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WHAT IS A DIEFFENBACHIA PLANT?
Characteristics of dieffenbachia (Dieffenbachia ssp.)
Scientific noun: Dieffenbachia ssp.
Common noun: Dieffenbachia
Family: Arum family – Araceae
Habitat: Tropical plant that can be found as a cultivated indoor plant.
Active principles
- Calcium oxalate
- L-asparagine
Active parts: The juice of the plant, especially in its stems and in the petioles of the leaves.
What is dieffenbachia like?
It is a perennial tropical plant up to 2,5 m.
Erect stems, thick and fleshy with big leaves ending in pointed apex; largely petiolated, marbled with white or yellow.
Flowers in spadix surrounded by a sheath-like leaf; small, white-greenish..
It rarely flourishes when it is cultivated, only sometimes at the beginning of spring when the plant is well grown-up.
Uses of dieffenbachia
- As a toxin to poison the arrows:: The juice of the plant has been used by the native Amazonian people to be part of the preparations with which they poisoned the arrows.
- As a gardening plant : The dieffenbachia is an ornamental plant that is used fundamentally like an indoor plant. (See gardening details)
- As a medicinal plant: Some research is being done to test this plant as an anti-cancer medicine. It is thought that dieffenbachia derivatives can prevent the development of cancer cells.
- As a magical plant: Brasilian people use to include dieffenbachia among those herbs that are considered adequate to expel bad influences.
*Related information:
More information on plants
This article was endorsed by Julián Masats - Technical agricultural engineer specialized in horticulture and gardening.
