Please help me identify a plant.

December 13, 2017 7:33 AM

Does anyone know what this plant is? My husband is moving to a new office building soon, and plants will not be allowed there, for some reason. He asked me if he could bring this plant home. We have a kitty, though, so I want to identify the plant first and check whether it is toxic to cats. H does not know what plant this is, and neither do I.

The photo album has two photos of the plant, plus a bonus one of our kitty Naya.

Any help ID'ing this plant will be much appreciated!

posted by merejane to Home & Garden (5 answers total)

I think that looks like a type of wandering Jew, and the internet says the sap in the stems irritates cats, but not the leaves.
posted by glitter at 7:36 AM on December 13, 2017 [1 favorite]

Agree w glitter above. Also known as purple queen. We have tons of it and the cars aren't interested.
posted by toodleydoodley at 7:37 AM on December 13, 2017

Tradescantia pallida, my cat ignores it and all other tradescantias. Most plants are irritating to cats if eaten but I would not hesitate to bring this one home unless (UNLESS!) your cat is a known obsessive plant chewer.
posted by lydhre at 7:42 AM on December 13, 2017 [5 favorites]

Tradescantia for sure, it’s the spiderwort family, and I for one find ‘spiderwort’ much more fun to say than ‘wandering Jew’, which to me at least feels increasingly icky, even though it’s not all that bad and Jewish people have told me it doesn’t bother them personally.

Won’t be a big problem for cats is my guess, will be ignored unless the cat is a known plant devourer.
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:11 AM on December 13, 2017 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thank you MeFites! Looks as if that plant is coming home!
posted by merejane at 10:20 AM on December 13, 2017