Indoor Potted Plant Identification

Indoor potted plants

Thousands of plants have been cultivated to grow indoors. Identifying house plants requires looking closely at their overall appearance and growth habits.

Flowering or Not

Orchids

Some house plants have been cultivated for their flowers. In these cases, such as orchids, flowers will be the main method of identification. Some plants, such as philodendrons, will be identified by their foliage.

Succulents

Aloe

Succulents are a popular group of house plants known for fleshy leaves or stems. Succulents grow in many forms including compact florets, clumps of sword-shaped leaves and regular stem and leaf form. Aloe and jade plant are two examples.

Cacti

Christmas cactus flower

Desert cacti are easy to identify with spines, needles or hooks coming from fleshy stems. Forest cacti, or Christmas cacti, have smooth, fleshy stems with brilliant flowers.

Ferns

Fern leaves

Some ferns have sword- or button- shaped leaves, while others have the more typical finely divided delicate fern leaves.

Climbers

Zebrina

Climbers will send out runners or tendrils as they grow. Zebrina and English ivy are two examples of climbers.

Small to Large

Coleus

Houseplants have different growth habits. Coleus is an example of an herb-like or small growth habit, coffee plant is a bush and some indoor palm varieties grow to tree-size.

References

• The Encyclopedia of House Plants
• "The House Plant Expert" D.G. Hessayon; 1989.
• Browse and Identify Houseplant Guide