his considerable collection of Surrealist art.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden, New York
Manhattan may have a botanical garden of its own, but it’s eclipsed by that of Brooklyn, a 52-acre garden located near the Prospect Heights and Park Slopes neighborhood. Putting on a jaw-dropping display of cherry blooms in the spring, the park also includes climate-themed plant pavilions, an aquatic plant house, a bonsai museum and an art gallery. Themed gardens include the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden, constructed in 1915, and the Shakespeare Garden which exhibits over 80 plants mentioned in the bard’s plays and poems.
Francisco Alvarado Park, Zarcero, Costa Rica
Abstract shapes, arches and the faces of strange creatures grow out of the courtyard at Parque Francisco Alvarado, found in the town center of Zarcero in Costa Rica. The park’s topiary garden has been shaped into these fascinating shapes by the same man since the 1960s.
Garden of Cosmic Speculation, Scotland
A private garden created by Charles Jencks, the Garden of Cosmic Speculation at Portrack House, near Dumfries in Southwest Scotland is opened to the public for just one day each year. Science and mathematical concepts, like black holes and fractals, inspired the complex arrangements and sculptures contained within the garden.
Most plants contain some level of toxins (like alkaloids) for defense. After all, they’re plants. They can’t go anywhere. Through millennia of trial and error, both animals and human beings have figured out which plants are safe, which are lethal, and which are somewhere in between. For example, did you know that many grain-bearing plants contain a toxin known as lectins? And that the African staple, cassava, must be thoroughly boiled and soaked to separate it from its poisonous compound, cyanide? Even the humble lima bean has been bred to contain less cyanide. Cherries, potatoes, peaches and apple seeds are all toxic – eat enough of the latter, in fact, and it will prove fatal. Fortunately, artificial selection and cooking methods have all but eliminated the threat of toxins in everyday foods. But you may be surprised to find out the incredibly lethal plants often hanging around the neighborhood park – or gracing your tabletop in the form of a centerpiece.
Castor Bean
Castor oil – for anyone unlucky enough to have been force spoon-fed this healthy yet disgusting fluid as a child, you may be surprised to learn that an ingredient in the castor bean just happens to be the deadliest plant poison on earth. Literally. Just one tiny castor bean is enough to kill an adult within a few minutes. Castor oil is made safe (but not palatable) with the removable of the lethal compound known as ricin. Amazingly, castor bean plants are grown for decorative purpose all over the place, particularly in California.
Rosary Pea
As if a deadly legume weren’t bad enough, the pulses aren’t so benign, either. The rosary pea may sound sweet and downright pious, but it’s actually one of the most dangerous plants on earth. Its seeds contain a particular lectin known as abrin; if chewed and swallowed, death will follow shortly. The seeds are easily identified with their distinctive bright red jacket and single black dot (almost like a reverse Black Widow spider). Abrin, which does its damage by inactivating ribosomes, is one of the most fatal toxins on earth. After the vomiting, fever, nausea, drooling and G.I. dysfunction but before the bizarre hyperexcitability, edema and fatally convulsive seizures, renal tubular degeneration, bladder and retinal hemorrhage and widespread internal lesions typically develop.
Monkshood
Another unassuming plant – until you learn that the nickname for monkshood is actually “wolfsbane”. That’s owing to its once common use by farmers as a very effective wolf extermination tool. (Not to be left out, fowl are also fatally affected by the related hensbane.) The monkshood has the distinction of evidently being the bane of many creatures: its nicknames include womensbane and leopard’s bane, though it is also known as blue rocket and devil’s helmet. It is technically part of the aconitum genus, of which there are more than 250 species. The wolfsbane used to be a popular werewolf detection tool, by the way. (Status was determined by holding the flower near the alleged’s chin; a yellow-tinged shadow on the skin was thought to be confirmation.)
Bushman’s poison
The aptly-named Bushman's poison has famously been used by the Khoisan of South Africa to poison the tips of their arrows. Though the plant produces pleasantly scented flowers and a tasty plum-like berry, the milky sap can be fatal. The leaves, however, have medicinal properties. Bushman’s poison is also known as the wintersweet.
Angel’s trumpet
What could be sweeter than the sound of an angel’s trumpet? Perhaps the moaning agony of a trip that won’t end. Related to petunias, tomatoes and potatoes, the angel’s trumpet (datura stramonium) is a highly effective hallucinogen, but should not be consumed for recreational purposes as it can also be lethal. According to wikipedia: “The active ingredients are atropine, hyoscyamine and scopolamine which are classified as deliriants, or anticholinergics. Due to the elevated risk of overdose in uninformed users, many hospitalizations, and some deaths, are reported from recreational use.” This common plant also goes by many other names, including jimson weed, stink weed, loco weed, and devil’s snare. One 18-year-old who was house-sitting alone for his uncle recounts how he decided to prepare some angel's trumpet tree in curiosity and almost died (a friend burst in on him convulsing on the bathroom floor and the authorities assumed he was on an acid trip).
Water hemlock
The poison hemlock famously drunk by Socrates is deadly, but the water hemlock is just as fatal. According to the USDA, water hemlock or poison parsnip is “the most violently toxic plant in North America”. The flowers and stems are safe, but the stalky roots contain chambers that are full of a deadly sap containing the convulsant cicutoxin. Grand mal seizures are followed by a quick death if even a tiny amount is consumed.
