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Collection · 36 species

Pet-safe plants

The veterinary and medical references cited on their sheets report no toxicity for these species. That does not rule out a reaction: a chewed plant can irritate or upset a sensitive animal, and fertilizers or treatments can be toxic.

Selection: species rated “no toxicity reported”; species whose toxicity is not documented are left out.

If your pet eats a plant and shows symptoms, call your veterinarian or an animal poison control center.

Potted African violet: a rosette of round, velvety dark green leaves topped by a cluster of violet-blue flowers with yellow centers.

African violet

Streptocarpus ionanthus

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

Dense mass of Peperomia obtusifolia with rounded, thick, glossy leaves, reddish stems and slender upright cream flower spikes.

Baby rubber plant

Peperomia obtusifolia

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

Basil plant in a terracotta pot on a sunny lawn: upright stems bearing large, glossy, bright green oval leaves that are slightly puckered.

Basil

Ocimum basilicum

Light: Direct sun
Water: Moderate watering
Difficulty: Easy

Boston fern ‘Bostoniensis’ in a hanging basket under trees: long, light green fronds divided into many leaflets, arching and cascading, with thin trailing runners.

Boston fern

Nephrolepis exaltata

Light: Medium light – Bright indirect light
Water: Frequent watering
Difficulty: Intermediate

Lesser bougainvillea trained as a standard in a large terracotta pot, covered in magenta-purple bracts, with a Bougainvillea glabra label.

Bougainvillea

Bougainvillea glabra

Light: Bright indirect light – Direct sun
Water: Infrequent watering
Difficulty: Intermediate

Cascade of trailing burro's tail stems densely covered with small, plump blue-green leaves, with a few faded dark red flowers, below its botanical label in front of a brick wall.

Burro's tail

Sedum morganianum

Light: Bright indirect light – Direct sun
Water: Infrequent watering
Difficulty: Easy

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

Trunk of a Chinese elm in Mizumoto Park, Tokyo: the bark flakes off in irregular plates that form a gray, cream and orange mosaic.

Chinese elm

Ulmus parvifolia

Light: Bright indirect light – Direct sun
Water: Moderate watering
Difficulty: Intermediate

A bed of Pilea peperomioides at the Dresden Botanical Garden: round, dark green leaves attached at their center to long stalks, next to a botanical label.

Chinese money plant

Pilea peperomioides

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

Pale green Adiantum raddianum fronds arching on slender black stalks at Kula Botanical Garden.

Delta maidenhair fern

Adiantum raddianum

Light: Medium light – Bright indirect light
Water: Frequent watering
Difficulty: Demanding

Cluster of green bananas beneath the broad leaves of a Musa acuminata at Else Kientzler Botanical Garden.

Dwarf banana

Musa acuminata

Light: Bright indirect light – Direct sun
Water: Frequent watering
Difficulty: Intermediate

European hornbeam twig with light green oval leaves, finely double-toothed and marked by prominent parallel veins.

European hornbeam

Carpinus betulus

Light: Medium light – Direct sun
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

Bright pink Camellia japonica flower with yellow stamens, surrounded by glossy dark green leaves and a red bud.

Japanese camellia

Camellia japonica

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

Japanese maple with pale yellow-green palmate foliage in spring, in an English garden.

Japanese maple

Acer palmatum

Light: Medium light – Bright indirect light
Water: Moderate watering
Difficulty: Demanding

Japanese white pine branches bearing a cluster of brown cones with open scales, surrounded by fine blue-green needles against a blue sky.

Japanese white pine

Pinus parviflora

Light: Direct sun
Water: Infrequent watering
Difficulty: Intermediate

Large Japanese zelkova standing alone on an arboretum lawn, with a broad, dense canopy of young light green leaves and low branches reaching almost to the ground.

Japanese zelkova

Zelkova serrata

Light: Bright indirect light – Direct sun
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

Close view of dark green oval Fittonia albivenis leaves crossed by a dense network of white veins.

Nerve plant

Fittonia albivenis

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

Tall Norfolk Island pine on Norfolk Island, with a straight trunk and branches in horizontal tiers, against the ocean and a blue sky.

Norfolk Island pine

Araucaria heterophylla

Light: Bright indirect light – Direct sun
Water: Moderate watering
Difficulty: Intermediate

Old olive tree with a short, gnarled, hollowed trunk and a broad gray-green crown, in a dry orchard below rocky mountains in Crete under a blue sky.

Olive

Olea europaea

Light: Direct sun
Water: Infrequent watering
Difficulty: Intermediate

Clump of peacock plant in a conservatory, with its botanical label: oval cream-green leaves marked with dark green, feather-like blotches, held on thin reddish leaf stalks.

Peacock plant

Goeppertia makoyana

Light: Medium light – Bright indirect light
Water: Frequent watering
Difficulty: Intermediate

Close view of oval Hypoestes phyllostachya leaves broadly splashed with pink over dark green.

Polka dot plant

Hypoestes phyllostachya

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

Bushy pomegranate with several upright stems, covered in glossy green leaves with reddish new shoots, bearing red buds and one orange-red flower, in a botanical garden bed in front of greenhouses under a cloudy sky.

Pomegranate

Punica granatum

Light: Bright indirect light – Direct sun
Water: Moderate watering
Difficulty: Intermediate

Potted Beaucarnea recurvata: swollen bottle-shaped base, slender stem and a tuft of long, narrow, drooping leaves.

Ponytail palm

Beaucarnea recurvata

Light: Bright indirect light – Direct sun
Water: Infrequent watering
Difficulty: Easy

Potted clump of Maranta leuconeura with dark green oval leaves, pale veins and a light green central band, and a small white flower on a slender stalk.

Prayer plant

Maranta leuconeura

Light: Medium light – Bright indirect light
Water: Frequent watering
Difficulty: Intermediate

Rounded rosemary shrub covered in small pale blue flowers, growing on stony ground in Portugal.

Rosemary

Salvia rosmarinus

Light: Direct sun
Water: Infrequent watering
Difficulty: Intermediate

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

A bed of variegated serissa with small green leaves edged in cream, next to a botanical label reading “Serissa foetida, Rubiaceae”.

Serissa

Serissa japonica

Light: Medium light – Bright indirect light
Water: Moderate watering
Difficulty: Demanding

Variegated spider plant in a hanging basket in a greenhouse: a rosette of green-and-white strap-like leaves and long trailing stems covered with dozens of plantlets.

Spider plant

Chlorophytum comosum

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

Dense colony of staghorn ferns covered in long, hanging green fronds that fork into antler-like tips.

Staghorn fern

Platycerium bifurcatum

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

Long trailing Ceropegia woodii stems bearing silver-marbled heart-shaped leaves with purple undersides.

String of hearts

Ceropegia woodii

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

Potted Schlumbergera truncata in full bloom: flat, segmented stems with toothed edges, bright pink flowers and buds at the stem tips.

Thanksgiving cactus

Schlumbergera truncata

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

Trident maple shoots with bright green leaves bearing three pointed, forward-facing lobes and small clusters of greenish-yellow flowers.

Trident maple

Acer buergerianum

Light: Bright indirect light – Direct sun
Water: Moderate watering
Difficulty: Easy

Umbel of Hoya carnosa flowers, pinkish-white stars with red centers, among thick glossy leaves and twining stems.

Wax plant

Hoya carnosa

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

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