Regional Information: Indoor greening
Related matters in other countries
Houseplants / indoor plants and their origins
Species known as typical and popular houseplants in one region are found in their wild form in nature, and outdoor in other regions. In keeping with the theme of indoor greening, we trace the origins and characteristics of some of our well-known houseplants here.
AUSTRIA
The green lily (Chlorophytum comosum) is probably one of the most cultivated houseplants in the world. It is a perennial, lily-like plant with elongated leaves that grow in a dense basal rosette, with tuberous roots and small white flowers. The reasons for the green lily’s popularity are probably many. It is not only attractive, but also easy to care for and propagate. In addition, scientists have found that this plant can improve the air quality in closed rooms. The green lily is not “just” a houseplant everywhere. The plant originates from South Africa, where it grows in large groups, especially in wooded, humid river valleys. Today, wild specimens of the green lily can be found throughout tropical East to South Africa, as well as in Australia and south-eastern USA. The wild forms have pure green leaves, the cultivated forms often have a white stripe in the middle. The green lily found its way to Europe in the middle of the 19th century as an indoor plant.
GERMANY
The rubber tree (Ficus elastica, Indian rubber tree) has been a popular houseplant for decades. It is evergreen, relatively undemanding, grows to heights of approx. 2m in a pot – and then decorates e.g., entrance areas in public buildings. It can also be easily propagated by cuttings. It gets its name from the milky sap (latex) it secretes when injured.
But who has seen a free-living rubber tree? In an area that goes from Northeast India to Indonesia, this is possible. There the rubber tree lives as a strangler fig on other trees – it can reach a height of 20 to 40 meters (rarely even 60 meters) and a trunk diameter of up to 2 meters. The rubber tree also produces small flowers, but fertile seeds only develop when the flowers are pollinated by the fig wasp.
SPAIN
Some examples of plants that are both indoor or outdoor plants depending on which region of the world they live, include orchids, ficus, aloe vera, spider plant (= green lily) or clivia.
Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae, a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering plants. The Orchidaceae have about 28,000 currently accepted species, distributed in about 763 genera. The number of orchid species is nearly equal to the number of bony fishes, more than twice the number of bird species, and about four times the number of mammal species.
Although it is common to see orchids as indoor houseplants in European homes, they grow wild in many parts of the world, as they are capable of growing in very different climates. Indeed, since the first evidence of fossilised orchids dated about 15-20 million years ago, orchids can be found in almost every habitat apart from glaciers. The world’s richest diversity of orchid species is found in the tropics, but they are also found above the Arctic Circle, in southern Patagonia, or southwestern pacific ocean.
The main uses of orchids are horticultural, they are cultivated for their flowers, or used in perfumery or food. Did you know that vanilla favour, used in baking, perfumes and aromatherapy comes from the dried seed pods of the orchid genus (vanilla planifolia)?
Source: https://educarinfo.com/distintas-clases-de-orquideas/
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