Peace out
Peace lilies, the ubiquitous house plant. To be honest they’re my favourite house plant too! They’re tough, and they literally tell you when they need a drink - assuming you interpret drooping leaves as literally telling you. If you only water them once their leaves droop you’ll never run the risk of overwatering and you’ll help prevent fungus gnats. Plus when the leaves perk back up (and in peace lily talk that means ‘thankyou’) you feel satisfied that you’re winning in life. What more could you want!?
Maybe air purification? Well they’ve got that too. The NASA clean air study rated peace lilies as one of the best plants for removing unwanted gasses and VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds). And although the study is not actually relevant to regular buildings with regular air exchange (because it was designed for space stations) and further studies have found that the microorganisms in the soil are vital to VOC absorption….. being at the top of a ‘good plant’ list can’t be a bad thing can it?
Peace lilies are in the Spathiphyllum genus, but if that’s a mouthful, they’re commonly called ‘Spaths’ for short. There are a few different species and many, many different cultivars, with varying leaf shapes, sizes and colours. There are even different variegation patterns. All of them produce white ‘flowers’. Spaths are in the aroid family (Araceae) and their inflorescence is called a spadix which is made up of a fleshy stalk covered in lots of tiny tiny flowers with no petals. In a peace lily, the spadix is surrounded by a large white flag-looking bract or spathe. Hence the name ‘peace lily’ - because it looks like the white flag flown as a sign of peace. The genus name Spathiphyllum is also in reference to the bracts. It is derived from the Greek words spathe and phyllon. Spathe is a broad blade and phyllon is a leaf - so leaf-like spathe (or bract!).
As I mentioned before peace lilies are really easy to care for and should be at the top of your indoor plant list. Or if you have a nice shady spot outside, put a few in for tropical vibes! The larger leaf ‘sensation’ cultivar can grow to nearly 2m tall. They are pretty hardy, although can be decimated by caterpillars, so keep your eyes peeled for tell tale chewed leaves or piles of small black droppings (what goes in must come out!). My go-to method is to hand pick and feed revengefully to the chooks. If your plants do get annihilated though, don’t worry, they’ll come back!