Plants That Start With W

119 plants Animals and nature Checked 9 Oct 2026

Here are 119 plants that start with W, each with a one-line description so you can tell what it is. The best-known ones come first, then the full list in A to Z order.

W is a heavy letter, with 119 plants. Wheat leads the crops, and walnut, watermelon, wild rice and watercress are other familiar foods. Wasabi is a Japanese plant with a thick green root.

Willow is everywhere, from willow tree to weeping willow. The most common first words are wild, white, water and winter: wild cherry, white oak, water oak and winter squash. Witch hazel and wormwood make good spelling words, and woodruff is a nice rare pick for players who want something less obvious.

Plants starting with W: 119
Best known: wheat, willow
Longest name: whispering bells

Best-known plants that start with W

The ones most people will recognise, good for school lists, quizzes and games.

wheat
willow
walnut
watermelon
wild rice
wasabi
white oak
woodbine
white pine
wormwood
wisteria
watercress
wild strawberry
willow tree
winter squash
walnut tree
witch hazel
weeping willow
white clover

All plants that start with W

#	Name	What it is
1	wake-robin	common American spring-flowering woodland herb having sheathing leaves and an upright club-shaped spadix with...
2	walking fern	ferns having lanceolate fronds that root at the tip
3	wall barley	European annual grass often found as a weed in waste ground especially along roadsides and hedgerows
4	wall fern	mat-forming lithophytic or terrestrial fern with creeping rootstocks and large pinnatifid fronds found throughout North...
5	wall pepper	mossy European creeping sedum with yellow flowers; widely introduced as a ground cover
6	wall rocket	yellow-flowered European plant that grows on old walls and in waste places; an adventive weed in North America
7	wall rue	small delicate spleenwort found on a steep slope (as a wall or cliff) of Eurasia and North America
8	walnut	any of various trees of the genus Juglans
9	walnut tree	any of various trees of the genus Juglans
10	wasabi	a Japanese plant of the family Cruciferae with a thick green root
11	water birch	birch of western United States resembling the paper birch but having brownish bark
12	water clover	water fern of Europe and Asia and the eastern United States distinguished by four leaflets resembling clover leaves
13	water elm	Eurasian elm closely resembling the American elm; thrives in a moist environment
14	water fern	ferns that grow in water
15	water gum	columnar swamp tree of southeastern to midwestern North America yielding pale soft easily worked wood
16	water mint	a European mint that thrives in wet places
17	water oak	relatively tall deciduous water oak of southeastern United States often cultivated as a shade tree; thrives in wet soil
18	watercress	any of several water-loving cresses
19	watermelon	an African melon
20	watermelon vine	an African melon
21	wattle	any of various Australasian trees yielding slender poles suitable for wattle
22	wax bean	a common bean plant grown for its edible golden pod
23	wax myrtle	any shrub or small tree of the genus Myrica with aromatic foliage and small wax-coated berries
24	wax palm	Brazilian fan palm having an edible root; source of a useful leaf fiber and a brittle yellowish wax
25	wax plant	succulent climber of southern Asia with umbels of pink and white star-shaped flowers
26	weeping beech	variety of European beech with pendulous limbs
27	weeping spruce	medium-sized spruce of California and Oregon having pendulous branches
28	weeping willow	willow with long drooping branches and slender leaves native to China; widely cultivated as an ornamental
29	weld	European mignonette cultivated as a source of yellow dye; naturalized in North America
30	wheat	annual or biennial grass having erect flower spikes and light brown grains
31	wheat-grass	a grass of the genus Agropyron
32	wheel tree	eastern Australian tree widely cultivated as a shade tree and for its glossy leaves and circular clusters of showy red...
33	whispering bells	viscid herb of arid or desert habitats of southwestern United States having pendulous yellow flowers
34	white ash	spreading American ash with leaves pale green or silvery beneath and having hard brownish wood
35	white aspen	a poplar that is widely cultivated in the United States; has white bark and leaves with whitish undersurfaces
