31 Pretty Plants Starting With P

There’s a huge range of plants starting with P, You’ll find many tasty herbs, beautiful flowers, delicious fruits, tall trees, and much more starting with this letter.

Makes sure you also check out our list of gorgeous flowers that start with the letter P after checking out our list of  31 pretty plants starting with the letter “P”!

31 Plants Starting With P – Quick Look

  1. Peony
  2. Passion Fruit
  3. Parsley
  4. Philodendron
  5. Persimmon Tree
  6. Pink
  7. Pear Tree
  8. Peppermint
  9. Pittosporum
  10. Plum Tree
  11. Polypody Fern
  12. Pistachio Tree
  13. Persian Violet
  14. Pomegranate Tree
  15. Pocketbook Plant
  16. Peperomia
  17. Peanut
  18. Peace Lily
  19. Potato
  20. Phlomis
  21. Pearly Everlasting
  22. Pineapple Tree
  23. Pepper
  24. Palm Grass
  25. Pea
  26. Painted Tongue
  27. Papaya Tree
  28. Prickly Pear
  29. Paperbark Tree
  30. Poplar Tree
  31. Poppy

31 Plants Starting With P

1. Peony

peony

  • Common Name(s): Peony, Paeony
  • Scientific Name: Paeonia
  • Native to: Asia, Europe, and Western North America

You can eat the peony’s petals. They are added to salads and punches and, in China, they are infused into tea.

2. Passion Fruit

passion fruit

  • Common Name(s): Passion fruit
  • Scientific Name: Passiflora
  • Native to: Central America

Missionaries in Brazil around 1700 gave the flower and fruit the name. They presented it as representing the crucifixion, or passion, of Christ, with the flowers’ marks representing the wounds of Jesus.

3. Parsley

parsley

  • Common Name(s): Parsley
  • Scientific Name: Petroselinum crispum
  • Native to: Mediterranean region

As well as a versatile herb, parsley is also chewed to eliminate bad breath. In Greece, it is used in funeral wreaths.

4. Philodendron

philodendron

  • Common Name(s): Philodendron
  • Scientific Name: Philodendron
  • Native to: The Caribbean, Colombia, and Venezuela

The name of this plant translates into ‘tree hugger’ (or, more literally, ‘tree lover’)! And that is exactly what this plant does when not in a pot decorating a living room.

5. Persimmon Tree

persimmon tree

  • Common Name(s): Persimmon tree
  • Scientific Name: Diospyros kaki
  • Native to: China

Viewed throughout Asia as holding healing properties, the persimmon has been prescribed for stomach upset, coughs, and lower blood pressure.

6. Pink

pink

  • Common Name(s): Pink, Carnation, Sweet William
  • Scientific Name: Dianthus
  • Native to: Europe, Asia, and Africa

Oddly enough, the name of these flowers doesn’t stem from the color. It’s because it looks as if pinking shears have cut the petals’ ruffled edges.

7. Pear Tree

pear tree

  • Common Name(s): Pear tree
  • Scientific Name: Pyrus
  • Native to: Coastal and Temperate regions of Europe, North Africa, and Asia

The fruits of the tree are delicious in both sweet and savory dishes, and the wood is sometimes used to make musical instruments and furniture.

8. Peppermint

peppermint

  • Common Name(s): Peppermint
  • Scientific Name: Mentha × Piperita
  • Native to: Europe and the Middle East

Peppermint is actually a hybrid created by crossing watermint and spearmint. It’s valued in body products, chewing gum, and drinks due to its high menthol content.

9. Pittosporum

pittosporum

  • Common Name(s): Pittosporum
  • Scientific Name: Pittosporum, Cheesewoods
  • Native to: Australasia, Oceania, and Africa

Although the resinous seeds of this plant are hated by most animals, the cheeky New Zealand keas will eat them with relish.

10. Plum Tree

plum tree

  • Common Name(s): Plum tree
  • Scientific Name: Prunus domestica
  • Native to: Europe

Most plums are grown in orchards, but you can find modern varieties which allow you to grow single plums in relatively small spaces.

11. Polypody Fern

polypody fern

  • Common Name(s): Polypody fern, Rockcap fern, Common Polypody
  • Scientific Name: Polypodium
  • Native to: Eastern United States and Canada

You can find these across North America growing in rocky woods in damp soil.

12. Pistachio Tree

pistachio tree

  • Common Name(s): Pistachio tree
  • Scientific Name: Pistacia vera
  • Native to: Central Asia and the Middle East

Although called nuts, the snack that we enjoy from the pistachio tree is actually the seeds.

13. Persian Violet

persian violet

  • Common Name(s): Persian Violet
  • Scientific Name: Exacum affine
  • Native to: Yemen

This plant produces a shiny bluish-purple flower with a lovely fragrant yellow center.

14. Pomegranate Tree

pomegranate tree

  • Common Name(s): Pomegranate tree
  • Scientific Name: Punica granatum
  • Native to: Mediterranean

This plant is a popular choice for bonsais for its flowers and the unique twisted branch shape older branches create.

