Skip to content

Collection · 15 species

Low-light plants

No plant lives without light, but these species tolerate low light: a dim room, a shaded window or a spot far from the glass. They grow more slowly there; water them less often than in bright light.

Selection: species whose sheet lists tolerance of low light.

Dense clump of Aspidistra elatior in a shady botanic garden bed: large, glossy, dark green lance-shaped leaves standing upright then arching, with a label at its base.

Cast iron plant

Aspidistra elatior

Light: Low light – Medium light
Water: Moderate watering
Difficulty: Easy

Whole Dracaena fragrans with two ringed canes and rosettes of long green leaves in a botanical garden.

Corn plant

Dracaena fragrans

Light: Low light – Bright indirect light
Water: Moderate watering
Difficulty: Easy

English ivy climbing a tree trunk: dark green juvenile leaves with three to five lobes and pale veins, on thin stems clinging to the bark.

English ivy

Hedera helix

Light: Low light – Direct sun
Water: Moderate watering
Difficulty: Easy

Golden pothos climbing a tree trunk, with green heart-shaped leaves marbled with yellow, growing larger toward the top.

Golden pothos

Epipremnum aureum

Light: Low light – Bright indirect light
Water: Moderate watering
Difficulty: Easy

Curtain of trailing heartleaf philodendron stems covered in green heart-shaped leaves, in a conservatory.

Heartleaf philodendron

Philodendron hederaceum

Light: Low light – Bright indirect light
Water: Moderate watering
Difficulty: Easy

Labeled Fatsia japonica at Koishikawa Botanical Gardens, with an upright trunk, large green palmate leaves and a pale flower cluster.

Japanese aralia

Fatsia japonica

Light: Low light – Medium light
Water: Moderate watering
Difficulty: Easy

Large kentia palm with long arching, drooping fronds, cultivated at La Concepción Botanical Garden in Málaga.

Kentia palm

Howea forsteriana

Light: Low light – Bright indirect light
Water: Moderate watering
Difficulty: Easy

Clump of Rhapis excelsa with glossy green fan-shaped leaves divided into narrow segments.

Lady palm

Rhapis excelsa

Light: Low light – Bright indirect light
Water: Moderate watering
Difficulty: Easy

Clump of Chamaedorea elegans with light green pinnate fronds and slender leaf stalks growing in a greenhouse.

Parlor palm

Chamaedorea elegans

Light: Low light – Bright indirect light
Water: Moderate watering
Difficulty: Easy

Flowering Spathiphyllum wallisii at the KIT Botanical Garden, with an upright white spathe surrounding a cream spadix.

Peace lily

Spathiphyllum wallisii

Light: Low light – Bright indirect light
Water: Moderate watering
Difficulty: Easy

Clump of Aglaonema commutatum with dark green elliptical leaves patterned in broad silvery gray bands.

Philippine evergreen

Aglaonema commutatum

Light: Low light – Medium light
Water: Moderate watering
Difficulty: Easy

Flowering Guzmania lingulata at Frankfurt's Palmengarten, with a green leaf rosette surrounding bright red bracts.

Scarlet star

Guzmania lingulata

Light: Low light – Bright indirect light
Water: Moderate watering
Difficulty: Intermediate

Potted snake plant with upright, sword-shaped leaves banded in dark and light green with yellow edges, against a brick wall.

Snake plant

Dracaena trifasciata

Light: Low light – Bright indirect light
Water: Infrequent watering
Difficulty: Easy

Cordyline fruticosa ‘Toucan’ in a conservatory, with several rosettes of dark purple lance-shaped leaves edged in vivid red.

Ti plant

Cordyline fruticosa

Light: Low light – Bright indirect light
Water: Moderate watering
Difficulty: Intermediate

ZZ plant in a terracotta pot: upright stems bearing glossy, dark green leaflets.

ZZ plant

Zamioculcas zamiifolia

Light: Low light – Bright indirect light
Water: Infrequent watering
Difficulty: Easy

Browse and filter every plant sheet

Related advice

LightHow to judge the light in your homeDirect sun, bright indirect, medium or low light: how to read the light in a spot, the signs of poorly suited light, and how to fix it.Reviewed September 29, 2026