I got this plant from work and they don't know what it is. It can grow quite tall and has thick stems.
Help?
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It could be a croton
This looks like the leaf of an "Elephant" plant, I am not sure of the name. If I were you I would go to the library and get a book on plants and you might be able to identify it yourself.
Hi,
This seems to be a Dienffenbachia houseplant. It is very beautiful.
---Robyn
It looks like the Dieffenbachia Amoena plant. No clue why, but some people call them "dumb canes". I used to call them elephant plants, but that was just me.
I had one for years, but it did not survive one of my moves. They are easy to grow, mine liked indirect light and a good amount of water.
They are poisonous if eaten by pets, so keep away from dogs, cats and other critters that chew (bunnies, guinea pigs etc.)
They do get quite tall...if you keep them in large enough pots. Be sure to have the pot steady as my one used to topple over sometimes.
Enjoy!! They are lovely plants.
There is a very good reason why the Dieffenbachia has been called 'Dumb Cane'. The word 'dumb' means 'unable to speak'. The toxic juices of this plant, if swallowed, can have a temporary paralyzing effect on the vocal cords, rendering the victim 'dumb' for a period of time.
I also believe this may be a Dieffenbachia Amoena plant but their leaves can have different patterns.
I had a Dienffenbachia for many years (well over 10 yrs but less than 20), and I got it when it was a bit smaller than yours pictured, and I agree, it needs more support so it doesn't snap in half, *they get top heavy* plus, it needs a lot larger pot with good deep soil (rocks in the bottom also) for good drainage.
They're beautiful house plants and it will grow very tall with many huge beautiful leaves. In fact, it was interesting watching this plant over the years too, they grow (what looks sort of like a cob of corn just smaller) when they're seeding for new plants and those "corn cob looking seeds" would drop into the soil from the top of the plant down to the pot below and it grew a baby Dif along side it. Mine grew to over 22 ft high, I think it hit about 24 ft high when it snapped in half (it got too top heavy) which they will grow lots taller. I'd always had to find a place to live (in my early 20's) with high vaulted ceilings just to accommodate my "Dif" as I called it.
I had a Chihuahua back then, and she use to dig holes in "Difs" soil in the pot it was planted in to bury her milk-bones, and that scared me so I put up a little "fence" around the large pot because of the "sap the plant drips from the leaves", which is very dangerous to any mammals - people, cats and dogs.
The "clear sap" they drip, seemed to happen only in the winter time, and to this day, I've not looked that up to see what that was about or what that was. I just figured that Dif didn't like the colder weather, but I don't know if that's it. I was just worried that my dog would walk on one of the drip spots (which are small drips, like one drop here and one drop there), which is hard to see on the floor too, and then my dog might lick her paws, and Dieffenbachia leaves or the sap can cause a throat to swell closed.
So as beautiful as they are, and they grow incredibly hearty too, care needs taken to have them.
This is funny, sort of. I was just looking up to see what that "sap" the Dif's drip, and I see they're saying Dieffenbachia's grow to only 5-6ft. My goodness, now I have to see what my plant really was, because I to this day, thought that's what I had. It looks just like yours pictured here too.
There's so many varieties of Dieffenbachia's and this one, that's quite common will grow to 20 feet in height, but the one you have is a different variety also than this.
www.costafarms.com/
(and this is a variety called a dwarf that grows over 6 ft tall.)
I don't know exactly what the one I had for many years was exactly, but to allow it to grow extra tall, the conditions must be really perfect for it. They love their leaves misted too with water,
and I think the larger the pot it's planted in, the more it will really take off, so maybe keeping it in a smaller pot will maintain it not getting too tall where the ceiling becomes a problem for as tall as they really can grow.
The one thing that they have in common though is, they like temperatures over 60 degrees, and don't like the cold, and they really need good drainage so they don't get root rot.
Something I used in the soil which will sound odd is a tablespoon of Palmolive liquid dish soap mixed with a pint of water, every other month I did this, and my plants *all of them* loved it for some reason. I think it's the phosphorous in the soap, but I've not looked that up either 'yet'.
(I came back to edit this post, for some reason when I post the entire link, only a portion of the link appears, which doesn't go to the place I intended, as the whole link addy is not posting, sorry I don't know why not.
This link didn't post right in my post above, but this is another species that grows to 20ft, probably more when conditions are right, which many seem dependent on.
Anyways, just wanted to give you lots of info on this fabulous plant you've got.
I think the system is shortening the link visually but it still works. I see both your links and was redirected to the dieffenbachia page.
Wow! Thank you for all of this. I really do appreciate it.
I got this off of a plant at work (broke off due to its height) and that one is roughly 6'5" with no ceiling you stop it since it is in a warehouse.
Now I can set it up with a good pot (with drainage) and some support dowels.
You rock, thank you.
Dieffenbachia is a houseplant sometimes called Mother-in-laws tongue or "dumb cane" because if the sap gets in the mouth it will numb the tongue. So it's NOT good to have around pets; maybe a mean mother in law. It's ok in indirect light but will grow slowly; more sun faster growth. Don't keep it damp. Let the soil be dry about 1-2 inches down before you water . I had very little luck with these in the past . Maybe you will do better! The leaves are pretty. It also might be time to cut it, dip in rooting hormone and replant so it's not so tall and sparse
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