15. Pocketbook Plant

pocketbook plant

  • Common Name(s): Pocketbook plant, Lady's purse, Slipper flower, Slipperwort,
  • Scientific Name: Calceolaria
  • Native to: Patagonia to central Mexico

This plant’s name comes from its distinctively-shaped flowers which look like pouches.

16. Peperomia

peperomia

  • Common Name(s): Peperomia
  • Scientific Name: Peperomia
  • Native to: Central and South America

There is no decided-upon common name for this plant, though botanist L.H. Bailey called them ‘radiator plants’ due to their preference for conditions like those above a radiator.

17. Peanut

peanut

  • Common Name(s): Peanut, Groundnut, Monkey nut, Goober, Pindar
  • Scientific Name: Arachis hypogaea
  • Native to: South America

Although they are legumes, and grow underground rather than ‘true’ nuts, peanuts are generally considered nuts when it comes to dietary, research, and culinary purposes.

18. Peace Lily

peace lily

  • Common Name(s): Peace lily, Spath
  • Scientific Name: Spathiphyllum
  • Native to: The Americas and Southeastern Asia

These flowers are not true lilies, and are highly toxic to cats and dogs, and semi-toxic to humans.

19. Potato

potato

  • Common Name(s): Potato
  • Scientific Name: Solanum tuberosum
  • Native to: The Americas

The potato has become an important worldwide crop. They originate from the Americas, although some mistakenly think today that they are Irish, or from Idaho!

20. Phlomis

phlomis

  • Common Name(s): Phlomis
  • Scientific Name: Phlomis
  • Native to: the Mediterranean across to central Asia

The name ‘Phlomis’ is derived from the Greek word for flame, perhaps because they were once used as lamp wicks.

21. Pearly Everlasting

pearly everlasting

  • Common Name(s): Pearly everlasting, Western pearly everlasting
  • Scientific Name: Anaphalis margaritacea
  • Native to: Asia and North America

The reason for the plant’s name is for the pearly color that remains in the flowers’ leaves, even after they’ve been dried out.

22. Pineapple Tree

pineapple tree

  • Common Name(s): Pineapple tree
  • Scientific Name: Ananas comosus
  • Native to: South America

Europeans in the 18th century were fascinated by pineapples and they were a huge symbol of wealth. They were often used as displays at parties, rather than as food.

23. Pepper

pepper

  • Common Name(s): Pepper, Sweet pepper, Capsicum
  • Scientific Name: Capsicum annuum
  • Native to: Central and South America

As the chlorophyll disappears from the plant, the unripe green bell pepper will turn yellow, orange, or red, depending on its varietal. Purple, brown, and white varieties also exist.

24. Palm Grass

palm grass

  • Common Name(s): Palm grass
  • Scientific Name: Molineria Capitulata
  • Native to: Asia

Historically, this was a treatment for asthma, as well as a material for making ropes. Today, it is normally just ornamental, although its antifungal and antioxidant properties are once again creating a consideration for its medicinal use.

25. Pea

pea

  • Common Name(s): Pea
  • Scientific Name: Pisum sativum
  • Native to: The Mediterranean Basin and the Near East

When fully ripened, peas are slightly yellow. Eating them at their slightly unripened bright green stage became fashionable in the 1600s.

26. Painted Tongue

painted tongue

  • Common Name(s): Painted tongue, Scalloped tube tongue, Velvet trumpet flower
  • Scientific Name: Salpiglossis sinuata
  • Native to: Southern Chile

From the same family as tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants, this lovely flower grows best in cool summer climates.

27. Papaya Tree

papaya tree

  • Common Name(s): Papaya, Pawpaw
  • Scientific Name: Carica papaya
  • Native to: Central America

The fruit of the tree is delicious and used worldwide. You can eat the unripened papaya, but only if it is cooked. That is because the unripened fruit has a poisonous latex content if eaten raw.

28. Prickly Pear

prickly pear

  • Common Name(s): Prickly pear, Pear cactus
  • Scientific Name: Opuntia
  • Native to: The Americas

The fruits that grow directly off the cactus are delicious and nutritious when prepared correctly.

29. Paperbark Tree

paperbark tree

  • Common Name(s): Paperbark tree, broad-leaved paperbark, Paperbark tea tree, Punk tree, Niaouli
  • Scientific Name: Melaleuca quinquenervia
  • Native to: New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, and coastal eastern Australia

This tree has many uses for indigenous Australians. The papery bark can be used for material in building shelters, lining ground ovens, and wrapping food. Medicines, honey, and perfumes can also be produced using the paperbark.

30. Poplar Tree

poplar tree

  • Common Name(s): Poplar tree, Aspen, Cottonwood
  • Scientific Name: Populus
  • Native to: Northern Hemisphere

These long, thin trees are usually grown ornamentally. They have the advantage of growing to a tall height very quickly.

31. Poppy

poppy

  • Common Name(s): Poppy
  • Scientific Name: Papaveroideae
  • Native to: Western and Central Europe

The bright red poppy has two very disparate claims to fame. It is both a symbol of remembrance following the trench warfare in the poppy fields of Flanders, Belgium. It is also well known as the source of the narcotic drug, opium.