A complete list of things that are green – from animals and plants to food, gemstones, and everyday objects. Over 100 green things with fun facts!
Here's a fast overview – scroll down for full descriptions and fun facts on every single one.
Every green thing, with descriptions and fun facts. Perfect for school projects, quizzes, and curious minds!
Tree frogs are a vivid green to blend in perfectly with tropical leaves and plants. Their sticky toe pads help them cling to surfaces.
💡 Some tree frogs can glide between trees like tiny paratroopers!
Chameleons are famous colour-changers. Their natural resting colour is usually green, ideal for hiding in leafy trees and shrubs.
💡 They change colour to show their mood, not to camouflage themselves!
The green sea turtle gets its name from the greenish colour of its fat, caused by the algae and seagrass it eats throughout its life.
💡 Green sea turtles can hold their breath for up to 7 hours!
The praying mantis is a master of disguise. Its bright green body looks exactly like a leaf, helping it ambush unsuspecting insects.
💡 It's the only insect that can turn its head to look directly behind it!
The green iguana is a large tropical lizard native to Central and South America. Juveniles are especially vivid green; adults can fade to grey-green.
💡 Iguanas can drop their tail to escape predators – and it grows back!
Many caterpillar species are green so they blend in with the leaves they spend their days eating. Green is the perfect disguise in a plant-filled world!
💡 A caterpillar eats about 27,000 times its own body weight before becoming a butterfly!
Wild budgerigars (budgies) are naturally bright green and yellow. This colouring helps them hide in Australian scrubland from birds of prey.
💡 Budgies can learn hundreds of words and even full sentences!
Green grasshoppers blend perfectly into grass and meadows, making them hard for birds to spot. Their colour is one of nature's best hiding tricks.
💡 Grasshoppers "hear" with special organs located on their knees!
Cacti store water in their thick green stems, allowing them to survive months or even years without rain. There are over 1,750 species of cactus.
💡 The giant saguaro cactus can live for 200 years!
Ferns are among the oldest plant groups on Earth, having existed for over 350 million years. They love damp, shady forests and are a rich, deep green.
💡 Ferns reproduce through spores, not flowers or seeds!
Bamboo is technically a grass, not a tree. Some species can grow up to 90cm in a single day, making it the fastest-growing plant in the world.
💡 Giant pandas eat up to 40kg of bamboo every day!
Moss is a soft, fuzzy plant that thrives in damp, shady places. It can survive being completely dried out and rehydrate when water returns.
💡 Some moss species have been found growing in Antarctica!
Most clover plants have three leaves – finding a four-leaf clover is considered very lucky! Each leaf represents faith, hope, love, and luck.
💡 The odds of finding a four-leaf clover are about 1 in 10,000!
Green seaweed grows in oceans worldwide. Types like sea lettuce and sea grapes are eaten as food in many Asian and European countries.
💡 Seaweed produces around 50% of all the oxygen on Earth!
Pine trees stay green all year round. Their needle-shaped leaves are coated in a waxy layer that helps them hold onto water through cold winters.
💡 Some pine trees can live for thousands of years!
Ivy is a climbing plant with distinctive dark green leaves. It can grow over walls, fences, and tree trunks, creating a lush green covering.
💡 English ivy can live for over 500 years!
Mint is a herb with bright, vivid green leaves and a distinctive fresh smell. It grows quickly and spreads easily through gardens.
💡 Ancient Egyptians used mint as currency for trading!
Basil is a culinary herb with large, brilliant green leaves. It's a key ingredient in pesto and Italian cooking around the world.
💡 Basil means "royal" in Greek – it was once considered a royal plant!
Avocados are green on the outside and have a creamy green-yellow flesh inside. They're technically a fruit and are packed with healthy fats.
💡 Avocados won't ripen while they're still attached to the tree!
Broccoli looks like a miniature green tree! It's packed with vitamin C, vitamin K, and fibre. The name comes from the Italian word for 'arm branch'.
💡 Per calorie, broccoli has more protein than steak!
Peas are small, round, sweet green seeds that grow inside pods. They're one of the oldest crops cultivated by humans – dating back 10,000 years.
💡 Pea seeds were found preserved in ancient Egyptian tombs!
The kiwi fruit is brown and fuzzy on the outside, but a brilliant bright green inside. It was originally called 'Chinese gooseberry' before being renamed.
💡 A kiwi fruit contains more vitamin C than an orange!
Limes are small, sour green citrus fruits used in drinks, desserts, and savoury dishes across the world. They're a key ingredient in many tropical cuisines.
💡 British sailors ate limes on long voyages to prevent a disease called scurvy!
Spinach is a dark green leafy vegetable loaded with iron, vitamins, and minerals. It can be eaten raw in salads or cooked in countless dishes.
💡 Spinach leaves can actually grow underwater!
Cucumbers are long, green, and incredibly refreshing – they're 96% water! Despite being used as a vegetable in cooking, they're botanically a fruit.
💡 Placing cucumber slices on your skin can reduce swelling!
Green apples like Granny Smith have a distinctive tart, sharp flavour compared to red apples. They're crisp, refreshing, and great for cooking.
💡 The Granny Smith apple was discovered growing wild in Australia!
Green beans (also called string beans or French beans) are the unripe pods of the common bean plant. They're a popular vegetable worldwide.
💡 Green beans and string beans are the same thing!
Lettuce is one of the most widely eaten salad vegetables. There are many varieties – from iceberg to cos – all in various shades of green.
💡 Lettuce is 95% water – even more watery than cucumber!
Green capsicums (bell peppers) are just unripe red peppers. They have a more bitter, grassier flavour than red or yellow capsicums.
💡 Green capsicums have twice the vitamin C of oranges!
Green olives are simply unripe olives. They have a firmer texture and more bitter taste than black (ripe) olives. Both grow on silver-green trees.
💡 Olive trees can live for thousands of years – some in Greece are over 2,000 years old!
Emerald is one of the four precious gemstones (alongside diamond, ruby, and sapphire). Its vivid green colour comes from traces of chromium and vanadium.
💡 Cleopatra, Queen of Ancient Egypt, famously loved emeralds!
Jade is a beautiful green stone used in jewellery and ornaments for over 7,000 years. There are two types: nephrite and jadeite.
💡 In ancient China, jade was considered more precious than gold!
Malachite is a striking green mineral with distinctive banded patterns. It's been used as a pigment in green paint since ancient Egyptian times.
💡 Ancient Egyptians ground up malachite to make green eyeshadow!
Peridot is a lime-green gemstone and one of the few gems that comes in only one colour. It forms deep in the Earth's mantle and is sometimes found in meteorites.
💡 The ancient Egyptians called peridot 'the gem of the sun'!
Tennis balls are a distinctive yellow-green (officially called 'optic yellow'). The colour was chosen in 1972 because it showed up best on colour television screens.
💡 Before 1972, Wimbledon used white tennis balls!
The green light on a traffic light means 'go'. The colour system was adapted from railway signals in the 1860s. Green means it's safe to proceed.
💡 The first traffic lights were operated manually by a police officer!
Grass is arguably the most ubiquitous green thing in the world. It gets its colour from chlorophyll and covers an estimated 3 billion hectares of Earth's land surface.
💡 A single lawn has about 6 grass plants per square centimetre!
Christmas trees are traditionally evergreen – pine, spruce, or fir trees that stay green all year. The tradition of decorating them began in Germany in the 16th century.
💡 Around 25–30 million real Christmas trees are sold in the US every year!
Green tea gets its colour from unoxidised tea leaves. It has been drunk in China and Japan for thousands of years and is one of the world's most popular beverages.
💡 Matcha and green tea come from the same plant – just processed differently!
Some things are a mix of both colours – here are the most common green and yellow things.
Bright green body with yellow head – the natural colour of Australia's favourite pet bird.
Limes start yellow-green when unripe and deepen to bright green as they mature.
Officially 'optic yellow' but widely perceived as yellow-green by most people.
Many caterpillars have green bodies with yellow stripes or spots.
Many houseplants have green leaves with yellow or cream variegation patterns.
Most grasshoppers are mottled green and yellow to blend into grassy habitats.