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Statistics · snapshot 2026-09-03
Houseplants in numbers
Aggregate statistics computed from the full FloraDB snapshot: 270 care-core houseplants with quantitative light, watering, temperature and humidity requirements, joined to the 891-entry ASPCA toxicity index and verified against the GBIF backbone. Every figure states its denominator and is free to cite, quote and embed with a link to this page.
- Care-core plants270
- With ASPCA determination170
- ASPCA index entries891
- Families54
- Species index20,000
- Snapshot2026-09-03
How many common houseplants are toxic to cats or dogs
Of the 170 care-core houseplants with an ASPCA determination, 98 (57.6%) are toxic to cats or dogs: 53 verified against the ASPCA entry for the species and 45 inferred from an ASPCA entry for the genus. 72 are recorded as non-toxic. The other 100 of 270 plants have no determination and are excluded from the share, not assumed safe. In every determined record the cat and dog verdicts coincide.
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<a href="https://floradb.dataengineered.io/stats/#toxicity-status"><img src="https://floradb.dataengineered.io/stats/charts/toxicity-status.svg" alt="Pet toxicity of the care-core houseplants" width="720" style="max-width:100%;height:auto"></a>
<p><small>Source: <a href="https://floradb.dataengineered.io/stats/">FloraDB houseplant statistics</a> (CC BY 4.0)</small></p>| Determination | Plants | Share of all plants | Share of determined plants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toxic, ASPCA-verified | 53 | 19.6% | 31.2% |
| Toxic, inferred from the genus | 45 | 16.7% | 26.5% |
| Non-toxic, ASPCA-verified | 72 | 26.7% | 42.4% |
| No determination | 100 | 37.0% | excluded |
One row per plant in the care core. ASPCA-verified: the species has its own entry in the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant index. Inferred from the genus: no species entry exists, but every ASPCA entry for the genus carries the same verdict, so it is applied with toxicity_status = aspca_genus_inferred. Plants with neither are stored as NULL. Denominator for the headline share: 170 determined plants. ASPCA index crawled 2026-07-06.
What the ASPCA plant index says overall
Across the 859 ASPCA index entries with both a cat and a dog verdict, 373 (43.4%) are toxic to at least one of them: 364 to both, 8 to cats only and 1 to dogs only. 317 of the 694 entries with a horse verdict are toxic to horses. Among the largest families, every determined entry of Araceae is toxic; none of Arecaceae, Orchidaceae, Smilacaceae, Gesneriaceae, Piperaceae is.
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<a href="https://floradb.dataengineered.io/stats/#aspca-families"><img src="https://floradb.dataengineered.io/stats/charts/aspca-families.svg" alt="Plant families with the most entries in the ASPCA index" width="720" style="max-width:100%;height:auto"></a>
<p><small>Source: <a href="https://floradb.dataengineered.io/stats/">FloraDB houseplant statistics</a> (CC BY 4.0)</small></p>| Family (GBIF) | ASPCA entries | With both verdicts | Toxic to cats or dogs | Share toxic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Araceae | 58 | 58 | 58 | 100.0% |
| Asparagaceae | 51 | 51 | 28 | 54.9% |
| Asteraceae | 51 | 48 | 21 | 43.8% |
| Arecaceae | 26 | 26 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Apocynaceae | 22 | 22 | 12 | 54.5% |
| Crassulaceae | 22 | 22 | 9 | 40.9% |
| Orchidaceae | 22 | 22 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Smilacaceae | 21 | 21 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Rosaceae | 20 | 20 | 8 | 40.0% |
| Fabaceae | 19 | 17 | 9 | 52.9% |
| Lamiaceae | 19 | 18 | 9 | 50.0% |
| Apiaceae | 18 | 18 | 13 | 72.2% |
| Araliaceae | 18 | 18 | 15 | 83.3% |
| Gesneriaceae | 18 | 18 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Piperaceae | 18 | 18 | 0 | 0.0% |
Verdicts by animal
| Animal | Entries with a verdict | Toxic | Share toxic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cats | 861 | 374 | 43.4% |
| Dogs | 863 | 369 | 42.8% |
| Horses | 694 | 317 | 45.7% |
The full ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant index as crawled on 2026-07-06: 891 entries covering garden, wild and indoor plants, not only houseplants. Each entry is matched to the GBIF backbone; the family shown is GBIF's, which merges older names such as Liliaceae and Compositae into current circumscriptions. Entries without a GBIF family (45) are left out of the family table only.
