# Please help me identify this plant? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 26, 2018, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-plant/816755 "2018-06-26T05:43:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-plant/816755/1 "2018-06-26T05:43:50Z")
I was over at my friend’s house the other day, we were doing various tasks in the yard, and I noticed my favorite plant there was blooming! It’s the house he grew up in, and he says it’s never bloomed before. The flower (such as it is) smells wonderful. [Here’s a picture.](https://i.imgur.com/qWY0QjL.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-plant/816755/2 "2018-06-26T05:51:24Z")
It’s some kind of aroid ([Araceae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araceae)). Your location and a photo of the leaves would be helpful. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-plant/816755/3 "2018-06-26T06:44:41Z")
I used to have several very nice peace lilies–I’d like them more if they smelled good, but alas. Very good for low light indoor conditions though, I’ll give them that, and quite showy. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-plant/816755/4 "2018-06-26T07:16:05Z")
Oh dear, there isn’t any foliage visible in that one, is there? [Here’s another.](https://i.imgur.com/0tBZ2a9.jpg) Northern California BTW. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-plant/816755/5 "2018-06-26T08:22:42Z")
Additionally: It resembles a palm, more than it does any lily family member I’m aware of. It is a large bush-sized plant that I think may technically be a tree. It has thick woody roots that emerge aboveground and affix themselves in what looks like a shoring-up kind of project. The inflorescence is more a pod than a flower – the pod very much resembles the pod/husk/whatever that new leaves emerge from; it’s thick & spongy & green. Inside is this enormous, uh – is that a stamen? It’s like four or five inches long and as thick as my thumb. The leaves are large (1 ti 2 feet) and each leaf has many “fingers.” ---
**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:** [June 26, 2018, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-plant/816755/6 "2018-06-26T09:34:17Z")
I’m fairly sure that’s a philodendron - Aracae family as noted above. Couldn’t say for sure what species, but if you google [Philodendron flower](https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=philodendron+flower&rlz=1C1CAFA_enGB789GB789&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwicvrSTg_HbAhUNKlAKHWatAS0Q_AUICigB&biw=1280&bih=588), you get results that have very similar foliage, flowers and stems to your example. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-plant/816755/7 "2018-06-26T09:37:47Z")
What do you know! It _ **is** _ a philodendron! Thought I knew what those looked like, but I guess not Thanks, **Mangetout**. ---
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-plant/816755/8 "2018-06-26T09:41:01Z")
I would guess[Philodendron Seloum](https://www.google.com/search?q=philodendron+selloum+flower&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjxp9ewhPHbAhVJZlAKHc59AqcQsAQIKw&biw=2071&bih=1291) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-plant/816755/9 "2018-06-26T13:50:08Z")
I have one that has never bloomed. I thought it was called “split leaf philodendron”. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-plant/816755/10 "2018-06-26T15:08:25Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I have one that has never bloomed. I thought it was called “split leaf philodendron”. We also have one that has never bloomed, although it is huge and healthy looking. Ours is in a pot in our sun-room and is 25 years old. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-plant/816755/11 "2018-06-26T15:19:23Z")
Mine spends Winter as a house plant, Summers outside in USDA Zone 7. I wonder how they can be induced to bloom. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-plant/816755/12 "2018-06-26T15:26:10Z")
There is one in a protected corner of my yard that has never bloomed, but we’ve only been in this house for four years, so I don’t know how old it is, and they can take up to 15 years to mature. We had a hard freeze this past winter and I had to cut back most of the leaves. I hope that doesn’t reset the maturity clock! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-plant/816755/13 "2018-06-26T15:37:03Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Mine spends Winter as a house plant, Summers outside in USDA Zone 7. > I wonder how they can be induced to bloom. Well, cannabis flowers when day (light) length decreases, nitrogen supplementation is cut back and phosphorous level increased. I’ve heard. [I found this page that says:](http://www.lewisginter.org/philodendrons-bloom/) > [@](#): > > As you know, plants’ flowers are all about reproduction, and perhaps the most incredible characteristic of split-leaf philodendrons is their unique way of reproducing. A philodendron must be mature before it can begin flowering, which takes a staggering 15 to 16 years! Once it reaches maturity, it will flower every May to July, signaling to the world that it’s ready to reproduce. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-plant/816755/14 "2018-06-26T15:45:18Z")
Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/section_maker_jupe/32/1424_2.png) [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Section_Maker_Jupe)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-plant/816755/15 "2018-06-26T15:57:53Z")
We have some monsters of those, I call them strangler plants:D (yes, split leaf philos) Their roots are just ornery, and very tough. We use them to hold the creek edge together, and deter folks and critters from climbing up. Huge leaves also will shade out and kill other smaller plants. And do NOT taste test the interesting looking fruit, very very acrid and burning:eek: (hey it looks like a banana, and smells good…ha NO banana!) Santa Barbara ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-plant/816755/16 "2018-06-26T16:26:44Z")
> [@Anaglyph](#): > > I would guess[Seloum](https://www.google.com/search?q=philodendron+selloum+flower&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjxp9ewhPHbAhVJZlAKHc59AqcQsAQIKw&biw=2071&bih=1291) That’s _Philodendron selloum_ (two l’s), or AKA[_Philodendron bipinnatifidum_]([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philodendron\_bipinnati](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philodendron_bipinnati) fidum) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-plant/816755/17 "2018-06-26T16:33:28Z")
> [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](#): > > We have some monsters of those, I call them strangler plants:D (yes, split leaf philos) Their roots are just ornery, and very tough. We use them to hold the creek edge together, and deter folks and critters from climbing up. Huge leaves also will shade out and kill other smaller plants. And do NOT taste test the interesting looking fruit, very very acrid and burning:eek: (hey it looks like a banana, and smells good…ha NO banana!) Santa Barbara [Worse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphide#Harmful_effects)[things](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philodendron#Toxicity) than just a bad taste can happen to you if you eat aroids… …also, if you’re ever going in the bush and don’t have loo paper, _do not_ use the invitingly large leaves of aroids to wipe. You will greatly regret it. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-plant/816755/18 "2018-06-26T16:36:41Z")
> [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](#): > > We have some monsters of those, I call them strangler plants:D (yes, split leaf philos) Their roots are just ornery, and very tough. We use them to hold the creek edge together, and deter folks and critters from climbing up. Huge leaves also will shade out and kill other smaller plants. And do NOT taste test the interesting looking fruit, very very acrid and burning:eek: (hey it looks like a banana, and smells good…ha NO banana!) Santa Barbara Funny, I was just in Santa Barbara for a few days and thought I saw some of the OP’s plant while walking around and hiking. Great city, by the way. Had a very nice visit and already want to go back.