Plants are all around us and vital to our various types of health. When thinking of purchasing a plant, it’s nice to know the family they are a part of in order to care for them properly. 

Before talking about any specifics, a plant will always need a Latin, scientific, or botanical name for themselves. This is summarized with the genus of the name and the species. The Latin name for a plant is basically a person’s full name but written backwards. For example, pretend someone’s name is Florken Cinnamon. The genus would be Cinnamon, where the Species of the plant is Florken as it is the first name. Unlike people however, only one plant in the whole world can have this name which makes it truly unique. You can see this in every plant family. As an example, let’s look at the Swiss Cheese Plant, or the Monstera Adansonii. This particular plant is a part of the Monstera family so the genus is, obviously, Monstera and the Adansonii comes from Michael Adanson, the botanist who first discovered and named it.

Most Popular Indoor Plant Families

One of my personal favorite species are Peperomias as there are many different kinds available–over 1,000 different varieties! Its family name is Piperaceae and they are very easy to care for tropical plants. Because of their distant relativity to black pepper, Peperomias typically have round leaves and fleshy-like stems with a somewhat succulent nature. They can be trailing leaves (like Peperomia prostrata), grow upright (P. obtusifolia), or clump into their little pot (P. caperata), and have various textures, like hairy, smooth, quilted, or corrugated. 

Peperomias started growing in the wild as tropical and subtropical understory plants, originating mostly in Central and South America on rainforest floors and tree nooks, where they adapted to life as Epiphytes or on rocks as Lithophytes. Not all plants ended up indoors like this family. Humans carelessly selected specific wild species, mostly from tropical rainforest or very dry deserts, and brought them in their own homes because of their natural traits; allowing them to survive in either very humid or arid controlled air.

Another one of my all time favorites are Pothos! This is the plant that started my deep love for all things green, and I’m sure that’s the same for many others. Pothos are one of the easiest types of houseplants to care for. It’s a tropical vine native to the Solomon Islands in the Southwest Pacific and French Polynesian area, and can be easily trained to climb or to hang. They often add 12-18 inches of length in just one month, making them fast growing plants and very adaptable to any climate. They come in many different colors depending on the specificity of the species. They can be variegated with white, yellow, pale green, and even pink. Similar to Pothos, and within the same family, are philodendrons. Pothos belong to the Epipremnum genus (mostly known as Epipremnum aureum), while philodendrons belong to their own Philodendron genus. Together, they are in the Araceae family. 

Another beautiful addition within indoor plant families, that tons of people typically breed with Pothos, are Monsteras, which are also in the Araceae family. Monstera Deliciosa, the most known of Monsteras, is native to Mexico, but can be found climbing trees in wild tropical locations like Hawaii and Florida as well. Like Peperomias, it’s commonly an Epiphyte. The aerial roots absorb nutrients from the surrounding air and help the plant attach easily to nearby trees. In almost perfect conditions, they can flower and produce a blossom with a “spadix,” which looks like a cone with flowers encased in a cupped-shaped sheath called a spathe. In the wild, or if you are a truly lucky green thumb, Monsteras can bear fruit, which is said to taste like pineapple. 

There are so many different families and types of indoor plants that would be incredibly long to go through. However, Smithsonian Gardens published the taxonomical families of houseplants if you would like to learn more!

What are your favorite indoor plant families? Let us know in the comments!