36	white beech	North American forest tree with light green leaves and edible nuts
37	white birch	European birch with dull white to pale brown bark and somewhat drooping hairy branches
38	white broom	low European broom having trifoliate leaves and yellowish-white flowers
39	white cedar	small evergreen of eastern North America having tiny scalelike leaves on flattened branchlets
40	white clover	creeping European clover having white to pink flowers and bright green leaves
41	white cypress	slow-growing medium-sized cedar of east coast of the United States; resembles American arborvitae
42	white elm	large ornamental tree with graceful gradually spreading branches common in eastern North America
43	white fir	medium to tall fir of central to western United States having a narrow erect crown and soft wood
44	white heather	heath of mountains of western United States having bell-shaped white flowers
45	white lettuce	herb of northeastern North America having drooping clusters of yellowish-white flowers
46	white mustard	Eurasian mustard cultivated for its pungent seeds; a source of table mustard and mustard oil
47	white oak	any of numerous Old World and American oaks having 6 to 8 stamens in each floret, acorns that mature in one year and...
48	white pepper	climber having dark red berries (peppercorns) when fully ripe
49	white pine	any of several five-needled pines with white wood and smooth usually light grey bark when young
50	white potato	annual native to South America having underground stolons bearing edible starchy tubers
51	white rocket	from Mediterranean region; a naturalized weed throughout southern Europe
52	white sage	perennial cottony-white herb of southwestern United States
53	white spruce	medium-sized spruce of northeastern North America having short blue-green leaves and slender cones
54	white thistle	any plant of the genus Argemone having large white or yellow flowers and prickly leaves and stems and pods
55	white violet	short-stemmed violet of eastern North America having fragrant purple-veined white flowers
56	white walnut	North American walnut tree having light-brown wood and edible nuts; source of a light-brown dye
57	white willow	large willow tree of Eurasia and North Africa having greyish canescent leaves and grey bark
58	wig tree	Old World shrub having large plumes of yellowish feathery flowers resembling puffs of smoke
59	wild apple	any of numerous wild apple trees usually with small acidic fruit
60	wild basil	aromatic herb having heads of small pink or whitish flowers; widely distributed in United States, Europe and Asia
61	wild bean	a North American vine with fragrant blossoms and edible tubers; important food crop of Native Americans
62	wild cabbage	wild original of cultivated cabbages; common in western coastal Europe
63	wild celery	herb of Europe and temperate Asia
64	wild cherry	an uncultivated cherry tree
65	wild cinnamon	large evergreen shrub or small tree having white aromatic bark and leathery leaves and small purple to red flowers in...
66	wild coffee	coarse weedy American perennial herb with large usually perfoliate leaves and purple or dull red flowers
67	wild cotton	shrub of southern Arizona and Mexico
68	wild crab	wild crab apple native to Europe; a chief ancestor of cultivated apples
69	wild fig	a West Indies clusia having fig-shaped fruit
70	wild ginger	low-growing perennial herb with pungent gingery leaves and rhizomes
71	wild mango	African tree with edible yellow fruit resembling mangos
72	wild mustard	weedy Eurasian plant often a pest in grain fields
73	wild olive	erect shrub or climber of India and China with red olivelike fruit
74	wild orange	small fast-growing spiny deciduous Chinese orange tree bearing sweetly scented flowers and decorative but inedible...
75	wild parsley	any of various uncultivated umbelliferous plants with foliage resembling that of carrots or parsley
76	wild pea	any of various plants of the family Leguminosae that usually grow like vines
77	wild peach	large much-branched shrub grown primarily for its evergreen foliage
78	wild peanut	vine widely distributed in eastern North America producing racemes of purple to maroon flowers and abundant (usually...
79	wild plum	an uncultivated plum tree or shrub
80	wild potato	erect or spreading perennial of southwestern United States and Mexico bearing small pale brown to cream-colored tubers...
