generosity in action

Is there a more generous house plant than spider plants? If there is, I want to know. My son’s girlfriend gifted him a small spider plantlet about 1½ year ago. He, of course, left it in my charge when he went of to NYU. Since then, the plant has quintupled in size, and is lousy with scapes and baby plantlets. Here are some fun facts about spider plants you probably didn’t know:

• they are native to South Africa, but naturalized all around the world
• they are in the asparagus family
• they are sensitive to flouride in tap water
• variegated forms are the most popular
• the baby spiders are called plantlets
• those scapes with plantlets are reaching for the soil
• propogation occurs through potting the plantlets
• they are non-toxic to humans and pets, and are considered edible

spider plant scapes and plantlets (Chlorophytum comosum)