Species
+

Chlorophytum comosum (Thunb.) Jacques

Bracket plant, Green Hen And Chickens, Hen And Chickens, Hen-And-Chickens

Climate known 81 photographs Tropical foliage plant
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Chlorophytum comosum, usually called spider plant or common spider plant due to its spider-like look, also known as spider ivy, airplane plant, ribbon plant, and hen and chicks, is a species of evergreen perennial flowering plant of the family Asparagaceae. It is native to tropical and Southern Africa but has become naturalized in other parts of the world, including Western Australia and Bangladesh. Chlorophytum comosum is easy to grow as a houseplant because of its resilience, but it can be sensitive to the fluoride in tap water, which commonly gives it "burnt tips". Variegated forms are the most popular.

Text from Wikipedia, “Chlorophytum comosum”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Chlorophytum

Chlorophytum (,), colloquially referred to as the spider plants, is a genus of almost 200 species of evergreen perennial flowering plants in the Agavoideae within the family Asparagaceae. The plants are native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Australia, and Asia.

Text from Wikipedia, “Chlorophytum”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Asparagaceae
Described by
(Thunb.) Jacques
Native to
Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria +18
Wild records
305 in range· 192 open

At a glance

Warmest month
25°C
Feb, mean day; nights 17 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
934mm/yr
12 wet months · peak Jan 123 mm (CHELSA)
Light
23–38DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Grouped as a tropical foliage plant by the genus Chlorophytum, which is reliably one kind of plant (archetype table). Rain rule: a summer growing season, April to September in the northern hemisphere (October to March at the habitat, southern). Habitat rain 934 mm a year, wettest January at 123 mm, driest June at 32 mm (habitat calendar, southern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 23 to 38 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 12 °C (archetype minimum for a tropical foliage plant, above the 7.8 °C habitat night).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Anthericum comosum Thunb.; Anthericum longituberosum Poelln.; Anthericum picturatum Dreer; Anthericum sternbergianum Schult. & Schult.f.; Anthericum vallis-trappii Poelln. and 42 more.

Cultivation

Grouped as a tropical foliage plant by the genus Chlorophytum, which is reliably one kind of plant (archetype table). The table supplies one figure for this group, a conventional minimum for the cold floor, and no prose.

Its year Rain rule: a summer growing season, April to September in the northern hemisphere (October to March at the habitat, southern).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the year's rain (659 mm of 934 mm) falls in October to March, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 19.8 °C against a yearly mean of 18.0 °C). Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere; shifted six months for a northern-hemisphere collection: April to September.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 934 mm a year, wettest January at 123 mm, driest June at 32 mm (habitat calendar, southern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

934 mm a year at the habitat, 659 mm of it October to March. Wettest month January at 123 mm, driest June at 32 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 650 mm to 1987 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, southern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 23 to 38 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 23 to 38 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 17, the highest 90th-percentile month 47).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 12 °C (archetype minimum for a tropical foliage plant, above the 7.8 °C habitat night).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 7.8 °C, the absolute minimum 5.3 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 30.7 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 10.5 °C in July (across the envelope cells 4.0 °C to 16.6 °C), warmest day 25.3 °C in February (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 12 °C. The habitat figure, the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER), is 7.8 °C; the archetype table's conventional minimum for a tropical foliage plant (grouped by the genus Chlorophytum, which is reliably one kind of plant) is 12 °C, which is higher, and the floor rule takes the higher.

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence, and the archetype table's group minimum where that is higher. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 56 to 64% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 20 °C in Jul to 25 °C in Feb; mean night from 11 °C in Jul to 17 °C in Feb. The cold quarter, Jun to Aug, is the three months around the coldest night. 934 mm of rain a year, most in Jan. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 256 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was 5.3 °C and the 99th-percentile day 30.7 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.10°15°20°25°30°35°30.7° 99th-percentile day (undated)5.3° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200250300mm rainDLI 23–38RH 56–64 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 256 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C25 / 22–2925 / 22–3025 / 21–2923 / 20–2822 / 18–2620 / 16–2620 / 16–2521 / 17–2622 / 19–2722 / 19–2823 / 20–2824 / 21–29
Night °C17 / 12–2117 / 12–2216 / 12–2115 / 10–2013 / 7–1911 / 5–1711 / 4–1711 / 6–1712 / 8–1814 / 10–1915 / 11–2016 / 12–20
Rain mm123 / 41–240104 / 43–235110 / 67–24876 / 46–29746 / 17–21532 / 11–11332 / 7–10442 / 9–12147 / 11–14690 / 40–194114 / 66–169118 / 46–221
DLI38 / 34–4737 / 34–4233 / 30–3828 / 25–3426 / 20–3223 / 17–3223 / 18–3227 / 23–3431 / 29–3936 / 30–4137 / 32–4538 / 33–47
RH %64 / 57–6864 / 56–6864 / 58–7063 / 57–7259 / 54–7156 / 51–6756 / 50–6758 / 52–6660 / 53–6662 / 57–6663 / 58–6764 / 58–68