81	wild pumpkin	perennial vine of dry parts of central and southwestern United States and Mexico having small hard mottled green...
82	wild rice	perennial aquatic grass of North America bearing grain used for food
83	wild rosemary	bog shrub of northern and central Europe and eastern Siberia to Korea and Japan
84	wild rye	any of several grasses of the genus Elymus
85	wild sage	Eurasian sage with blue flowers and foliage like verbena; naturalized in United States
86	wild spinach	European plant naturalized in North America; often collected from the wild as a potherb
87	wild strawberry	Europe
88	wild vanilla	perennial of southeastern United States with leaves having the fragrance of vanilla
89	wild wheat	found wild in Palestine; held to be prototype of cultivated wheat
90	willow	any of numerous deciduous trees and shrubs of the genus Salix
91	willow oak	medium to large deciduous oak of the eastern United States having long lanceolate leaves and soft strong wood
92	willow tree	any of numerous deciduous trees and shrubs of the genus Salix
93	wing nut	any tree of the genus Pterocarya; fruit is a small winged nutlet; Caucasus to southeastern Asia
94	winged bean	a tuberous twining annual vine bearing clusters of purplish flowers and pods with four jagged wings; Old World tropics
95	winged elm	North American elm having twigs and young branches with prominent corky projections
96	winged pea	sprawling European annual having a 4-winged edible pod
97	winter cherry	Old World perennial cultivated for its ornamental inflated papery orange-red calyx
98	winter hazel	any of several Asiatic deciduous shrubs cultivated for their nodding racemes of yellow flowers that appear before the...
99	winter heath	dwarf European shrub with very early blooming bell-shaped red flowers
100	winter jasmine	deciduous rambling shrub widely cultivated for its winter-blooming yellow flowers
101	winter melon	any of a variety of muskmelon vines having fruit with a smooth white rind and white or greenish flesh that does not...
102	winter squash	any of various plants of the species Cucurbita maxima and Cucurbita moschata producing squashes that have hard rinds...
103	winter sweet	deciduous Japanese shrub cultivated for its fragrant yellow flowers
104	wire grass	handsome hardy North American grass with foliage turning pale bronze in autumn
105	wisteria	any flowering vine of the genus Wisteria
106	witch elm	Eurasian elm often planted as a shade tree
107	witch grass	European grass spreading rapidly by creeping rhizomes; naturalized in North America as a weed
108	witch hazel	any of several shrubs or trees of the genus Hamamelis; bark yields an astringent lotion
109	wonder bean	annual semi-erect bushy plant of tropical South America bearing long pods with white seeds grown especially for forage
110	wood fern	any of various ferns of the genus Dryopteris
111	wood laurel	a North American evergreen shrub having glossy leaves and white or rose-colored flowers
112	wood mint	American herb of genus Blephilia with more or less hairy leaves and clusters of purplish or bluish flowers
113	wood sage	European germander with one-sided racemes of yellow flowers; naturalized in North America
114	wood strawberry	Europe
115	wood violet	common European violet that grows in woods and hedgerows
116	woodbine	common North American vine with compound leaves and bluish-black berrylike fruit
117	woodruff	Old World fragrant stoloniferous perennial having small white flowers and narrow leaves used as flavoring and in sachets
118	wool grass	grass often cultivated for its long white-ribbed leaves and large plumes resembling those of pampas grass
119	wormwood	any of several low composite herbs of the genera Artemisia or Seriphidium

Short plants with W

wheat
weld

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Questions people ask

How many plants start with W?

This list has 119 plants starting with W, from well-known ones like wheat, willow, walnut to rarer kinds.

What plants start with W?

Well-known examples are wheat, willow, walnut, watermelon, wild rice, wasabi, white oak, woodbine.

Source: Princeton WordNet, a public dictionary database, reviewed by our editors to keep only clear, real members of the list. Meanings are short dictionary glosses.

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