Which plant families the houseplants come from
Araceae contributes the most plants to the care core: 36 of 270 (13.3%), and 31 of its 31 determined plants are toxic to cats or dogs. Asparagaceae follows with 17 and Crassulaceae with 16. The 15 largest families hold 67.8% of the plants; 54 families are represented in all.
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<a href="https://floradb.dataengineered.io/stats/#families"><img src="https://floradb.dataengineered.io/stats/charts/families.svg" alt="Families with the most plants in the care core" width="720" style="max-width:100%;height:auto"></a>
<p><small>Source: <a href="https://floradb.dataengineered.io/stats/">FloraDB houseplant statistics</a> (CC BY 4.0)</small></p>| Family | Plants | Share | With a determination | Toxic to cats or dogs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Araceae | 36 | 13.3% | 31 | 31 |
| Asparagaceae | 17 | 6.3% | 15 | 12 |
| Crassulaceae | 16 | 5.9% | 8 | 6 |
| Cactaceae | 15 | 5.6% | 6 | 0 |
| Marantaceae | 13 | 4.8% | 4 | 0 |
| Apocynaceae | 11 | 4.1% | 5 | 0 |
| Bromeliaceae | 10 | 3.7% | 3 | 0 |
| Arecaceae | 9 | 3.3% | 6 | 0 |
| Gesneriaceae | 9 | 3.3% | 4 | 0 |
| Moraceae | 9 | 3.3% | 8 | 8 |
| Piperaceae | 9 | 3.3% | 5 | 0 |
| Araliaceae | 8 | 3.0% | 7 | 5 |
| Orchidaceae | 8 | 3.0% | 5 | 0 |
| Commelinaceae | 7 | 2.6% | 4 | 4 |
| Acanthaceae | 6 | 2.2% | 3 | 0 |
Family per plant is the GBIF backbone family of the accepted name, re-verified against GBIF on each monthly refresh. The toxicity columns use the same ASPCA determination as the headline section; plants without one count in the family total but not in the toxic column.
How much light the houseplants need
Bright Indirect is the most common light requirement, 125 of 270 plants (46.3%), followed by Medium to Bright (86, 31.9%) and Direct Sun (37, 13.7%). The median lux band of a bright-indirect plant is 2,000 to 6,000 lux; of a direct-sun plant 5,000 to 15,000 lux, with a median watering interval of 18 days against 7 for bright-indirect plants.
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<a href="https://floradb.dataengineered.io/stats/#light"><img src="https://floradb.dataengineered.io/stats/charts/light.svg" alt="Light requirement of the care-core houseplants" width="720" style="max-width:100%;height:auto"></a>
<p><small>Source: <a href="https://floradb.dataengineered.io/stats/">FloraDB houseplant statistics</a> (CC BY 4.0)</small></p>| Light category | Plants | Share | Median min lux | Median max lux | Median watering (days) | Median humidity (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bright Indirect | 125 | 46.3% | 2,000 | 6,000 | 7 | 55 |
| Medium to Bright | 86 | 31.9% | 1,000 | 3,500 | 7 | 65 |
| Direct Sun | 37 | 13.7% | 5,000 | 15,000 | 18 | 25 |
| Medium to Low | 15 | 5.6% | 500 | 2,500 | 7 | 55 |
| Low to Bright | 3 | 1.1% | 250 | 5,000 | 7 | 55 |
| Low | 2 | 0.7% | 250 | 2,000 | 10.5 | 47.5 |
| Medium | 2 | 0.7% | 900 | 3,000 | 8.5 | 50 |
Each plant carries one light category and a lux band (min_lux_threshold, max_lux_threshold) taken from the curated care sources listed on the plant's record. Medians are computed within the category over all its plants. Lux values are indoor reading thresholds, not measured field values.
How often the houseplants are watered
141 of 270 plants (52.2%) are on a 7-day watering interval; the median interval is 7 days and the range 2 to 21 days. 45 plants (16.7%) go 18 days or longer between waterings, 24 of them direct-sun plants.
