40 palettes

Jungle Color Palette

Press the button for one jungle palette: five or six colors, the deepest shade first, with hex codes.

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Canopy from above: lime on dark greenDark green gaps, forest green shaded crowns, green crowns, lime sunlit crowns, pale gray mist.#0E2514 · #1C4F31 · #298E29 · #96E421 · #D8DFDB

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Shade and floor 10

Buttress roots: tan on dark brown Dark brown root shadow, dark olive shade, brown roots, tan lit flanks, green ferns.
Dart frog on a leaf: cobalt blue on black Black frog spots, forest green shade, lime wet leaf, cobalt blue frog, pale lime light on the leaf.
Fallen petals: hot pink on black Black soil, dark brown roots, forest green moss, hot pink petals, cream petal backs.
Fungus on a log: orange on dark brown Dark brown log, brown bark, orange bracket fungus, cream gills, olive moss.
Giant leaf: green on dark green Dark green shade, dark olive leaf underside, green leaf, lime veins, brown stem.
Jaguar in the shade: tan on black Black rosettes, dark olive shade, tan fur, butter yellow paler fur, olive leaves.
Leaf litter: rust on black Black wet soil, dark brown rotting wood, rust dead leaves, tan dry leaves, olive moss.
Leafcutter trail: lime on dark brown Dark brown soil, brown trodden path, lime leaf pieces, emerald green uncut leaf, gray stones.
Riverbank tangle: brown on dark teal Dark teal river shade, forest green undergrowth, brown muddy water, tan bank, lime new shoots.
Seedling in a sunfleck: lime on black Black shade, dark green old leaves, forest green big leaves, lime seedling, butter yellow sunfleck.

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Canopy greens 10

After the downpour: mint on dark green Dark green wet leaves, emerald green dripping leaves, green washed leaves, mint steam, pale blue clearing sky.
Backlit leaf: chartreuse on forest green Forest green leaf shadow, green leaf, lime thin leaf, chartreuse backlit leaf, butter yellow sun.
Bromeliad pool: lime on dark green Dark green leaf bases, green leaves, lime leaf tips, teal pooled water, red center.
Canopy from above: lime on dark green Dark green gaps, forest green shaded crowns, green crowns, lime sunlit crowns, pale gray mist.
Epiphyte branch: green on dark brown Dark brown branch, forest green moss, green orchid leaves, lime bromeliad, pale lime lichen.
Moss and lichen: avocado on dark brown Dark brown bark, olive moss, avocado sunlit moss, pale lime lichen, gray bare bark.
Rain on big leaves: green on forest green Forest green shadow, teal wet leaf, green leaf, pale lime drip tips, pale gray rain.
Tall crown: chartreuse on forest green Forest green canopy below, green lower branches, chartreuse emergent crown, sky blue sky, white cloud.
Treetop mist: pale gray on forest green Forest green near crowns, teal far crowns, turquoise farthest crowns, pale gray mist, white sun in mist.
Vine curtain: lime on dark olive Dark olive shade, olive old vines, avocado vines, lime new tendrils, butter yellow light behind.

Flowers and birds 10

Bromeliad in flower: scarlet on dark green Dark green leaf shadow, green leaves, scarlet bracts, violet flowers, pale lime leaf tips.
Cock-of-the-rock: orange on black Black tail and wings, dark olive shade, orange feathers, white wing patch, brown rock.
Crown in bloom: yellow on forest green Forest green canopy, green crowns, yellow flowering crown, violet second crown, pale blue sky.
Eclectus pair: emerald green on dark green Dark green leaves, emerald green male, scarlet female, his cobalt blue wing tips, his yellow beak.
Harpy eagle: gray on black Black back and breast band, forest green canopy, gray head, white belly, yellow toes.
Heliconia: red on dark green Dark green shade, lime leaves, red bracts, orange bract edges, butter yellow flowers.
Keel-billed toucan: green on black Black body, forest green leaves, green bill, yellow neck and chest, orange bill sides, red bill tip.
Orchid on a branch: pink on dark brown Dark brown branch, forest green leaves, pink petals, white lip, yellow throat.
Quetzal: emerald green on black Black inner wings, dark green forest, emerald green plumes, red belly, white under the tail.
Rafflesia: rust on dark brown Dark brown forest floor, maroon center, rust petals, white spots, olive undergrowth.

