362 articles
Syrah
Syrah, called Shiraz in Australia since the 1830s, is a black Vitis vinifera grape from the northern Rhône, parents Dureza and Mondeuse blanche; France and Australia hold the largest plantings, styles ranging from peppery Côte-Rôtie to ripe Barossa Shiraz.
Syringa
Syringa, the lilacs, a genus of about 20-30 Oleaceae shrubs and small trees native from southeastern Europe to East Asia; S. vulgaris, Victor Lemoine's French hybrids, and reblooming Bloomerang cultivars define it.
Syzygium samarangense
Syzygium samarangense, the wax apple or Java apple (makopa, jambu air), is a Myrtaceae fruit tree native from NE India to Vanuatu, grown across Southeast Asia; crisp bell-shaped fruits are 92.9% water, with 'Pink' covering 85% of Taiwan's planted area.
Tabasco pepper
Tabasco pepper, a Capsicum frutescens chili variety named for Mexico's Tabasco state, bears upright 1.5-inch fruits at 30,000–50,000 Scoville units and is the pepper behind Tabasco sauce, first made by Edmund McIlhenny on Avery Island, Louisiana, in 1868.
Tagetes patula
Tagetes patula, French marigold, is a dwarf aromatic Asteraceae annual, allotetraploid (2n=48) from T. erecta × T. tenuifolia; Kew synonymizes it with T. erecta while NCBI and GRIN keep it current.
Tamarillo
Tamarillo (Solanum betaceum, syn. Cyphomandra betacea), or tree tomato, an Andean Solanaceae fruit tree grown in New Zealand, Colombia, and Ecuador; egg-shaped tangy fruit, frost-sensitive, virus-prone, named in New Zealand in 1967.
Tangelo
Tangelo (Citrus × tangelo) is a citrus hybrid of tangerine and grapefruit or pomelo, bred by the USDA from the 1890s; leading varieties Orlando (1911) and Minneola/Honeybell (1931), self-incompatible, Alternaria-susceptible, grown in Florida and California.
Tangerine
Tangerine, another name for the mandarin (Citrus reticulata), a small loose-skinned easy-peel citrus from China and southeast Asia; term coined in the 19th century from the Dancy variety's Tangier origin; 38.4 million tons forecast for 2025-26.
Thai basil
Thai basil (Ocimum basilicum var. thyrsiflora; Thai horapha, Vietnamese hung que) is an anise-flavored Southeast Asian basil with purple stems, heat-stable leaves, and estragole-dominated aroma, used in pho, curries, and stir-fries.
Tomatillo
The tomatillo, also called tomate verde or Mexican husk tomato, is a nightshade plant native to Mexico and Central America, grown for its tart, husk-covered fruits used in salsa verde.
Tree of 40 Fruit
Tree of 40 Fruit: series of grafted living sculptures by Sam Van Aken of Syracuse University, each bearing up to 40 stone-fruit varieties (plums, peaches, apricots, nectarines, cherries, almonds); first tree, Tree 75, dedicated 2011 on the Syracuse campus.
Triticale
Triticale (× Triticosecale Wittmack) is a man-made wheat-rye hybrid cereal, first crossed in 1875, grown mainly as animal feed; hexaploid AABBRR, about 17 million tonnes produced in 2014, with inferior bread-making quality but high feed value.
Tulip divisions
Tulip divisions are the 15 horticultural categories into which registered tulip cultivars are grouped by flower shape and, for the last four divisions, botanical origin, fixed since 1981.
Turnip
Turnip (Brassica rapa), biennial root vegetable of the mustard family grown for its white storage root and greens; domesticated in Central Asia 3,430–5,930 years ago, likely the first B. rapa crop type, later a European fodder staple.
Types of tobacco
Types of tobacco: Virginia (flue-cured), Burley, Maryland, Oriental, fire-cured, and dark air-cured leaf of Nicotiana tabacum and N. rustica, defined by curing method, chemistry, legal categories, and use in cigarettes, cigars, pipe, and smokeless products.
