You have several plants in the house, but don't know what they are? Our tips will help you identify your houseplant.
Plants in the apartment are simply a great eye-catcher and invite you to collect them with their cozy appearance. But often you have one or the other roommate who has no name at all - the plant was given by friends without much explanation or the label with the plant name has been lost. So there are always plants in our apartments that we cannot assign. However, the right determination can be of great importance: This can be used, for example, to find out whether it is a poisonous houseplant, or to give the plant the right care in the event of illness. Even when buying your favorite plant later, the right name can't hurt. Find out here how you can quickly and easily identify your indoor plants.
Plant identification is an art in itself - fortunately even amateur gardeners can learn it quickly and easily. We have selected the most common methods of identifying indoor plants for you and will tell you exactly how to assign the correct name to your unfamiliar plant.
Determine indoor plants by their characteristics
What is the name of this plant again? Anyone who has ever asked themselves this question should perhaps take a closer look at their green roommate: many genera and even individual plant species can be easily identified by laypersons by characteristics such as leaves and flowers. Based on these special features, you can quickly find the right plant on websites such as Planetopia or IWOE as well as in plant identification books. In the following, we will tell you what special features you need to look out for.
Identify indoor plants by leaves
Indoor plants are often kept for their beautiful leaves - but they also play an important role in identifying the plants. With good observation skills, you can already draw good conclusions about the plant genus and even the species from the leaves.Particular attention should be paid to the shape of the leaves, but also to the size and arrangement of the leaves. In addition, the color (especially with variegated leaves), but also the grain of the leaves can provide information about the plant.
We have compiled the various leaf shapes and their best-known representatives below for you.
Heart:
- Small leaves: candlestick, cyclamen (flowering plant)
- Medium Leaves: Flamingo Flower (Flowering Plant), Sweetheart Plant
- Large Leaves: Monstera (often with decorative leaf incisions)
Ovoid:
- Small Leaves: Money Tree
- Medium Leaves: Orange Tree, Lemon Tree, Rubber Tree, Miracle Shrub (Colored Leaves), Lucky Feather
Rounded: Canonier Flower, Bobbed
Triangular: Triangular Lucky Clover
Elongated: Dragon Tree, Spider Plant, Cobbler Palm, Belt Plant, Sansevieria, Agave, Amaryllis
Fan Shape: Ginkgo
Determine indoor plants by flowers
Identifying flowering plants is often a bit easier, since the flower is ideal for identifying the species. The main feature when assigning houseplants based on their flowers is the number of their petals. A distinction is usually made between flowers with four, five or more petals. Sometimes it also happens that the plant is not decorated by a flower but by a conspicuous bract. The bright color, which many people find particularly fascinating about the pretty flowers, can also be an important indicator. Finally, the shape of the flowers and the individual petals can also play a role: bell or butterfly flowers, fused or free-standing petals are just a few of the countless variations that can be identified.
Identify indoor plants with the app
You don't always have the time or desire to spend a long time searching through books for the right plants. Fortunately, plant identification has also reached the age of digitization and some apps make it easier for us to search. This version of the plant identification is perfect especially for beginners and room gardeners without a green thumb. By taking a photo of your plant and uploading it to the app, it will determine the houseplant by itself. A little tip: it works bestIdentification when the plant is photographed against a background that is as neutral as possible, such as a white wall. The Plantsnap or PictureThis plants apps have proven to be particularly good at identifying indoor plants. On the other hand, if you prefer to identify wild plants, the Pl@ntnet app is a good choice.
Are you more interested in more exotic houseplants? Then check out our article on carnivorous houseplants.