Plantopedia: The Definitive Guide to Houseplants
Camilleri, L. & Kaplan, S. · 2020 · Smith Street Books
- Edition
- 1st
- ISBN
- 9781925811773
- Pages
- 416
- Tier
- Recommended
- Audience
- For all readers
- Rating
- 4 / 5
Every reference shelf needs the big picture-led book you reach for when someone hands you a cutting and asks “what even is this?” Plantopedia, from the Sydney studio Leaf Supply, is that book — 416 pages and well over a hundred plant profiles, photographed beautifully enough that it doubles as a coffee-table object. It is the most browsable houseplant reference we own, and its limits are exactly the limits of the form.
What it is
A profile-led encyclopedia. After opening chapters on light, potting media and propagation, the bulk of the book works through 130-plus houseplants — the familiar foliage staples, a generous run of succulents and cacti, and a satisfying number of rarer specimens — each with a consistent template: provenance, light, water, humidity, propagation and common problems. It is organised to be dipped into, not read front to back, and that’s the right call for what it’s trying to be.
Where it’s strong
The photography carries the book, in the best sense. These are images that show what a healthy mature plant actually looks like — habit, leaf shape, the difference between the juvenile you bought and the adult you’re aiming for — which makes Plantopedia genuinely useful for identification rather than merely decorative. The consistent profile structure means you can compare two plants’ needs at a glance, and the breadth means it answers most “what is this and will it live in my flat?” questions without a second book.
It is also, frankly, a pleasure to own. A reference only helps if people open it, and the production quality here earns it a permanent place on the shelf rather than a slow migration to a cupboard.
Where it’s limited
Breadth has a cost, and the cost is depth. Each profile is a sound overview, but none is the final word; when you hit a genuinely tricky plant or a diagnostic puzzle, you’ll want a more focused source. The care guidance is reliable but rarely explains the underlying physiology — which is precisely why we shelve it next to Capon (for the science) and Cheng (for the method).
Two practical caveats. First, it’s heavy: 416 hardback pages make it a desk reference, not something you carry to the bench. Second, it’s Australian — the seasons are inverted, and a few light, humidity and plant-availability notes assume a climate that UK readers have to mentally adjust.
How we’ll use it
This is our default “look it up and see it” reference — the book we’ll point readers to for a quick, reliable, beautifully illustrated profile of a specific plant, while sending them to our own guides (or to Cheng) for the deeper reasoning behind the care. Expect to see it cited wherever we need a clean one-stop description of a species.
Who should read it
Beginners and intermediates building a first real reference shelf, and anyone who likes to browse plants the way others browse cookbooks. Specialists will find the individual profiles too shallow for their niche, but may still keep it for the photography and the breadth. If you can own only one houseplant book, make it Cheng; if you can own two, make the second this.
The bottom line
The best browse-and-identify houseplant reference in a single volume, held back only by the shallowness that breadth always brings. Beautiful, broad and genuinely useful — just not the place to go deep. On our shelf it sits in the middle of the trio: Capon for the science, Cheng for the method, Plantopedia for the field guide.
Reviewed 2026-05-28. Edition: 1st (2020), Smith Street Books. ISBN: 9781925811773.
- · Breadth — 130-plus profiles spanning foliage, succulents, cacti and harder-to-find specimens, wider than most single-volume houseplant references.
- · The photography is genuinely excellent: styled but informative, and crucially it shows mature plant form rather than just nursery juveniles, which makes it useful for identification.
- · Consistent profile structure (light, water, propagation, troubleshooting) makes plants easy to scan and compare side by side.
- · A beautiful object — the kind of reference people actually keep out and open, which matters for a book meant to be used rather than shelved.
- · Sensible front matter on light, potting and propagation grounds the profiles before you reach them.
- · Broad, not deep: each profile is a competent overview, not the last word. Pair it with a method book (Cheng) and a science primer (Capon) when you want the 'why'.
- · 416 hardback pages make it a desk reference, not a bench companion — it does not want to come outside and get wet with you.
- · Australian authorship and publisher: seasons are inverted and some light, humidity and availability guidance skews to a different climate. UK readers translate.
- · Style-forward — the Leaf Supply aesthetic occasionally favours the beautiful shot over the diagnostic one.
- · 'Definitive' is a publisher's flourish; it's an excellent broad reference, not an exhaustive taxonomy.