Ulmus 'New Horizon'
Ulmus 'New Horizon' (New Horizon elm) is a Dutch elm disease resistant hybrid elm cultivar bred at the University of Wisconsin and released in the 1990s.
Ulmus americana 'Princeton'
Ulmus americana 'Princeton', the Princeton American elm, is a 1922 Princeton Nurseries selection of pure American elm, later found resistant to Dutch elm disease and widely planted, including on the National Mall.
Ulmus glabra 'Camperdownii'
Ulmus glabra 'Camperdownii', the Camperdown elm or weeping elm, a weeping wych elm cultivar found mid-1800s at Camperdown House, Dundee, Scotland; propagated only by grafting, small, hardy to USDA Zone 4, susceptible to Dutch elm disease.
Ulmus glabra 'Lutescens'
Ulmus glabra 'Lutescens', the Golden Elm or Golden Wych Elm, is a wych elm cultivar found near York in the early 19th century, grown for cream-yellow spring leaves turning golden in autumn, reaching 10-12 m, popular in Australia.
Utricularia cultivars and hybrids
Utricularia cultivars and hybrids are named forms of the carnivorous bladderwort genus Utricularia, selected for traits like flower size and registered by the International Carnivorous Plant Society, with 16 cultivars recorded.
Vaccinium corymbosum
Vaccinium corymbosum, highbush blueberry (northern highbush), is a tetraploid Ericaceae shrub native to eastern North America, domesticated from 1908 by Coville and Elizabeth White at Whitesbog, New Jersey; it supplies about 90% of northern highbush cultivar ancestry and, crossed with V. darrowii, the southern highbush group.
Venus flytrap cultivars
Venus flytrap cultivars are named forms of Dionaea muscipula, the species' only member, selected for trap size, color, and teeth; over 130 exist, including 'B52', 'Akai Ryu' (Red Dragon), and 'Dente', registered with the ICPS and propagated vegetatively.
Vidalia onion
Vidalia onion: sweet, mild yellow Granex-type onion legally restricted to a 20-county low-sulfur region of southeast Georgia; begun 1931, protected by the 1986 Vidalia Onion Act and Federal Marketing Order 955, Georgia's official state vegetable since 1990.
Vitis riparia
Vitis riparia, the riverbank grape, is a cold-hardy wild grape of eastern and central North America, a principal parent of phylloxera-resistant grapevine rootstocks such as SO4, Kober 5BB, and Couderc 3309.
Walnut cultivars
Walnut cultivars are named, propagated selections of the Persian or English walnut tree, judged for kernel color, shell seal, and harvest date; 'Chandler' alone accounts for 74.2% of Californian production.
Watermelon
Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), African Cucurbitaceae vine grown for its large sweet fruit over 90% water; seedless triploid types need diploid pollenizers; China leads 2024 production.
Wax gourd
The wax gourd, also called winter melon or ash gourd (冬瓜), is an annual climbing gourd cultivated throughout tropical and subtropical Asia for its very large, wax-coated fruit.
Winter squash
Winter squash: mature-harvested Cucurbita fruit (butternut, acorn, hubbard, kabocha, spaghetti, pumpkins) from C. maxima, C. moschata, and C. pepo; hard rind, cured and stored 1-6 months, about 65 calories per half-cup serving.
Yacón
Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius, yacón) is an Andean Asteraceae root crop storing sweet fructooligosaccharides instead of starch; low-GI syrup source, prebiotic FOS, grown from Colombia to Argentina and beyond.
Yukon Gold potato
Yukon Gold is a yellow-fleshed Canadian potato cultivar bred at the University of Guelph by Gary Johnston from Norgleam x W5279-4, selected 1966, registered 1980; known for pink eyes, buttery yellow flesh, and decline since the 2000s.