Houseplants: Names, Photos and Care — a Catalogue

View full-size photo

Houseplants bring a home to life, adding colour and mood. Here is a catalogue of houseplants with names and short descriptions, from easy “unkillable” plants for beginners to flowering orchids and large tropical showpieces. Each plant links to a detailed care guide, and the basics of watering, repotting and feeding are at the end.

More on this topic: unkillable houseplants, most beautiful houseplants, why houseplants get sick.

Easy-care houseplants

View full-size photo

• ZZ plant: the “dollar tree”, goes weeks without water and tolerates shade.
• Peace lily: white flowers and drooping leaves that tell you when to water.
• Dracaena: an “indoor palm” with a tuft of leaves on a trunk that lives for decades.
• Ivy: indoor ivy for shelves and hanging pots, happy even far from a window.
• More hard-to-kill plants in unkillable houseplants. Another near-indestructible vine is pothos: it grows in partial shade and roots easily in water. Compact picks for narrow sills and desks: small houseplants.

Detailed care guides: spider plant, aglaonema, peperomia, pilea and tradescantia.

Foliage and statement plants

View full-size photo

• Monstera: a tropical climber with split leaves: deliciosa, albo, monkey.
• Ficus: from the rubber plant to the fiddle-leaf and dwarf varieties.
• Weeping fig: a small-leaved tree that dislikes being moved and draughts.
• Plectranthus: “indoor mint” with fragrant leaves, fast-growing.
• Fittonia and hypoestes: bright netted and spotted leaves for terrariums.
• More in foliage houseplants. For tropical giants, see indoor palm types and care. A glossy rubber plant is easy to shape into a small tree by pruning. More plants for hanging baskets: trailing houseplants. The most popular indoor fern is the Boston fern. The braided money tree (pachira) copes with dry air and suits offices.

Detailed care guides: calathea, schefflera, croton, alocasia and dieffenbachia.

Flowering houseplants

View full-size photo

• Orchid: the phalaenopsis blooms for months; see orchid types.
• Cattleya: an orchid with large fragrant flowers that loves bright light.
• African violets: compact, flowering almost all year, in thousands of varieties.
• Potted rose: a miniature rose that needs cool conditions and light.
• Indoor jasmine: a fragrant climber that blooms in winter and spring.
• Primrose: a bright spring primrose for the windowsill.
• Potted hydrangea: lush flower heads; plant it out in the garden afterwards.

Detailed care guides: gloxinia, streptocarpus and gardenia.

Winter-flowering plants

View full-size photo

• Poinsettia: the Christmas star with red bracts.
• Amaryllis: a bulb with huge trumpet flowers.
• Hippeastrum: the amaryllis relative that’s easy to force for the holidays.
• Camellia: elegant winter flowers, but it needs cool conditions.
• More in houseplants that bloom in winter.

Detailed care guides: Christmas cactus and clivia.

Sun-loving plants and citrus

View full-size photo

• Aloe: a succulent for the brightest window, water sparingly.
• Calamondin: a citrus tree with tiny mandarins.
• Callistemon: an Australian shrub with bottlebrush flowers.
• Full list in sun-loving houseplants.

Detailed care guides: echeveria.

Choosing a houseplant room by room

View full-size photo

Care basics

• Watering: most plants die from overwatering, not drought — how to water houseplants.
• Repotting and pots: how to repot and choosing a pot.
• Feeding: natural fertilisers for houseplants.
• Winter: protecting plants during the heating season.
• Problems: 10 symptoms of disease and 10 ways to kill a plant. If tiny flies appear in your pots, see how to get rid of fungus gnats.

"Lucky" plants: folklore and facts

Folk beliefs say the jade plant, ZZ plant ("dollar tree"), pachira and lucky bamboo attract money and luck, while the peace lily and anthurium stand for "women's" and "men's happiness". Opposite superstitions claim monstera, ivy or cacti bring misfortune. None of them has any basis: a plant affects your mood only by making your home more pleasant. The real criteria are the conditions in your flat and safety for children and pets.

View full-size photo

How to identify a houseplant

The easiest way is to photograph the plant and use image search or a plant-identification app; they recognise common species reliably. Photograph a leaf close up, the whole plant and any flower. Then check the result against the descriptions and photos in the catalogue above: the name tells you how much light and water the plant needs.

Plants and health

• Do houseplants purify the air: what science says.
• Allergenic houseplants to avoid if you have allergies.
• Many aroids (monstera, peace lily, ZZ plant) contain calcium oxalate, so keep them away from pets. Which plants suit a bedroom and which to move out: bedroom plants.

A flowering plant as a gift

A potted orchid blooms for months and reminds them of you longer than a bouquet.

View full-size photo

See houseplants and orchids.

View full-size photo

Detailed plant guides: parlour palm, fiddle leaf fig, scindapsus; and if you spot speckling and webbing, read how to get rid of spider mites.

FAQ

Which houseplants are easiest?

ZZ plant, dracaena, peace lily, ivy and spider plant.

Which houseplants flower longest?

Phalaenopsis orchids, African violets, peace lilies and anthuriums.

Which plants suit a dark room?

ZZ plant, peace lily, ivy and aglaonema.

How often should houseplants be watered?

It depends on the species; most need water when the top layer of soil is dry.

Author: Maria Svitlovir

Graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of Biology and Medicine (2001). BSc in Biology, MSc in Horticulture. Writes about plants, works at a garden centre selecting and repotting plants, and contributes to plant reference guides.

About the author →