# Identify this plant? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 8, 2002, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-plant/131361 "2002-10-08T14:35:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2002, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-plant/131361/1 "2002-10-08T14:35:58Z")
It’s been hanging in this house for more than 20 years and just this summer I finally got it to bloom. The blooms look exactly like a peace lily, except now that they’re dying have large pea-sized (what I assume is) seeds. The leaves are ovals with a point on the outer end. And it has a two foot tall trunk, which makes it look like some sort of mutant miniature palm tree. Since what I know about houseplants can fit into your little finger (water 'em. If they get wilty, water 'em some more), I thought you guys would have some ideas. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2002, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-plant/131361/2 "2002-10-08T23:57:49Z")
wow, that sounds a bit odd. does the blossom have a scent? does it grow outside or inside? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-plant/131361/3 "2002-10-09T00:11:09Z")
Can you give us more of a description?; the colour and size of the bloom, the shape and size of the leaves, the texture and colour of the trunk… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-plant/131361/4 "2002-10-09T00:17:52Z")
oops, you did describe the leaves… :o ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-plant/131361/5 "2002-10-09T00:23:59Z")
The blooms are the same size and shape as your standard peace lily. I’ve seen both gigantic and miniature versions of peace lillies; these are in between. The trunk is maybe an inch across. It’s very smooth and green, but interrupted every inch or so by an irregular ring - like bamboo almost, except there isn’t a bump like bamboo has; instead there’s a papery substance that peels off if I work at it. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-plant/131361/6 "2002-10-09T00:26:02Z")
I’m sorry, **rocking chair** , I missed your question… I’m not sure if the blooms had a scent - it’s a hanging plant and the blooms are nearly at the ceiling; I’m a little too short to reach. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-plant/131361/7 "2002-10-09T00:34:03Z")
It sounds like a Philodendron of some sort. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-plant/131361/8 "2002-10-09T00:37:32Z")
Maybe [Philodendron Scandens](http://www.exotica.it/sss%20scandens%20philodendron.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-plant/131361/9 "2002-10-09T15:15:40Z")
That’s not it, **Mangetout** , but I think you’ve identified the plant I have in the kitchen. 🙂 How do I get it to bloom? The plant I’m asking about really is quite tree-like - there aren’t any leaves growing except for at the very top. And the leaves aren’t heart-shaped like with a philodendron - they are almost perfect ovals except for the point on the end. Thanks, though 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-plant/131361/10 "2002-10-09T15:27:23Z")
Hmmm; I’m not sure how you’d induce flowering in a philodendron but they are rain forest plants, so I suspect high humidity and exposure to bright light (i.e. simulating a gap in the canopy) would help; maybe moving it to a position in front of your bathroom window? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-plant/131361/11 "2002-10-09T15:32:36Z")
It may be that your other plant is also a philodendron (it is quite a diverse genus); the points on the leaves are probably ‘drip tips’ - plants that grow in areas of high rainfall often have them. When you say ‘peace liliy’, you do mean a flower something of [www.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/plants/magnoliophyta/magnoliophytina/liliopsida/araceae/calla/palustris.jpg](http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:JoSRJ0Gvb84C:%5Burl)"]this general form, don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-plant/131361/12 "2002-10-09T15:37:34Z")
Your link didn’t work for me…[Here](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=www.msu.edu/~urquhar5/tour/spath.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.msu.edu/~urquhar5/tour/spath.html&h=533&w=357&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpeace%2Blily%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8) is one, although on the plant I have the white part is tighter to the seed part. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-plant/131361/13 "2002-10-09T15:37:55Z")
[Sorry](http://www.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/plants/magnoliophyta/magnoliophytina/liliopsida/araceae/calla/palustris.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-plant/131361/14 "2002-10-09T15:48:43Z")
I think I have your plant: [Dieffenbachia](http://web.vet.cornell.edu/CVM/HANDOUTS/plants/Dieffenbachia.jpg) (common name ‘Dumb Cane’ because eating the stuff causes your mouth to swell painfully) - your specimen may vary from this one in size and/or leaf colour. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-plant/131361/15 "2002-10-09T15:54:27Z")
That’s it!! Pefect, **Mangetout** , thanks SO much for digging for me. 🙂 🙂 (I promise not to eat it.) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2002, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-plant/131361/16 "2002-10-09T16:08:45Z")
I enjoy these games immensely.