This is a sincere effort to record the major ornamental plants raised in gardens and landscapes of today. The main classes of plants are described in the introductory . The subsequent s list the plants in the order of their habitat. The information includes scientific name, common name and the family to which the plants belong, a brief description and ornamental features. A comprehensive account of trees, shrubs, herbs, climbers, creepers and taxonomic groups that share characteristics such as bulbous plants, cacti, succulents, bromeliads, ferns and their allies, grasses, bamboos, sedges as well as ornamental water garden plants are given. Flowering and foliage trees of gardens of the tropics and subtropics and the popular deciduous trees and coniferous trees of the temperate zone are dealt separately. Among shrubs, dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous flowering and foliage shrubs as well as temperate region species suited for the hilly regions of India are included. Importance has been
