Spider Plant 

Botanical Name: Chlorophytum Comosum

Chlorophytum Comosum, known as the Spider Plant, is a perennial hailing from tropical Africa, meaning that it’s a houseplant that will stay around for many years to come.

The Spider Plant is a quirky, haphazard fixture whose leaves grow abundantly and appear to fall over each other.  Each leaf is long and narrow, tapering off to a sharp point. Its leaves are often variegated, displaying two lines of dark green on either edge of the leaf encasing a greenish-white strip.  The Spider Plant’s flowers grow in clusters, each with six delicate tepals (a tepal is the name for the outer part of a flower when it cannot be classified, making it a not-quite petal) growing around the stamen.  These greenish-white flowers are often very small.

Partial shade is ideal for the Spider Plant; although it appreciates a little bright, direct sun, the harsh midday sun may cause its leaves to burn.  A minimum temperature of 10 degrees Celsius is recommended for the Spider Plant, which makes it a great indoor plant anywhere in the world. A humidity level of 60% is ideal, which may require a little maintaining, but nothing too intensive.  Any store-bought soil is fine as long as it is kept consistently damp through the summer months, though it should not be watered in winter. Owners need not worry if they go on vacation or forget to water the Spider Plant for a day or two, as it tolerates brief dry spells.