# I bought a plant and I don't know what it is **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 10, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-plant-and-i-dont-know-what-it-is/320988 "2005-09-10T15:46:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-plant-and-i-dont-know-what-it-is/320988/1 "2005-09-10T15:46:21Z")
Our houseplant died (it was a bromeliad, and didn’t get enough sun) so I hied myself to the Home Depot to get another one for Ivylad. The pot was labeled “assorted foliage.” I asked the cashier what it was called, and the lady behind me in line said, “Oh, I have those. It’s an arethium.” Now, I know I don’t have that spelled right, and Google can’t come up with the right spelling. The flowers look sort of like [calla lilies](http://images.google.com/images?q=calla+lilies&hl=en&lr=&sa=N&tab=ii&oi=imagest), except they’re smaller, red and waxy. We called Home Depot back, and they said basically that it’s a regular indoor plant and doesn’t need special care. Translation, “I don’t know how to spell it either.” Any of our Green Thumb Dopers have a clue on what this plant is and how to care for it? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-plant-and-i-dont-know-what-it-is/320988/2 "2005-09-10T15:48:11Z")
It’s full of baby scorpions and spiders. Put it in a sunny spot near the kid’s room. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-plant-and-i-dont-know-what-it-is/320988/3 "2005-09-10T15:50:53Z")
Helpful not, **NCB**. Try again. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-plant-and-i-dont-know-what-it-is/320988/4 "2005-09-10T16:00:02Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Our houseplant died (it was a bromeliad, and didn’t get enough sun) so I hied myself to the Home Depot to get another one for Ivylad. > > The pot was labeled “assorted foliage.” I asked the cashier what it was called, and the lady behind me in line said, “Oh, I have those. It’s an arethium.” > > Now, I know I don’t have that spelled right, and Google can’t come up with the right spelling. The flowers look sort of like [calla lilies](http://images.google.com/images?q=calla+lilies&hl=en&lr=&sa=N&tab=ii&oi=imagest), except they’re smaller, red and waxy. We called Home Depot back, and they said basically that it’s a regular indoor plant and doesn’t need special care. Translation, “I don’t know how to spell it either.” > > Any of our Green Thumb Dopers have a clue on what this plant is and how to care for it? Does it look like this? [Anth. scherzer](http://www.aroid.org/TAP/species/anthscherz.html) Or at least sort of like that? Mine have never been all curly, and are solid red instead of speckled. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-plant-and-i-dont-know-what-it-is/320988/5 "2005-09-10T16:03:57Z")
Could be, but the yellow parts (stamens?) aren’t that big. Off to Google… ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-plant-and-i-dont-know-what-it-is/320988/6 "2005-09-10T16:06:19Z")
[We have a winner!](http://hawaiitropicals.com/anbouq.html) It’s also called the Heart of Hawaii or Flamingo Flower. Pretty… ---
**Author:** ![lorinada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5e925/32.png) [@lorinada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorinada)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-plant-and-i-dont-know-what-it-is/320988/7 "2005-09-10T16:19:36Z")
Also called “little boy plant” for obvious reasons. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-plant-and-i-dont-know-what-it-is/320988/8 "2005-09-10T16:20:59Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > [We have a winner!](http://hawaiitropicals.com/anbouq.html) > > It’s also called the Heart of Hawaii or Flamingo Flower. Pretty… Oh, yes, much better picture there! We call 'em “Peter Plants” because, well, look at it. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-plant-and-i-dont-know-what-it-is/320988/9 "2005-09-10T22:15:40Z")
You guys have dirty minds. 😛 I shall refer to it as a Flamingo Flower. _I never in all my born days would have ever considered what you are implying_ she said primly. ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-plant-and-i-dont-know-what-it-is/320988/10 "2005-09-11T01:38:51Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > You guys have dirty minds. 😛 . You say that like it’s a bad thing 😉 The family came up with the name when a learning-the-proper-name-of parts aged child blurted into the suddenly silent church lobby “Hey that looks like my . . .” One of the aunts stifled him just in time, but from that moment on, they were renamed. Another, very elderly, aunt cleaned it up further & called them “Little boy plants.” ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-plant-and-i-dont-know-what-it-is/320988/11 "2005-09-11T01:41:40Z")
> [@lorinada](#): > > Also called “little boy plant” for obvious reasons. 😉 Read, THEN post :smack: Apparently Aunt Mabel wasn’t being exceptionally delicate. I’d never heard anyone else call them that! ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy154](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ad7895/32.png) [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-plant-and-i-dont-know-what-it-is/320988/12 "2005-09-11T12:31:05Z")
> [@MadPansy64](#): > > You say that like it’s a bad thing 😉 > > The family came up with the name when a learning-the-proper-name-of parts aged child blurted into the suddenly silent church lobby “Hey that looks like my . . .” > > One of the aunts stifled him just in time, but from that moment on, they were renamed. Another, very elderly, aunt cleaned it up further & called them “Little boy plants.” Then I guess you don’t want to hear about a plant in the genus Clitoria? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-plant-and-i-dont-know-what-it-is/320988/13 "2005-09-11T12:51:30Z")
Cite? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-plant-and-i-dont-know-what-it-is/320988/14 "2005-09-11T13:16:27Z")
The plant waters itself when the flower is stimulated. ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-plant-and-i-dont-know-what-it-is/320988/15 "2005-09-12T03:05:14Z")
What’s all the fuss over? It’s clearly an Assorted Foliage (Assorteria Foligeria) just like the sign said. :flees: