•  Spider Plant, ribbon plant, spider ivy

• Chlorophytum comosum (prounced: Chloro-phyt-um come-mos-um)

• Perennial evergreen plant

• Native to tropical and southern Africa

• 150 species

•  Indirect sunlight, water little and often

• Produce clones or plantlets on flowering stems, easy to grow roots

• Grow 30-60 cm tall

• 18c – 32c; can go down as 2c

• White flowers

• Spider plants air purifiers, removed 90% of formaldehyde from air by NASA

• Formaldehyde from adhesives, grout and fillers in homes

• Very popular in 70s with hanging macrame hanging planters

• Chinese Money Plant, UFO Plant or Pancake Plant

• Pilea peperomioides (Prounced: Pa-lea-a; peper-mo-mi-oi-dees)

• Evergreen perennial

• Southern China

• It was first popularised by a Norwegian missionary in 1946

• Indirect sunlight with moist soil

• Produce plantlets via underground runners

• Up to 715 species – very different

• Can grow up to 30 cm; each disk can grow up to 10 cm in diameter

• The plant grows upright forming a small trunk

• It’s an air purifying plant by NASA study

CORRECTION:  In this episode I mentioned a that ferns  have a 'thalamus'  used in their reproduction, I should I said 'prothallus'.

• Ferns are made of over 10,500 species

• No leaves but fronds

• Maidenhair fern (delicate looking); Adiantum raddianum (Prounced: Ad-an-tum raddi-ar-num)

• Staghorn fern (large; grow sideways); Platycerium bifurcatum (Prounced: Plat-i-see-ree-ium bi-for-cay-tom)

• Blue Star fern (bluish finger shaped); Phlebodium aureum 'Blue Star' (Prounced: Fla-boo-dee-um au-ree-um)

• Boston fern (hanging planter); Nephrolepis exaltata (Prounced: Nair-frol-i-pus ex-sar-tar-a)

• Ancient primitive type of plant, evolved over 360 million years ago

• Reproduce via spores; orange things on bottom of fronds

• Moist soil, partial sunlight/shade

• Faded fronds need cutting back

• Either get male (orange spots on bottom of fronds) and females

• ZZ Plant, Zanzibar Gem, Zuzu Plant

• Zamioculcas zamiifolia (Zam-ic-co-las zam-ee-folia)

• ix key types

• Thick glossy stems 

• Popularised in South African in the 90s

• Native to Eastern Africa

• Indirect partial sunlight with moist but well-draining soil

• Herbaceous perennial that can grow up to 60 cm tall

• All plant parts of toxic, so do not ingest 

• Air purifying qualities

• Devil’s Ivy, Pothos, Ceylon Creeper, Hunter's Robe

• Epipremnum aureum (A-pip-i-ree-mnum or-ree-um)

• Solomon Islands 

• Perennial vine

• Indirect sunlight, water little and often

• About 43 species 

• Six major cultivars; dark green, yellow-golden, white and green stripped, white with green speckles, dark green with white spots, yellow and green variegated

• Air purifying; formaldehyde, xylene and nitrogen oxides

• Easily propagated, aerial roots

• Twelve metres long

• Use to totem and moss clips to hold up

• Mother-in-Laws Tongue Plant, Snake Plant, Saint George's Sword

• Sansevieria trifasciata (Sands-a-ver-ree-a tri-fa-she-at-a)

• Perennial herb

• Native to tropical parts of west Africa, Nigeria to the Congo  

• Indirect to direct sunlight, water up to once a week

• Invasive species, drought and heat tolerant 

• Grows up to 1.2 metres and 8 cm across (leaf)

• Grows well at 15-24C, do not go below 10C

• Can get yellow edged ones, dark green, pale green, cylindrical shaped ones, fan shaped ones, squat ones

• It removes formaldehyde, *xylene and nitrogen oxides from the air, and at night continues its hard work

• White hyacinth-like clustered flower

• Madagascar Palm

• Pachypodium lamerei (pack-i-pode-dee-um lam-er-A)

• Deciduous stem succulent/small tree 

• Can grow up to 4.5 m in ideal conditions 

• Natural to lose lower set of leaves when growing

• Can grow 30 cm per year

• Native to Southern Madagascar

• Unique glossy stem with large thorns – this is where the plant holds onto water

