Plant advice

Hello. I want to buy a plant. It is to sit on a north-facing windowsill in a communal hallway. Despite beyond north-facing, it gets quite a lot of light, as the window is large, and the hall is open and airy.

Any ideas?

If you want spiky, something like a dragon tree (Dracaena) would be fine there.

http://www.hydrotec.net/homepage/pflanzen/dracaena_marginata_100.jpg

Or if you want something leafier, Aspidistra?

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Ky957sg8EaE/RqYQB6ZLuII/AAAAAAAAAHI/hCJChaAZETg/s400/aspidistra-elatior.jpg

Schefflera amate

http://www.myplantman.com/images/18001.jpg

There's stuff like ferns as well, but you'd have to be a bit more diligent at watering those.

Leafy is good, I think.

what kind of plant is this? it grows where i run and one day i saw 2 korean ladies cutting it by the bagful. is it edible?
http://i41.tinypic.com/2rw6sk9.jpg

Kinda looks like Chinese Motherwort Leonurus japonicus.

http://www.rootdown.us/Herbs/images/full/Yi%20Mu%20Cao.jpg

scik mouthy, you should get a philodendron! super easy! i had one in a north-facing office once and it was very happy.

That leaf makes me think that it's definitely some sort of umbellifer, possibly a close relation to celery or parsley. Pick a bit and give it a sniff. Do be careful though cos there are some really nasty plants in that group that you wouldn't want to eat e.g. hemlock, hemlock water dropwort, carrots...

We got a dragon tree in the end; only £3 with a pot! A named him Godfrey.

Are carrot leaves poisonous, then?

Look up Trayce! That's my horribly-formed joke going over your head :(

hmm the leaf does look a lot like the chinese motherwort but it doesn't grow off a stalk like that and it has to grow in mid-atlantic u.s. i'll look at relatives of it. maybe this plant also causes "smooth menses" and promotes urination.

my first thought was that it was related to parsley too, but it doesn't smell like it

http://caliban.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/thome/band3/tafel_057_small.jpg

^ Could it be this? Berula erecta - cutleaf water parsnip (known as lesser water parsnip in the UK). Obviously you could discount this if it wasn't growing in a damp ditch or similar.

I'm a bit confused by the listing for it on the PFAF database.

Edible Uses: The leaves and flowers have been used for food

Known Hazards: The plant is toxic, and capable of causing death to grazing animals

???

that one on the right looks very close! it's not quite a ditch, it's a trail between a road and a river (more like a stream i guess) where there is a 20 ft drop down to the stream. probably damp enough though. not sure why i care so much about this but it's been bothering me since i saw those ladies harvesting it. i suppose i could have stopped and asked them!

could be toxic to cattle and sheep, etc., but not to humans? or maybe parts of it are toxic.

there is also pokeweed growing there, which you can eat (cooked) until it grows to a certain height and it becomes toxic. i don't think i'd risk it either way.

It could be one of those things where cooking it destroys the toxins.

hmm this map says it's absent from my area http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=BEER
not sure why it says BEER

BErula ERecta

Totally confused as to whether it's edible or not. It's on lists of edible plants, but other sites have it listed as toxic. Hmmm...

haha i get it. i'll prob go to the library later and look at books.

please to start running with field guides in yr fanny pack!

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/63365000/jpg/_63365865_policecannabisplant.jpg

healthy old bush there

police let off the elderly couple who grew that cos they just thought they were old and batty and didn't know what it was, but that is definitely some sort of multi-user bong thing just to the right of it imo

niiiiice