While there are many kinds of trees and shrubs that require a lot of water, I think a good rule of thumb seems to be that plants whose natural habitats provide them with a large amount of water usually use a lot of water. That said, many tropical plants require large amounts of water, whereas desert plants, such as cacti are able to thrive on minimal or infrequent amounts of water.

Plants take up more water the faster they are trying to grow. In general, plants that normally grow in wet environments are made to grow faster and use more water than plants that live in dry environments, but there are exceptions.