Each figure is the median across the 256 grid cells holding the 304 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 1938:4332 (-6.925, 36.625). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 5.3 °C, 1st-percentile night 7.8 °C, 99th-percentile day 30.7 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 256 distinct grid cells holding the 304 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1938:4332 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -7.00_36.875, lapse-corrected +587 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 1390 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeIvory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Burundi, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gulf of Guinea Is., Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Cape Provinces, KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland, Northern Provinces· introduced: Germany, Tunisia, Canary Is., Madeira, Gabon, St.Helena, Mauritius, Réunion, Seychelles, Korea, Bangladesh, Andaman Is., Norfolk Is., New South Wales, Western Australia, New Zealand North, Nauru, Marianas, Ecuador, Juan Fernández Is., Tristan da Cunha
Kew's description“perennial” · “seasonally dry tropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker-29.773, 30.803 · in the densest population, 148 records (49% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 305 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 192 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 70 km away. 835 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 1 in-range record is placed to worse than 10 km and stays on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 305 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Chlorophytum comosumChlorophytum comosumChlorophytum comosumChlorophytum comosumChlorophytum comosumChlorophytum comosumChlorophytum comosumChlorophytum comosum

Photographs: (c) Thomas Mesaglio, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) Richard Littauer, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Petra Holland, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); no rights reserved · CC0 (3).

Photographs: iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Chlorophytum comosum, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Free Space Iron Pools in Roots
H. Frits Bienfait, Wies van den Briel, Nel T. Mesland-Mul (1985) · PLANT PHYSIOLOGY
Detoxification of Formaldehyde by the Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum L.) and by Soybean (Glycine max L.) Cell-Suspension Cultures
Martin A. Giese, U. Bauer-Doranth, Christian Langebartels, Heinrich Sandermann (1994) · PLANT PHYSIOLOGY
Phytoremediation of particulate matter from indoor air by Chlorophytum comosum L. plants
H. Gawrońska, Beata Bakera (2014) · Air Quality Atmosphere & Health
Comparison of Phenolic Compounds of Some Edible Plants of Iran and India
Ali Aberoumand, S. S. Deokule (2008) · Pakistan Journal of Nutrition
Green synthesis of iron-based nanoparticles using Chlorophytum comosum leaf extract: methyl orange dye degradation and antimicrobial properties
Leili Shaker Ardakani, Vahid Alimardani, Ali Mohammad Tamaddon, Ali Mohammad Amani (2021) · Heliyon
Microbiome interplay: plants alter microbial abundance and diversity within the built environment
Alexander Mahnert, Christine Moissl‐Eichinger, Gabriele Berg (2015) · Frontiers in Microbiology
Guard cells in albino leaf patches do not respond to photosynthetically active radiation, but are sensitive to blue light, CO2 and abscisic acid
M. Rob G. Roelfsema, Kai R. Konrad, Holger Marten, George K. Psaras (2006) · Plant Cell & Environment
Fluorescence Properties of Guard Cell Chloroplasts
Eduardo Zeiger, Paul A. Armond, Anastasios Melis (1981) · PLANT PHYSIOLOGY
Accumulation and tolerance characteristics of cadmium in Chlorophytum comosum: a popular ornamental plant and potential Cd hyperaccumulator
Youbao Wang, Aolei Yan, Jie Dai, Nannan Wang (2011) · Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
Studies on Nutritional Values of Some Wild Edible Plants from Iran and India
S. S. Deokule, Ali Aberoumand (2008) · Pakistan Journal of Nutrition
Determination of Elements Profile of Some Wild Edible Plants
Ali Aberoumand, S. S. Deokule (2008) · Food Analytical Methods

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Chlorophytum 1 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not askedcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive)
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons not askedcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 91 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.