55 Office and desk plants
A desk is a tricky spot: limited room, light that is often indirect or partly artificial, and a watering schedule that goes out the window on busy weeks. These compact, easygoing houseplants are the ones most likely to stay tidy and green through all of that.
Pure fluorescent light with no daylight is hard on any plant. If your desk gets no window light at all, lean towards the toughest low-light picks instead.
African Violet (Saintpaulia / Streptocarpus)
The African Violet is the small, cheerful classic that can flower almost continuously, all year…
Air Plant (Tillandsia)
Air Plants (Tillandsias) need no soil at all: they absorb all their water and nutrients through…
Alocasia Polly
Alocasia Polly is a compact hybrid Alocasia prized for its dramatic, arrow-shaped leaves with…
Anthurium (Flamingo Flower)
The Anthurium's glossy, heart-shaped, almost lacquered "flowers" - most famously in brilliant…
Anthurium Andraeanum
Anthurium andraeanum, often called the flamingo flower or painter's palette, is a tropical…
Baby Rubber Plant Peperomia
The Baby Rubber Plant Peperomia (Peperomia obtusifolia) is a compact, semi-succulent foliage…
Beetle Peperomia
Beetle Peperomia is a compact, trailing epiphyte prized for its small, glossy leaves marked…
Calathea Lancifolia
Calathea Lancifolia, better known as the rattlesnake plant, is a striking foliage species…
Calathea Medallion
The Calathea Medallion is a compact, showy prayer plant grown almost entirely for its striking…
Calathea Musaica
Calathea Musaica is a collector-favourite foliage plant grown entirely for its extraordinary…
Calathea Rattlesnake
The Rattlesnake Plant is a striking prayer plant grown for its long, wavy-edged leaves…
Calathea Roseopicta
Calathea Roseopicta, often sold as the rose-painted calathea, is a compact, showy foliage plant…
Cast Iron Plant (Aspidistra elatior)
The Cast Iron Plant earned its name honestly: it is famous as the toughest, most indestructible…
Chinese Evergreen (Aglaonema)
The Chinese Evergreen is one of the best plants for people who want color and easy care at the…
Chinese Money Plant (Pilea peperomioides)
The Chinese Money Plant is the friendly, quirky houseplant that became an internet sensation.
Dracaena (Dracaena marginata, fragrans & more)
"Dracaena" is not one plant but a whole family of easy, sculptural indoor trees and shrubs…
Fairy Castle Cactus
The fairy castle cactus is a charming, slow-growing cactus that branches into a cluster of…
Ficus Benjamina (Weeping Fig)
The Ficus Benjamina - the "Weeping Fig" - is one of the classic tree-form houseplants, a…
Gasteria (Ox Tongue)
Gasteria is a small, tough, slow-growing succulent from South Africa, best known for its thick…
Haworthia (Zebra Plant & Window Plants)
Haworthia is the small, tough, charming succulent that fits almost anywhere - a desk, a…
Homalomena (Queen of Hearts)
The Homalomena - sometimes sold as "Queen of Hearts" - is one of those quietly excellent…
Hoya Curtisii
Hoya curtisii has fingernail-sized leaves of grey-green mosaic on threadlike stems that creep…
Hoya Obovata
Hoya obovata is the coin-leaf hoya - big, round, thick pancakes of deep green freckled with…
Lucky Bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana)
Lucky Bamboo grows as green stalks in a vase of water and pebbles, a common sight on desks…
Ludisia discolor (Jewel Orchid)
The Ludisia discolor - the Jewel Orchid - is an orchid grown for the one thing most orchids are…
Money Tree (Pachira aquatica)
The Money Tree is instantly recognizable by its distinctive braided trunk and crown of glossy…
Moon Cactus
The moon cactus is the eye-catching, brightly coloured little cactus you see topped with a ball…
Nerve Plant (Fittonia)
The Nerve Plant is a small, vivid, dramatic little houseplant - its olive-green leaves are…
Oxalis (False Shamrock / Purple Shamrock)
Oxalis triangularis (the "False Shamrock" or "Purple Shamrock") is one of the most charming and…
Paphiopedilum (Slipper Orchid)
Paphiopedilums are the slipper orchids - pouched, waxy, almost carnivorous-looking blooms that…
Parlor Palm (Chamaedorea elegans)
The Parlor Palm is the easy, elegant, pet-safe palm that has been gracing indoor rooms since…
Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum)
The Peace Lily is one of the few easy houseplants that flowers reliably indoors.
Peperomia
Peperomia is not one plant but a huge, wonderfully varied family of compact, easy, pet-safe…
Peperomia Columbiana
Peperomia Columbiana is a compact, semi-succulent foliage plant prized for its deep…
Peperomia Frost
Peperomia Frost is a compact, semi-succulent foliage plant prized for its shimmering…
Peperomia Ginny
Peperomia Ginny is a compact, semi-succulent foliage plant prized for its rounded leaves edged…
Peperomia Hope
Peperomia Hope is a compact, semi-trailing houseplant loved for its plump, coin-shaped leaves…
Peperomia Maculosa
Peperomia Maculosa is a semi-succulent tropical foliage plant prized by collectors for its…
Peperomia Rosso
Peperomia Rosso is a compact, semi-succulent foliage plant prized for its deeply textured…
Phalaenopsis Orchid (Moth Orchid)
The Phalaenopsis, or Moth Orchid, is the orchid for everyone.
Philodendron Birkin
The Philodendron Birkin is one of the most elegant and popular of the modern "designer"…
Philodendron Moonlight
Philodendron Moonlight is a compact, self-heading hybrid prized for its electric chartreuse new…
Philodendron Prince of Orange
Philodendron Prince of Orange is a self-heading hybrid prized for new leaves that unfurl a…
Polka Dot Plant (Hypoestes phyllostachya)
The Polka Dot Plant is pure cheerful color - a small, bushy houseplant whose green leaves are…
Pothos (Epipremnum aureum / Devil's Ivy)
Pothos is the friendliest trailing vine in the houseplant world - fast, forgiving, beautiful…
Prayer Plant (Maranta leuconeura)
The Prayer Plant - Maranta leuconeura - is one of the most captivating houseplants you can own…
Raindrop Peperomia
Raindrop Peperomia is a compact, semi-succulent foliage plant loved for its glossy…
Ripple Peperomia
Ripple Peperomia is a compact, semi-succulent houseplant prized for its deeply corrugated…
Selaginella (Spikemoss / Resurrection Plant)
Selaginella - known as Spikemoss, and in some forms as the Resurrection Plant - is one of the…
Snake Plant (Sansevieria / Dracaena trifasciata)
Tall, sculptural, and almost indestructible, the Snake Plant thrives on neglect, survives in…
Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum)
The Spider Plant is the cheerful, generous, almost foolproof classic of the houseplant world.
Tillandsia Bulbosa
Tillandsia Bulbosa is a striking epiphytic air plant known for its glossy, snaking leaves that…
Tillandsia Fuchsii
Tillandsia fuchsii is a tiny, sculptural air plant prized by collectors for its round bulbous…
Watermelon Peperomia (Peperomia argyreia)
The Watermelon Peperomia (Peperomia argyreia) is a small, compact South American houseplant…
ZZ Plant (Zamioculcas zamiifolia)
With glossy, almost artificial-looking leaves and a near-supernatural tolerance for low light…
Prefer to filter yourself? Try the Plant Finder to narrow all houseplants by light and watering.
Choosing a plant for a home with pets? Our table of plants toxic to cats and dogs shows what every profile says - and the reference behind it is the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant list.
Gear for desk plants
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