• Bright full sun conditions and water when top of soil dries out

• Relatively disease resistant 

• Swiss Cheese Plant, Split-leaf philodendron

• Monstera deliciosa (Mon-ster-a de-lic-ee-o-sa) meaning ‘monster’ and ‘delicious’ 

• Native to the tropical forests of Mexico

• Evergreen vine

• It first became very popular in the 50s to 70s

• Monstera fruit is full of vitamin c and tastes like strawberry-passion fruit-mango-pineapple combination 

• Large range available from holey ones, stripped ones, alternating strips and can come in variegated forms; white and pink

• Can grow up to 20 m

• Loves humid conditions, bright indirect sunlight with moist soil 

• Classed as an invasive species in Hawaii, Seychelles and Ascension Island

• Its holes help it to withstand heavy rainfall; they cannot create extra holes

• In the wide if the plantling doesn’t find a tree before 20 cm it will die

• Trailing Wax Plant 

• Hoya linearis (Hoy-a lin-ee-ar-is)

• Native to Nepal and China

• Trailing epiphytic succulent (i.e., grows on the surface of other plants) 

• Up to 5 cm cylindrical needle-like foliage 

• Bright indirect sunlight with moist but well-draining soil

• Easy to propagate via cuttings 

• Produces clusters of flowers (10-13) that are white with distinctive pink and yellow coronas 

• Long-lived and relatively disease resistant 

• Common name, Prayer Plants 

• Called so due to their leaves closing at night and opening at dawn, motion like someone praying 

• By closing leaves at night, they prevent too much rain from rotting them

• Group of plants in the Calathea (Cal-a-thee-a), Maranta (Mar-an-ta) and Ctenanthe (See-ta-an-thea) generas

• About 120 species including the Fishbone, Pinstripe, Peacock Prayer Plants 

• Very diverse type of plants which have bold variegated foliage

• Evergreen creeping perennials, which spread via rhizomes that emerge from the soil

• Native to tropical forests of South America 

• Prefer high humidity levels, bright indirect sunlight with moist but well-draining soil

• Have small white flowers in the wild, do not flower in our homes

• Also known as Spath, White Flag and the White Sail Plant 

• Spathiphyllum wallisii (pronounced spaf-a-fil-um wall-i-see)

• About 47 species of peace lily 

• Spath derives for the Greek word for spoon, phyllum meaning leaves

• Native to tropical rainforests of Central and South America

• Its flower is actually a modified leaf

• They aren’t technically lilies but are within the same family as Alocasia or Elephant’s Ear Plant

• Can also come in pink, purple and light green

• Can grow 1.2 metres tall 

• Low maintenance but sensitive to the cold

• Aglaonema (Pronounced: Ag-la-o-name-a)

• Native to tropical regions of Asia and new Guinea 

• 48 different varieties as a houseplant 

• Comes in a huge range of colours, from pink to red, silver and white with blotches, spots and strips

• Notable varieties include Burmese Evergreen (silver), pictum (three patches of green shading on leaves, Wishes (baby pink) and chocolate (dark purple with light pink veins)

• Grow spathes as flowers, similar to that of the peace lily 

• Can purify the air in your home, leaves will need a regular dusting 

• Small plant, only growing 60 cm heigh 

• Can propagated by root division when filled pot

• Slow growing, shade tolerant and low maintenance

• Also known as the Neanthe Bella Palm, mainly in the US

• Parlour Palm comes from its popularity during the Victorian period, as it can grow in harsh conditions i.e., in the parlour

• Chamaedorea elegans (pronounced: Cam-may-der-ree el-ee-gans)

• One of the most sold houseplants around the world 

• Native to the rainforests of Central and South America

• Can grow up to two metres tall 

• Grows via rhizomes and is commonly propagated by root division 

• Low maintenance and tolerates low light and water levels

• Can purify air in our homes and is non-toxic to pets

• Also known as the Money Plant, Friendship Plant or Silver Dollar Plant

• Over 200 species of Jade Plant

• Notable varieties include ‘Gollum’ looks like fingers, ‘Golden Jade’ looks like flat disks with red edges, Propeller Plant, looks like a plane’s propeller, String-of-Buttons, and the Curly Leaf Jade