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<a href="https://floradb.dataengineered.io/stats/#watering"><img src="https://floradb.dataengineered.io/stats/charts/watering.svg" alt="Watering interval of the care-core houseplants" width="720" style="max-width:100%;height:auto"></a>
<p><small>Source: <a href="https://floradb.dataengineered.io/stats/">FloraDB houseplant statistics</a> (CC BY 4.0)</small></p>| Interval (days) | Plants | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 4 | 1.5% |
| 4 | 1 | 0.4% |
| 5 | 34 | 12.6% |
| 6 | 26 | 9.6% |
| 7 | 141 | 52.2% |
| 10 | 8 | 3.0% |
| 14 | 11 | 4.1% |
| 18 | 31 | 11.5% |
| 21 | 14 | 5.2% |
watering_frequency_days is a single indoor guideline value per plant from the curated care sources; seasonal or pot-size adjustments are not modelled and no plant carries a range.
Care requirements: medians and ranges
The median care-core houseplant wants 2,000 to 6,000 lux, water every 7 days, 16 to 30 °C and 55% humidity. 78 plants (28.9%) target 55% humidity; 55 (20.4%) target 30% or less.
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<a href="https://floradb.dataengineered.io/stats/#humidity"><img src="https://floradb.dataengineered.io/stats/charts/humidity.svg" alt="Ideal humidity of the care-core houseplants" width="720" style="max-width:100%;height:auto"></a>
<p><small>Source: <a href="https://floradb.dataengineered.io/stats/">FloraDB houseplant statistics</a> (CC BY 4.0)</small></p>| Metric | Median | Mean | Minimum | Maximum | Most common value | Plants at that value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum light (lux) | 2,000 | 1974.3 | 250 | 6,000 | 2,000 | 103 (38.1%) |
| Maximum light (lux) | 6,000 | 6,187 | 1,500 | 18,000 | 6,000 | 102 (37.8%) |
| Watering interval (days) | 7 | 8.9 | 2 | 21 | 7 | 141 (52.2%) |
| Minimum temperature (°C) | 16 | 14.7 | 10 | 18 | 16 | 122 (45.2%) |
| Maximum temperature (°C) | 30 | 30.3 | 20 | 40 | 30 | 115 (42.6%) |
| Ideal humidity (%) | 55 | 51.5 | 20 | 75 | 55 | 78 (28.9%) |
Temperature range
| Minimum temperature (°C) | Plants |
|---|---|
| 10 | 56 |
| 12 | 1 |
| 13 | 2 |
| 15 | 61 |
| 16 | 122 |
| 18 | 28 |
| Maximum temperature (°C) | Plants |
|---|---|
| 20 | 1 |
| 25 | 1 |
| 26 | 3 |
| 28 | 97 |
| 30 | 115 |
| 32 | 4 |
| 35 | 36 |
| 38 | 12 |
| 40 | 1 |
All 270 plants carry every care metric, so each denominator is 270. Values are the curated indoor guideline per plant; care_confidence records how well the sources agree: 137 medium, 69 high, 64 low.
Method, reuse and citation
- Source. The full FloraDB snapshot of 2026-09-03: 270 care-core plants, 891 ASPCA index entries (crawled 2026-07-06), 20,000 GBIF-accepted species in the taxonomic index and 702 enriched species. Every row keeps its source URL and retrieval time; see the data dictionary.
- Nothing is estimated. Toxicity is the ASPCA verdict for the species or, when every entry of the genus agrees, for the genus, and is otherwise NULL and excluded from the share. Care values are the curated guideline per plant. Where a denominator is smaller than 270, the section says so.
- Not veterinary advice. Toxicity data is informational. If a pet ingests a plant, contact a veterinarian or ASPCA Animal Poison Control.
- Refresh. The care core is re-verified against GBIF monthly; the ASPCA index is re-crawled on a manual, roughly quarterly cadence. This page and its charts are regenerated with each snapshot, so figures move. Cite the snapshot date.
- Reuse. The figures and charts on this page are published under CC BY 4.0: use them in articles, slides and posts with a link to https://floradb.dataengineered.io/stats/. The machine-readable version is data.json. The underlying row-level dataset is a separate commercial product; a free 100-plant sample is in the public repository.
- Suggested citation. FloraDB (2026). Houseplants in numbers, snapshot 2026-09-03. DataEngineered. https://floradb.dataengineered.io/stats/
- Questions or corrections: contact form or floradb@dataengineered.io.
Need the plant-level records behind these numbers?
Every plant with its lux band, watering interval, temperature and humidity targets, ASPCA verdict and clinical signs, GBIF key and source URL, as SQLite, CSV and JSON.
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