Chlorophytum Ker Gawl. is a genus of roughly 200 species of evergreen perennial flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae (order Asparagales), first formally described by John Bellenden Ker Gawler in Curtis's Botanical Magazine in 1807. The genus is native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Australia, and is placed in subfamily Agavoideae, tribe Anthericeae.
Plants are typically small to medium-sized herbs, maturing at 10–60 cm in height and forming rosettes of long, slender leaves 15–75 cm in length. The roots are characteristically thick, fleshy, and tuberous, roughly 0.5–2 cm in diameter. Flowers are small and usually white, borne on sparse panicles that can reach up to 120 cm in length.
The genus is best known in cultivation through Chlorophytum comosum, the spider plant, which reproduces vegetatively by sending out long arching stems that bear miniature plantlets at their tips. These hanging offsets, when left attached to the mother plant, develop aerial roots to absorb ambient humidity — an adaptation that also inspired the plant's widely recognized common name. Chlorophytum is also known in English as "grass lily" and "green lily." The GBIF backbone records 306 descendant taxa within the genus.
Etymology
The genus name Chlorophytum is derived from Greek: chloro- (χλωρό, "green") combined with phyton (φυτόν, "plant"), yielding the sense of "green plant." It was coined by the English botanist John Bellenden Ker Gawler when he formally published the genus in Curtis's Botanical Magazine (volume 27, plate 1071) in 1807. The type species designated for the genus is Chlorophytum inornatum.
In English the genus is colloquially known as spider plants, grass lilies, or green lilies. The name "spider plant" specifically alludes to C. comosum and related species, whose hanging plantlets suspended from long arching stems recall spiders dangling by silken threads. The Spanish colloquial name Malas madres ("bad mothers") alludes to the same habit of pushing out plantlets. In Dutch the genus is called Zebragras ("zebra grass"), in Swedish ampelliljor ("hanging-basket lilies"), and in Finnish rönsyliljat ("runner lilies").
Distribution
Chlorophytum is native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Australia. Africa harbours the greatest diversity, with species epithets referencing localities across sub-Saharan and southern Africa (e.g., C. africanum, C. andongense, C. galpinii). Asian representatives include species recorded from the Indian subcontinent and South-East Asia (e.g., C. borivilianum in India; C. arundinaceum across South and South-East Asia). The genus has a secondary centre of diversity in Australia. Chlorophytum comosum and C. capense have been widely introduced beyond their native ranges and are commonly naturalised or cultivated in temperate and tropical regions worldwide.
Taxonomy
Chlorophytum Ker Gawl. was established in 1807 (Bot. Mag. 27: t. 1071). Under modern classification it is placed in family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae, tribe Anthericeae, order Asparagales — a placement that reflects the broad dissolution of the formerly recognised family Anthericaceae, which once housed the genus. Older literature places Chlorophytum in Liliaceae, a family that has been substantially dismembered under molecular phylogenetics; those citations are now considered outdated.
The type species is Chlorophytum inornatum Ker Gawl. The GBIF backbone recognises 306 descendant taxa under the genus. The SEINet database lists over 50 species with voucher-specimen records. Two species formally accepted by ITIS are C. capense (L.) Voss (bracketplant) and C. comosum (Thunb.) Jacques (spider plant).
Cultivation
Chlorophytum comosum and its cultivars are among the most widely grown indoor foliage plants in the world, valued for ease of care, tolerance of low light and irregular watering, and the ornamental effect of cascading plantlets. The plants thrive in well-drained substrates with moderate moisture and indirect light; they are tolerant of a wide range of indoor temperatures and are frequently grown in hanging baskets to display their arching stems and pendant offsets. Propagation is straightforward: plantlets can be rooted in water or moist compost while still attached to the mother plant or after detachment. Chlorophytum borivilianum is additionally cultivated in India for its tuberous roots, which are used in traditional medicine.
Cultural Uses
Chlorophytum borivilianum (safed musli) is cultivated in India primarily as a medicinal plant; its fleshy tuberous roots are used in traditional Ayurvedic preparations and have attracted commercial interest as an adaptogenic and aphrodisiac herb. Beyond medicine, various Chlorophytum species are grown as ornamental plants across tropical and temperate regions worldwide. The spider plant (C. comosum) in particular has attained global horticultural ubiquity and is referenced in studies on indoor air quality.