• Native to South Africa 

• Forms thick branches where they store water (as well as their leaves)

• Will produce white and pink clusters of flowers

• Can easily grow via leaf and stem cutting 

• Gateway plant, low maintenance and adaptable

• 750 known species of fig

• They all belong to the Moraceae family which also includes the mulberry tree

• They all come from all around the globe

• Notable fig houseplants include the Fiddle Fig, Rubber Plant, Benjamin Fig, Long Leaf Fig, Creeping Fig, and Weeping Fig

• Their leaf shapes come in a huge range of shapes, sizes and variegations (from white to yellow to pink)

• When cut they ooze out a white sap, also known as latex (natural rubber)

• They naturally grow aerial roots

• They are generally long-lived plants, lasting up to 50 years

• Some can reach up to 15 metres tall in our homes 

• Can purify the air in your home, their leaves will need regular dusting

• Ceropegia woodii (pronounced: sero-pee-gee-a wood-ee]

• woodii native to South Africa 

• Over 160 species of Ceropegia 

• Other notable varieties include the String-of-Needles and String-of-Spades

• Leaves come in range of colours from silvery green with pink edges to dark green and 

• When placed in ideal conditions they will produce unquiet flowers that are trumpet-shaped and purple with a fussy ball protruding from the tip 

• They often produce aerial tubers are beads which can be planted

• Can also easily propagate via stem cuttings 

• Large spaces in-between leaves indicate too little light

• Leaf yellowing indicates too much water

• Heartleaf Philodendron are prolific climbers, ‘Basil’ yellow variegation climber, micans is a black velvety climber, Xanadu produces incredible spilt leaves, ‘Pink Princess’ produces mainly pink leaves and many others

• It’s a type of herb

• Philodendrons mainly come from tropical parts of South America 

• They start life as vines and grow into epiphytes or plants that grow on other plants

• Philodendrons come as climbers and trailers, tall centrepiece plants and as a shrubby plant

• 450 species of Philodendrons with over 61 variegates on sale

• Often mixed up with the Devil’s Ivy (or pothos)

• Can grow a metre tall by a metre wide if kept in ideal conditions 

• Indirect sunlight, keep humidity and water levels constant

• Cuttings by stems in water

• Other names include Taro and Arum

• Over 90 species of Alocasia

• Alocasia [pronounced al-O-kay-sha]

• They are native to tropical and subtropical parts of Asia and eastern Australia

• Beautiful examples include African Mask Plant, Stingray (long tail), ‘Black Magic’ has deep black leaves, ‘Melo’ incredible iridescent texture, ‘Silver Dragon’, ‘Reticulata’ – bar coding colours, and ‘Red Scarlet’

• Can be tricky to keep, humidity is key

• Even if they lose all of their leaves they can still be revived 

• Can grow up to 1.2 metres tall

• Will rarely flower in our homes

• Their rhizomes are edible but check on species, Alocasia macrorrhizos 

• Also known as Umbrella Tree or Shrub, Star Leaf, Octopus Tree, Hawaiian Elf

• Schefflera arboricola (pronounced: shef-flair-a ar-bor-i-cola]

• Over 500 species of Schefflera 

• Member of the ivy family 

• Native to southeast Asia 

• They come as trees, shrubs and climbers/trailers 

• Can grow up to 2 metres in homes 

• Can get variegated versions; white and yellow strips and blotches 

• Low maintenance shade tolerant and hardy 

• Easy to take cuttings from stems in water

• Stems contain calcium oxalate which can be an irritant if chewed on or eaten by pets

• Also known as the Inch Plant, mainly in the US

• Over 85 species of Wandering Jew

• Tradescantia zebrina [pronounced: trade-i-scan-tee-a zeb-breen-a]

• Lots of varieties from the iridescent purple to light pink to light green and silver

• Herbaceous perennial, will look leggy after a two to three years 

• Has a spread of about a metre and can grow 30 cm high

• When grown in ideal conditions they will produce small purple flowers

• Native to Mexico and Central America

• Maintaining humidity levels is key to their growth

• Can easily be propagated by stem cuttings in water