11 Tips For Correctly Identifying Houseplants

To the untrained eye, identifying houseplants can be a challenge. It could be a pothos, but it also looks a lot like a philodendron. Or is that a Monstera? And what exactly classifies a plant as a succulent anyway? There are so many houseplants out there – often with a variety of shapes and colors. What’s even more concerning is that I’ve seen incorrect labels at my local garden center and nursery!

In this guide, we’re going to first provide some common tips for plant identification, then provide descriptions for hundreds of popular houseplants. The hope is that, when finished, you have all the information you need to identify the plants in your home.

Popular Houseplant Reviews:

• Philodendron Gloriosum
• Begonia Maculata

Why Is It Important To Identify Your Houseplants?

Each plant has unique needs, so identifying your indoor plants helps you understand their water, light, soil, fertilizer, and potting requirements. You also should know the amount of TLC your plant requires. Is this an easy-care plant, or will this plant stop you from going on vacations?

The ultimate goal is to help your plants have a long and healthy life.

Origin

Once you know what the plant is, you can start considering where your plant is from. And while that might not seem incredibly important at a first glance, the origin of a plant tells you about conditions you should provide it in your home. For instance, if your plant is natively from rainforest-like Anthurium plants – it will need humid conditions in your home that you might need to supplement.

On the other hand, if your plant is native to a semi-arid environment – like South Africa – you likely need to water it less or keep it out of cold weather. Simply knowing the origin of your plant gives you a wide variety of basic care tips and helps you create the proper growing conditions.

Pot Size And Repotting

Knowing the type of plant helps you understand how to care for your plant in terms of potting. Do your houseplants prefer small pots? Or do they need larger pots to thrive? Similarly, most plants need repotting every now and again. Each plant has different repotting needs.

Buy Self-watering Pots on Amazon now

Pests And Diseases

While nobody wants a sickly plant, there’s a good chance one or more of your plant babies will have health issues at some point, whether that’s caused by pests or diseases. Certain plants have resistance to specific ailments, such as gray mold, sooty mold, powdery mildew, fungal spores, scale insects, fungus gnats and other common houseplant pests. Knowing what plant you have can help you troubleshoot the problems.

Fertilizer

When it comes to plant food, different plants have different needs. A Dragon tree is going to need something different than a Coleus Wasabi. Knowing the particular plant can help you narrow down its specific needs a little bit.

How To Identify Houseplants

Identifying a houseplant can take some detective work. You can either do it yourself or use a plant care app, such as Pl@ntNet or SmartPlant, which both do a decent job of identifying common house plants. There’s quite a bit of room for error with these apps, so here’s an excellent review of leaders in the space from Harli G:

If you want to learn to identify houseplants on your own, start with a journal and pen so you can take notes. You can also use the Google Lens app, which lets you take a picture of your plant and then matches it against anything on the internet. We’ve had a great deal of luck with it. There’s only a free version, which already makes it better than most of the competitors in my book.

Begin to analyze the plant, starting with the following:

Leaf Shape

The best way To start your plant identification process is by looking at the leaf shape. Describe the shape of the leaf. Is it oval, round, or long and skinny? Are they angular? Are they frond-like?

Stem Shape And Color

While less pronounced than leaf shape, certain plant varieties have uniquely featured stems. Does your plant have green stems? Or does it have vibrantly colored stems? Are the stems smooth, or do you have woody plants that are rough to the touch? When checking this, make sure you’re focusing on new growth.

Leaf Color

Describe the color (don’t just say green), and are there stripes or dots present on the leaves?

Leaf Texture

Are the leaves smooth, rough, or rubbery? 

Flowers

Are there flowers present? What color are the flowers? Does the plant bloom all year? Are the flowers small?

Plant Dimensions

Measure your plant’s height and width, as well as the length of the leaves. Plant Roots

Some plants will have aerial roots that come up from the soil. Note if aerial roots are present.

Facebook Groups

There is a surprising amount of knowledge on Facebook if you know where to look. If you have a plant question, I recommend you check out the Epic Gardening Facebook page. 

There are so many enthusiasts there, and you can get a lot of quick tips in identifying your plants.

Categorizing Your Houseplants

Once you have your data, decide which category your plant belongs to:

Cacti and Succulents

Succulents, including cacti, have some of the most unique shapes of any indoor plants. Some have bright colors and beautiful flowers, and they can vary in shape and size.

What Makes A Plant A Succulent?

Succulents are plants with fleshy and engorged leaves, which allow them to stay hydrated in dry conditions. The name “succulent” comes from the Latin word that means juice or sap, and most succulents are squishy to the touch. Below is a table of top succulents and cacti. 

These common houseplants are typically easy to care for. As you try to identify your succulent, you can use the search bar to type in attributes (color, flower details, leaf shape, etc.)

Foliage Indoor Plants

When most people think of houseplants, the foliage plant category comes to mind. Foliage indoor plants usually have decorative, colorful, or interesting-looking leaves. They’re cultivated for the primary purpose of being ornamental. Common foliage plants include Pothos, Ferns, ZZ Plant, Monstera, Spider Plant, and others.

The table below provides images and descriptions of common foliage plants. As you try to identify your succulent, you can use the search bar to type in attributes (color, flower details, leaf shape, etc.)

Some of our favorite indoor plants are the fiddle leaf fig, English ivy, different varieties of Anthurium plants, snake plants, and more.

Here are some of our most popular foliage plant guides:

• Marble Queen Pothos
• String Of Turtles
• Hoya Krimson Queen
• Philodendron Birkin
• Hoya Australis

Here’s a larger list of top plants to review

Flowering Plants

Flowering plants are distinguished by their flowers, fruits, endosperm, and seeds. There’s a lot of variety in the indoor flowering plant category, including the Peace Lily, Cyclamen, Poinsettia, Christmas Cactus, and Bird of Paradise.

In the table below, we’ve included characteristics and other details of flowering houseplants.

Orchids

Orchids are such a diverse family of flowering plants (with over 30,000 species) that we decided to put them in their own category. In all orchids, the flower’s male portion – called the stamen – is fused with the flower’s female part – called the pistil. This structure typically protrudes from the center of the flower, and it’s a distinguishing feature for most orchids.

In the table below, we’ve highlighted the characteristics some of the most popular orchid plants.

Herbs

Herbs are plants that have qualities known to affect our sense of smell and taste. They’re most commonly used for garnishing foods, fragrances, or for medicinal purposes. The botanical definition requires that herbs be a small, seed-bearing plant that lacks a woody stem. Most people, however, would also include some plants outside of this definition as herbs, such as rosemary, sage, and lavender.Here are the top herbs for growing indoors, either in dirt or hydroponically.