Chlorophytum comosum explained

Chlorophytum comosum, often called spider plant[1] or airplane plant, is a flowering

perennial herb. It is native to tropical and southern Africa, but has become naturalized in
other parts of the world, including western Australia.[2] [3] Chlorophytum comosum is easy to
grow as a houseplant; variegated forms are the most popular.

Description
Chlorophytum comosum grows to about 60cm (20inches) high. It has fleshy, tuberous roots,
about 5- long. The long narrow leaves reach a length of 20- and are around 6- wide.Flowers
are produced in a long branched inflorescence, which can reach a length of up to 75cm
(30inches) and eventually bends downwards. Flowers initially occur in clusters of 16 at
intervals along the stem (scape) of the inflorescence. Each cluster is at the base of a bract,
which ranges from 2- in length, becoming smaller towards the end of the inflorescence. Most
of the flowers which are produced initially die off, so that the inflorescences are relatively
sparsely flowered.
Individual flowers are greenish-white, borne on stalks (pedicels) some 4- long. Each flower
has six three-veined tepals which are 6- long, slightly hooded or boat-shaped at their tips. The
stamens consist of a pollen-producing anther about 3.5mm long with a filament about the
same length or slightly longer. The central style is 3- long. Seeds are produced in a capsule 3long on stalks (pedicels) which lengthen to up to 12mm.
The inflorescences carry plantlets at the tips of their branches, which eventually droop and
touch the soil, developing adventitious roots. The stems (scapes) of the inflorescence are
called "stolons" in some sources, but this term is more correctly used for stems which do not
bear flowers, and have roots at the nodes.[4]

Taxonomy
Chlorophytum comosum was first formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Peter
Thunberg as Anthericum comosum in the 1794 volume of Prodromus Plantarum Capensium,
Thunberg's work on the plants of South Africa.[5] It was subsequently moved to a number of
different genera, including Phalangium, Caesia, Hartwegia Nees and Hollia, before receiving
its current placement in Chlorophytum by Jacques in 1862.[2]
The species has been confused with Chlorophytum capense (L.) Voss by some authors, but this
is a different species.

Intra-specific variation
There are three described varieties of the species: the autonym C. comosum var. comosum has
strap-shaped narrow leaves and is found along forest margins, C. comosum var. bipindense
has broader, petiolate leaves with stripes on the underside and the inflorescences are 2-3
times the length of the leaves, and C. comosum var. sparsiflorum also has broader leaves that
narrow to the base and usually lacks a petiole and the striping on the underside of the leaf and

the inflorescences are up to two times the length of the leaves. The latter two are rain forestdwelling taxa that had earlier been described as separate species, but botanists Axel Dalberg
Poulsen and Inger Nordal reduced the taxa to varieties of C. comosum in 2005.[6]
Delimitation of species boundaries within the genus Chlorophytum is reported to be difficult,
possibly because of several evolutionary radiations into forest environments that led to
morphological aspects that are too similar to reliably distinguish separate species. The
evidence given to support this is the widespread distribution of most taxa in the genus and
poor seed dispersal, leading to the conclusion of deeper evolutionary divergence among the
taxa. The three described varieties in C. comosum could be an example of this convergent
evolution of leaf shape among the forest-dwelling varieties from species of disparate origin,
leading to the species C. comosum being polyphyletic, instead of the traditional view of
morphological divergence among the varieties within the species with the assumption of a
common origin (monophyly). The widespread C. comosum var. comosum has slender, near
linear leaves that lack a petiole similar to plants found in cultivation and is only found
growing at the margins of the rain forest. The two other varieties, C. comosum var.
sparsiflorum and C. comosum var. bipindense, possess petioles and have broader leaves
necessary for collecting more light in the shady Guineo-Congolean rain forest. A study
published in 2005 used 16 morphological characters and was unable to delimit species
boundaries among these three taxa, so they were relegated to varietal status.[6] A follow-up
study published in 2008 provided preliminary evidence from phylogenetic analysis of plastid
and nuclear DNA sequences that established samples from disparate collections sites
identified as C. comosum were polyphyletic.[7]

Distribution
Chlorophytum comosum has a widespread native distribution in Africa, being native to six of
the 10 World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions regions of Africa (West
Tropical Africa, West-Central Tropical Africa, Northeast Tropical Africa, East Tropical
Africa, South Tropical Africa and Southern Africa).[2]

Cultivation
Chlorophytum comosum is a popular houseplant. The species with all-green leaves forms
only a small proportion of plants sold. More common are two variegated cultivars:

C. comosum 'Vittatum' has mid-green leaves with a broad central white stripe. It is
often sold in hanging baskets to display the plantlets. The long stems are white.

C. comosum 'Variegatum' has darker green leaves with white margins. It is generally
smaller than the previous cultivar. The long stems are green.

Both cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[8] [9]
Spider plants are easy to grow, being able to thrive in a wide range of conditions. They will
tolerate temperatures down to 35F, but grow best at temperatures between 65F and 90F.
Plants can be damaged by high fluoride or boron levels.

Spider plants have also been shown to reduce indoor air pollution in the form of
formaldehyde, and approximately 70 plants would neutralize formaldehyde production in a
representative (ca. 160 m2) energy-efficient house.[10]

See also

List of air-filtering plants

Notes and References

1. http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantcd/chlorophytcom.htm
2. , search for "Chlorophytum comosum"
3. Howell, J.T., P.H. Raven & P. Rubtzoff. 1958. Flora of San Francisco. Wasmann J.
Biology 16:1-155.
4. Book: Hickey, M.; King, C.. 2001. The Cambridge Illustrated Glossary of Botanical
Terms. Cambridge University Press.
5. Thunberg, Carl Peter. 1794. Prodromus Plantarum Capensium. p. 63.
6. Poulsen, AD, and I Nordal. 2005. A phenetic analysis and revision of GuineoCongolean rain forest taxa of Chlorophytum (Anthericaceae). Botanical Journal of
the Linnean Society, 148: 1-20.
7. Bjor, CS, A Hemp, G Hoell, and I Nordal. 2008. A taxonomic and ecological analysis
of two forest Chlorophytum taxa (Anthericaceae) on Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.
Plant Systematics and Evolution, 274: 243-253.
8. http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=2315
9. http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=424
10. B. C. Wolverton, Rebecca C. McDonald, and E. A. Watkins (1984). Foliage plants for
removing indoor air pollutants from energy-efficient homes. Economic Botany 38(2),
224-28