English Yew
The English Yew, or taxus baccata (“taxus” meaning toxin), is one of the deadliest trees on the planet. The evergreen has a majestic and lush appearance and is fairly common in forests of Europe. The yew is considered by scientists to be an odd and primitive conifer along with the monkeu puzzle tree of Chile and Gingko biloba tree of Asia. The yew has a rather sad history. All parts – save for the flesh of the berries – are extremely poisonous. Because the toxin causes convulsions and paralysis, it was once used as an abortifacient. Apothecaries would dry and powder the leaves and stems and give desperate women minute amounts in the days before birth control was available. Unfortunately, death would often result. The yew has been quite popular throughout history for a number of medical purposes at extremely dilute levels, but it is deemed too dangerous in modern medical practice to be of use. The yew’s primary toxin is taxine, a cardiac depressant. The yew acts rapidly and there is no antidote.
Snakeroot
snakeroot is most dangerous for livestock such as cattle and sheep. When cows consume the attractive fluffy white blooms and stems of the snakeroot, their milk and bones become saturated with the toxin tremetol and humans who consume these contaminated animal products will develop milk sickness (tremetol poisoning). In fact, milk sickness is what killed Abraham Lincoln’s mother, Nancy Hanks.
Strychnine tree
Queen Cleopatra famously forced servants to commit suicide by means of a strychnine tree’s fruit seeds, which contain lethal levels ofstrychnine and brucine, in order to determine if it would be the best means for her own suicide. Upon seeing their agony (which included painful vomiting, facial contortions and convulsions) she opted for the apparently less horrific choice of the asp. (The asp was actually an ancient term for any number of poisonous snakes, but experts think it was probably the cobra that Cleopatra chose to end her life.)
Moonseed
A otherworldly name and a plant with often fatal effects. The seeds of this Eastern North American drupe (stone fruit) are extremely toxic to humans, although birds can eat theMoonseeds first cause paralysis but are fatal in larger doses and/or if treatment is not sought immediately.
Daphne
This plant, also called the spurge laurel, is a favorite ornamental shrub in Europe. This drupe-producing evergreen with waxy, attractive foliage and gorgeously fragrant blooms is also highly toxic. Consumption of the leaves or red or yellow fruits will first cause nausea and violent vomiting, followed by internal bleeding, coma and death. The daphne plant is rich in the toxin mezerein.
Narcissus
Narcissists are toxic enough when they come in human form, but the plant for which they are named, also called the daffodil, is highly poisonous. Poet’s narcissus is more toxic than daffodil, but in both cases it is the bulbs, not the flower or stems, that cause illness. One famous fatal case in Toulouse in the early 1900s occurred when the bulbs were mistaken for onions and consumed. According toBotanical . com, “Socrates called this plant the ‘Chaplet of the infernal Gods,’ because of its narcotic effects. An extract of the bulbs, when applied to open wounds, has produced staggering, numbness of the whole nervous system and paralysis of the heart.” Yet, there are medicinal properties, and some cultures even believe they can cure baldness and serve as a potent aphrodisiac. (Do not try at home.)
Oleander
The oleander is the most deadly plant in the world. It is also tremendously popular as a decorative shrub. Just one leaf can kill an adult, and fatal poisonings have resulted from minimal exposure to the twigs, blooms and berries. The plant contains numerous toxins, including nerioside, loeandroside, saponins, and cardiac glycosides. Though native to parts of the Mediterranean and Asia, it is now widely cultivated throughout the world. Fatalities among horses and other livestock are common. Once ingested, oleander goes to work simultaneously on the nervous system, the cardiovascular system, and the digestive tract.
Rhododendron
The toxic rhododendron, a stalky tree-like evergreen shrub with large, brilliant blooms, is famously seen throughout much of the Pacific Northwest and is the state flower of Washington. Its relative, the popular garden shrub azalea, is also poisonous. Both plants contain andromedatoxin, which can cause severe pain, lethargy, depression, vomiting and nausea, progressive paralysis, coma and eventual death. All parts are deadly.
Choke cherry
Chokecherry, or wild cherry, is a North American plant that is known for its large sprays of tiny white flowers. The cherries are small and not eaten. The plant’s woody stalks and leaves are full of hydrocyanic acid, which is fatal if consumed. The poison affects the respiratory system, and rapid breathing, choking and asphyxiation result.
Nightshade
Also known as the devil’s cherry, black cherry, great morel and belladonna, the nightshade is toxic from tip to top. Containing atropine, a deadly alkaloid, those who ingest even a small amount of the plant will soon notice they have lost their voice. Respiratory trouble and convulsions follow. The plant is problematic because its cherries are so sweet and children are frequently attracted to the wild fruit. Strangely, horses, birds, sheep, goats and pigs seem to be immune to the effects of nightshade. Nightshade poisoning is treatable with an emetic if treatment is sought swiftly. Plutarch spoke of armies being wiped out by nightshade, and legend has it that Macbeth’s soldiers poisoned the invading Danes with wine made from the sweet fruit.
There are many, many more toxic planta, but these plants were chosen for inclusion in this post due to their their incredible characteristics.
Lofted Forest Home by Robert Harvey Oshatz
The curving organic forms and natural materials of this structure by architect Robert Harvey Oshatz seems as if it could have grown out of the forest, calling to mind knots of wood and twisting branches. The curves, in fact, are strategically placed to take full advantage of the space in between the trees that surround the building, giving it the feel of a huge treehouse.
