Plants with serrated leaves are known to have leaves with teeth. Researchers have found that these plants are commonly grown in deciduous forests, adapting more easily than in tropical areas.
The foliage with teeth are believed to have better transpiration and photosynthesis earlier in their growth than plants with smooth-edged leaves. We will discuss these plants below to help you learn more about them.
Contents
Types of Plants With Serrated Leaves
1. Elephant Ear Plant
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Elephant ear is one of the plants with an impressive statement to any landscape. The foliage is green and has zigzag edges, and is one that would grow in a large or massive structure, they would grow even bigger when they are placed to grow outdoors.
This plant is a favorite among many plant lovers and is an excellent addition to your space. It has a large foliage, that would have the ability to reaching enormous sizes outdoors, on the other hand, it also has stems have a snakeskin-like texture.
It blooms from spring to summer, but it is not unusual to find one that doesn’t bloom. Blooming depends on the growing conditions you provide for this plant.
Make sure that you would give it the right soil, which should not one that would keep water clogged, or else the plant will be prone to root rot. Furthermore, you should provide water-soluble fertilizer during the active growing season.
It is one that would thrive in USDA hardiness zones 9 to 11, and would require well-drained soils and filtered sunlight.
2. Copper Plant
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The deeply serrated purple plant is one of the most beautiful plants you can grow, you are likely to find this plant in South Pacific, Central, and South Florida. It belongs to the Euphorbiaceae as a semi-evergreen shrub with colorful blends of pink, copper, yellow, green, cream, and orange. It has an oval or heart shape growing to a height of six to ten feet and four to eight feet wide.
The foliage that is has a toothed edge, and this is what would be giving the foliage a lacy effect. Moreover, remember that when the plant is subjected to better light quality, that is when it will give stronger color. This is the type of plant that has a curled or twisted deep copper-red foliage, and it is a slow-growing plant with a more restrained growth habit.
It would thrive under direct sunlight for six to eight hours daily, and what is great about this plant is that it is tolerant, and it would grow in some of the poorest soils and difficult conditions. However, you can add some fertilizer to keep the soil moderately rich.
3. Banksia
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Banksia is a slow-growing plant taking up to ten years or more to flower. It is very sensitive to grow and dies back in difficult growing conditions. Foliage are serrated and triangular lobed in each stem, and they would feature a shiny dark green color on the upper surface and soft hair on the lower side.
Flowering occurs from October to January, in bright yellow colors, as the old flowers fall early, with the follicles open as they mature. What you should do is to provide a balanced fertilizer in the active growing stage, moreover you should be watering the plant frequently to keep the soil moist, and make sure that the environment is humid, because it needs it, you can place a pebble tray, mist, or even invest in a humidifier.
4. Smooth Sotol
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Smooth sotol is a succulent shrub that many gardeners love to grow. It has male and female reproductive structures on separate plants. This is one of the flowering plant in the asparagus family, that has the ability to grow three feet tall with a trunk that is vertically grown, as a succulent. And when the plant matures, it would hold a lot of dead ones from previous seasons unless you prune them.
This plant bears many tiny flowers with whitish or greenish petals. Its fruit is a three-winged capsule and reproduces by sprouting from buds at the leaf bases. This plant can burn for hours if hit by lightning; after that, the plant will re-sprout from the buds, but make sure you provide it with some full sunlight for at least six hours.
5. Mexican Sea Holly
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Mexican sea holly is a spectacular plant native to Mexico and South America. This plant is a perennial in the family of Apiaceae. The flowers bloom in the summer of the second year since planting with little colorful blooms.
Both the flowers and leaves are very rare, and they look very nice even when they are dried. The leaves are narrow and more serrated than other Mexican species. They have a beautiful look and are spiny to the touch. Water them frequently to keep the soil moist. Prune the spent blooms to keep the plant clean.
Grow them under full sunlight for at least six to eight hours. Thrives in USDA hardiness zones six through ten. Provide rich amended soil that drains easily. It is a widely cultivated species as it grows fast and widely spreads. The soils should be one that would drain well are the first requirement for this plant to thrive.
6. Border Forsythia
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Border Forsythia is native to America and Europe but has been experimented with in many countries. It is a shrub that grows with an erect or arching habit. It has various species to choose from, with most sharing the same growing conditions.
The flowers are either single or in clusters of up to six petals but the stems, on the other hand would grow to a height of 16 feet tall. What you must do is to irrigate it regularly, but do not keep the soil soggy. And make sure that you would provide adequate sunlight for at least six hours.
7. Grevillea
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Grevillea is a popular plant that most gardeners add to protect other plants from deer and rabbit attacks. On the other hand, the flowers are a good contrast, with their dark red blooming in late fall to winter. This plant is resistant to these predators that devour most gardens. It successfully grows from seed and has a variety of species.
The foliage that this plant has are very coarse with a saw tooth pattern on the margins, and it would be able to grow together with the flowers, they are attractive to beneficial insects and pollinators, although it is used more as a ground cover because of the thick outer edges that it has.
This is type of plant that will thrive when it is in a well-drained soil that can be better enriched with a balanced fertilizer. As for its watering needs, you can irrigate it once every three weeks to a month, however, make sure that you would do so in a deep condition.
8. Leopard Plant
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The leopard plant is a plant that is native to China and Japan, but it is a clump-forming perennial that is prone to grow in gardens across America as well, by being an ornamental plant grown and famously known for its foliage and flowers.
This is the type of plant that would grow and become about three feet tall at maturity at a medium rate. Provided with the right growing conditions, this plant can live up to 20 years.
It is a herbaceous perennial that dies each winter and regrows in the next spring. Refrain from disturbing the crown in late winter if you want to regrow them.
When you are growing it make sure that you would place it in organically rich and moist soils, and provide partial shade and partial morning sunlight. Remember to remove dead foliage in early spring to grow new leaves, or prune them before they bloom, and when it is needed, you should provide organic manure or fertilizer at the beginning of the growing season.
Conclusion
Plants with serrated leaves are as many as the list above shows, and guess what we only touched the plants, not even trees. Before you go looking for them, here are a few pointers to remember.
- Serrated leaves vary according to how big the serrations are and the number of serrations in each leaf.
- Most of these plants are easy to grow with few growing requirements making them favorable for even new gardeners.
- Our favorite serrated leaved plants you can try include copper plant, leopard plant, Mexican sea holly, and banksia.
You can add many more trees to the list of toothed foliage, all of them would add a specific key feature with their beautiful characteristics and the way they bloom. Why not try growing any of these plants and let us know how it’s going?
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