Chlorophytum comosum (Thunb.) Jacques, Asparagaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  no

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 8 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Chlorophytum capense (L.) Voss

Common name(s): [more details]

English: bracket plant, ribbon plant, spider ivy, spider plant

Spanish: mala madre

Habit:  herb

Description: 

Genus:  "Herbs, mostly with only radical leaves; rosette-forming.  Flowers in simple or sparsely branched racemes, regular, the peduncle smooth and usually leafless; flowers solitary or in fascicles, on articulate pedicels, 6-parted, stamens 6, inserted on the torus; ovary sessile, glabrous, 3-angled, 3-celled; ovules 2 or more per cell; style filiform, stigma small; fruit a capsule with flat black seeds."

Species:  "Rosette herb with tuberous rhizomes; leaves rather short, about 15 cm long, coriaceous or thinner, flexible, not fleshy, ensiform, the margins white-banded; scape suberect, sometimes with a few leaves; flowers white, 6-parted; fruit a leathery capsule, 3-angled; seeds flat"  (Stone, 1970; p. 114).

"It is a grass-like evergreen, clump-forming, perennial, herbaceous plant growing quickly to 25-35 cm in height and 60-90 cm in width. Planted in and hanging from a basket it can become 60-90 cm long. Roots: It forms thick, fleshy roots and rhizomes. These serve as water storage organs for dry periods. Stems: Wiry stalks up to 1.5 m long appear on healthy plants with many small white flowers. After blooming and fruiting, little tufts of leaves - plantlets - develop on the stalks. These little "spiders" take root wherever they touch the ground. Leaves: It has 10-40 cm long and up to 2.5 cm wide, linear, grass-like. Wild species have green leaves, cultivars often striped yellow or white. Flowers: Small white flowers are borne along outward arching wiry stalks. Fruits: Seed filled capsules about 0.8 cm long." (Ecoport)

Habitat/ecology:  "Latitude: Found between Equator and 30°N in frost free costal areas even a bit further north (40°N).
Temperature: Between 18-24°C during the day and 8-13°C at night are ideal. Move plants a bit away from windows to protect them from drafts during the winter. Reported temperature range for growth is 8-30°C with the optimum between 12-24°C. Plants do not tolerate frost, but can be grown in areas with winter temperatures down to a few degrees below 0 where it will be killed to the ground but quickly revives with the return of warmer temperatures.
Water: It needs moderate but regular watering. Reported annual rainfall range for growth is 500-3000 mm with the optimum between 700-1500 mm.
Radiation:
Range & intensity: Plants grow best with bright indirect light. They can tolerate some direct sunlight, but the combination of midday and afternoon heat and light may scorch leaves.
Soil:
Physical: Low humidity and excessively dry soil may also cause brown leaf tips. Leaf tip burn is caused by too much fertilizer or water that is high in soluble salts. Plants should dry out briefly between waterings. A general-purpose potting soil is suitable for spider plants. Outdoors the plant will however grow in most well drained and somewhat fertile soils.
Chemical: Reported soil pH range for growth is 4.5-7.5 with the optimum between 5-7" (Ecoport)

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "It is native of coastal areas in South Africa." (Ecoport)

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Lord Howe Island	Lord Howe Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 22) "A naturalised garden escape by the roads in forested areas near houses". Voucher cited: J.G. Conran 635 (K, NSW)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive cultivated	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced cultivated	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (pp. 478, 524, 552) Voucher cited: Danton I(5/199)1391. "Forma matas en muchos jardines del pueblo de San Juan Bautista.  Se multiplica muy fácilamente por reproducción vegetativa gracias a las plántulas que se desarrollan directamente en sus escapos y puede tener tendencia a salir de los jardines".
Cook Islands Cook Islands	Cook Islands		McCormack, Gerald (2011) Cultivated?
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Isabela Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008) Observed in survey, no herbarium record.
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced cultivated	Stone, Benjamin C. (1970) (p. 114)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 101)
Marshall Islands Ratak Chain	Majuro (Mãjro) Atoll	introduced cultivated	Vander Velde, Nancy (2003) (p. 41)
Nauru Nauru Island	Nauru Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 101)
Nauru Nauru Island	Nauru Island	introduced cultivated	Thaman, R. R./Fosberg, F. R./Manner, H. I./Hassall, D. C. (1994) (pp. 55-56) Voucher cited: Fosberg 58690 (US)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 93) Vouchers cited: MacKee 26834, MacKee 26913
United States (other Pacific offshore islands) Midway Atoll	Sand Island	introduced cultivated	Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd (2008) (pp. B-6)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
China China	Hong Kong	introduced cultivated	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 358) Ornamental.
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 191)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 26) Cultivated only

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Indian Ocean offshore islands) Christmas Island Group	Christmas Island	introduced cultivated	Swarbrick, J. T. (1997) (p. 109)

Additional information:
Fact sheet from Clemson University.
Fact sheet from University of Florida.

Additional online information about Chlorophytum comosum is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Chlorophytum comosum as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Chlorophytum comosum may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John. 2011. Naturalized species in the Juan Fernández Archipelago, Chile. Unpublished spreadsheet.

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. 2009. A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore. 273 pp.

Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido. 2006. Nouveau catalogue de la flore vaculaire de l'archipel Juan Fernández (Chile) [Nuevo catálogo de la flora vacular del Archipélago Juan Fernández (Chile)]. Acta Bot. Gallica 153(4):399-587.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1987. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian monocotyledonae. Micronesica 20:1-126.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

McCormack, Gerald. 2011. Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga.

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

Orchard, Anthony E., ed. 1994. Flora of Australia. Vol. 49, Oceanic islands 1. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd. 2008. Botanical survey of Midway Atoll. Prepared for: United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 27 pp. plus appendices.

Stone, Benjamin C. 1970. The flora of Guam. Micronesica 6:1-659.

Swarbrick, J. T. 1997. Environmental weeds and exotic plants on Christmas Island, Indian Ocean: a report to Parks Australia. 101 pp. plus appendix.

Thaman, R. R./Fosberg, F. R./Manner, H. I./Hassall, D. C. 1994. The flora of Nauru. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. Atoll Research Bulletin 392:1-223.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Vander Velde, Nancy. 2003. The vascular plants of Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands. Smithsonian Institution, Atoll Research Bulletin No. 503:1-141.

Whistler, W. A. 2000. Tropical ornamentals: a guide. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon. 542 pp.

Wu, Te-lin. 2001. Check List of Hong Kong Plants. Hong Kong Herbarium and the South China Institute of Botany. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Bulletin 1 (revised). 384 pp.