Dusk 10

Bats at nightfall: purple on black Black bats, navy treeline, purple sky, pink horizon, butter yellow first star.
Break in the storm: amber on dark teal Dark teal cloud, teal rain, amber gap in the cloud, forest green canopy, lilac far sky.
Canopy at sunset: orange on black Black treeline, plum far hills, orange low sky, peach high sky, gold sun.
Embers of the day: scarlet on maroon Maroon treeline, rust low cloud, scarlet horizon, amber sun, peach high cloud.
Firefly dusk: chartreuse on midnight blue Midnight blue night, dark green leaves, chartreuse fireflies, navy gaps, pale lime glow.
Gilded crowns: gold on dark green Dark green shade, forest green crowns, gold lit crowns, coral sky, indigo east sky.
Moon mist: pale blue on midnight blue Midnight blue sky, navy treeline, indigo far ridge, pale blue mist, cream moon.
Night chorus: turquoise on black Black night, dark olive leaves, turquoise moonlit leaf, navy sky, mint frog.
Pink hour: pink on plum Plum canopy, purple ridge, pink sky, lilac cloud, cream sun.
River at dusk: coral on black Black banks, dark teal water, coral reflection, violet sky, peach cloud.

How this list was compiled: Own work, written for Draw This Next on 2026-10-08: palettes of five or six colors of a tropical rainforest, sorted by layer (shade and floor, canopy greens, flowers and birds) with a fourth group for dusk. Every palette, name, color word, hex code and part is our own choice; none is sampled from a photograph. How a strip is ordered: the darkest color, the deepest shade, comes first; each color is named for its part; the name gives the color it carries and that first shade. Our own tests, not a standard: the first color is the darkest of its strip (WCAG relative luminance, https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/contrast-minimum.html); a Canopy greens strip holds three or more greens (teal and turquoise counted); a Shade and floor strip holds at most one light color; a Flowers and birds strip holds a strong color outside the greens; no two colors of a palette are closer than 8 in CIE Lab; no two palettes share four codes. Facts in the page copy and behind the scenes, checked on 2026-10-08 against English Wikipedia. Rainforest, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainforest: a tropical rainforest usually grows in several layers, among them the emergent layer, canopy, understory and forest floor; the canopy is a nearly unbroken roof of leaves made by neighboring treetops; roughly 5% of the sunlight that falls on the canopy reaches the understory, where the leaves are much larger and jaguars hunt; the forest floor receives only 2% of the sunlight, and fungi there help decay plant and animal waste. Tropical rainforest, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_rainforest: the canopy supports epiphytes, including orchids, bromeliads, mosses and lichens, and buttress roots are a common feature. The named birds and plants follow their own articles, for where they live and for their colors: Keel-billed toucan, Harpy eagle, Guianan cock-of-the-rock, Resplendent quetzal, Eclectus parrot, Heliconia, Rafflesia arnoldii, Jaguar, Poison dart frog, Leafcutter ant and Firefly. Orchid and bromeliad flower colors, and the frog's blue, are our own choice. Color names are plain English words with no paint maker, pencil brand or color-matching system, and one word is one code everywhere on this list. Checked on 2026-10-08: every code is #RRGGBB, each color word fits the hue and lightness of its code, no palette, name or line repeats, and no palette is on another palette list of this site or of its sister sites. The hex codes are for a screen; with paint or pencils, take the nearest color. Licence: own work

How it works

A jungle color palette here starts in the dark. Every strip opens with its deepest shade, because little light gets under the trees, and the groups climb from the forest floor to the canopy.

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From the floor to the canopy

A tropical rainforest has layers: the forest floor, the understory, the canopy and a few emergent trees above it. Shade and floor is browns, blacks and dark greens around one lit thing. Canopy greens has three or more greens in every strip, counting the teal and turquoise of far crowns.

Flowers, birds and dusk

Flowers and birds sets a loud color against the green: red heliconia bracts, an orange cock-of-the-rock, the green, orange and red bill of a keel-billed toucan. Dusk trades most of the green for the sky.

Questions and answers

What colors are in a jungle color scheme?

Greens before anything. Forest green #1C4F31 is in more strips than any other color, with green #298E29, dark green and lime #96E421 close behind. Black and dark brown give the shade, and red, orange, yellow or hot pink come in small amounts.

Which greens make a jungle look deep?

A near-black green for the gaps, forest green for shaded leaves, a middle green, and lime or chartreuse only where the sun lands. Canopy from above is that set, with pale gray mist.

What colors are rainforest birds?

On this list: a keel-billed toucan is black with a yellow chest and a green, orange and red bill; a resplendent quetzal is green with a red belly; a male eclectus parrot is green, the female red; a harpy eagle is gray, black and white.

Why is the jungle floor so dark?

The canopy is a more or less continuous cover of leaves, and it takes most of the light. About 5 percent of the sunlight reaches the understory and about 2 percent the forest floor.