In bloom in December

Paperwhite narcissus

Scented white narcissus grown in bowls indoors for midwinter, and a New Year flower in Chinese homes.

Cyclamen

Swept-back pink and white petals under trees from autumn to early spring, and in pots indoors through winter.

See also: Sowbread, Cyclamen cyprium

Amaryllis

A fat bulb that sends up huge red or striped trumpets. Grown indoors for winter in the north, outdoors in spring in the south.

See also: Amaryllis, Hippeastrum

Parijat (night-flowering jasmine)

White flowers with orange stalks that open at dusk and fall by morning. In Bengal, shiuli on the ground means Durga Puja is near.

Wild Himalayan cherry

A cherry that blossoms pink in autumn, not spring. Shillong in north-east India holds its blossom festival in November.

Hong Kong orchid tree

Large purple-red flowers through the cooler months. The flower on the flag of Hong Kong.

African tulip tree

Clusters of orange-red cups at the top of a tall tree. From tropical Africa, planted across warm cities.

Witch hazel

Spidery yellow or orange ribbons on bare twigs in the coldest weeks, with a spicy scent.

Wintersweet

Small waxy yellow flowers on bare stems in midwinter, strongly scented. Called lamei in China.

Winter jasmine

Unscented yellow stars on green leafless stems, trained against walls and spilling over banks in winter.

Poinsettia

The red parts are leaves around tiny flowers. A pot plant at Christmas, and a tall winter shrub in Mexico and Indian hill towns.

Sasanqua camellia

The autumn camellia: smaller, often scented flowers that shed petal by petal. Much used for hedges in Japan.

King protea

South Africa's national flower: a bowl of pink bracts as wide as a dinner plate, on Cape mountain slopes.

See also: Bot River protea, Protea

Christmas rose

White saucers with yellow centres, low to the ground in the dead of winter. A hellebore, not a rose.

Pansy

Flat faces in purple, yellow and white. A cool-season bedding flower, through winter in mild places and the Indian plains.

See also: Sweet Violet, Wild Pansy

Mustard (sarson)

Yellow fields across Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan in the north Indian winter, up to the spring festival of Basant Panchami.

See also: Brown mustard

Marigold (genda)

Orange and yellow pompoms. The garland flower of Dussehra and Diwali in India and of the Day of the Dead in Mexico.

See also: Calendula, French marigold

Hibiscus (gudhal)

Wide red flowers that last a day, on hedges all year in the tropics. Offered to Kali and Ganesha. Malaysia's national flower.

See also: Blue mahoe, Mandrinette

Ixora

Tight round heads of small red or orange stars on a clipped hedge. In flower through the year in the tropics.

Crossandra (kanakambaram)

Light, scentless orange flowers strung into hair garlands in South India, often together with jasmine.

Madagascar periwinkle (sadabahar)

Pink or white five-petalled flowers on a small plant that never seems to stop. Its Hindi name means always in spring.

See also: Lesser Periwinkle

Yellow oleander (peeli kaner)

Yellow funnels among narrow leaves on a roadside shrub. Offered to Shiva in India. All parts are poisonous.

Peacock flower

Red and yellow flowers with long red stamens on a light, open shrub. The national flower of Barbados.

See also: Tigridia pavonia, Tigridia

Heliconia

Stacked red and yellow bracts like lobster claws among banana-like leaves, in the wet forests of tropical America.

See also: Heliconia, Heliconia rostrata

Anthurium

A glossy red heart with a pale spike. A tropical American plant, grown for cut flowers in Hawaii and Mauritius.

See also: Flamingo Flower

Tiare (Tahitian gardenia)

A white pinwheel with a soft, sweet scent, worn behind the ear in Tahiti and the Cook Islands and steeped in coconut oil.

Bird of paradise

Orange and blue flowers shaped like a crested bird's head. From South Africa, and planted all over Los Angeles.

See also: Giant white bird of paradise

Bougainvillea

Papery magenta, orange and white bracts over walls and gates. At its fullest in dry, sunny weather.

See also: Paperflower

Moth orchid

Arching sprays of flat white or pink flowers that last for months. The usual pot orchid, and Indonesia's moon orchid.

See also: Phalaenopsis schilleriana, Phalaenopsis sanderiana

Cymbidium orchid

Tall spikes of waxy flowers in the cool season. Grown in the Himalayan foothills and treasured in China for centuries.

Vanda Miss Joaquim

A pink and violet hybrid orchid that flowers all year in full sun. Singapore's national flower.

See also: Waling-waling, Vanda falcata

Aloe

Red and orange candles above spiky rosettes in the dry winter of southern Africa, crowded with sunbirds.

See also: Zimbabwe Aloe, Spiral aloe

Christmas cactus

A Brazilian forest cactus with flat, jointed stems and pink or red flowers, kept as a house plant that blooms as days shorten.

Jade plant

A fleshy-leaved South African shrub that covers itself in small pink-white stars in winter when grown in sun.

Kalanchoe

Clusters of small red, orange, pink or yellow flowers over thick leaves. A pot plant from Madagascar that blooms as days are short.