Dry air is a major problem for houseplants in the winter… and indeed, any indoor plant (seedlings, cuttings, etc.). When the atmospheric humidity is less than 40%, certainly common enough in many homes, plants try hard to compensate by transpiring more heavily, that is, by releasing water to the air through their stomata (breathing pores). The drier the air, the more they transpire, and that can lead to their tissues losing water more rapidly than their roots can replace it. This can result in all sorts of symptoms of stress: wilting, flower buds turning brown, leaves curling under, brown leaf tips, even the death of the plant.

And if that weren’t enough, leaves stressed by dry air are also more subject to pest damage (red spider mites, whiteflies, thrips, etc.)

Some Plants Can Cope

That said, many plants, especially those native to arid climates or ones where they are exposed to long periods of drought, have developed ways of compensating for dry air. Cacti and succulents are usually very resistant to dry air and so are some epiphytic plants, like hoyas.

Some plants resist dry air by producing leaves with fewer stomata than normal, thus reducing water loss. Many have abandoned leaves altogether and breathe through their green stems (many cacti, for example). Others keep their stomata closed during the day, when the sun is hottest and water loss is greatest, breathing only a night. (This is called Crassulacean acid metabolism or CAM.) In other words, they essentially hold their breath 12 hours a day! Also, plants resistant to dry air often have extra-thick leaves or leaves coated with wax, powder or hair, all of which reduce evaporation.

Plants That Don’t Mind Dry Air

What follows are a few houseplants that don’t really mind it if the air in your home is on the dry side. Not that they will suffer if you increase the humidity to levels more acceptable to plants in general (most plants prefer a relative humidity of 50% or above) and that indeed is good for your health too, but if improving the atmospheric humidity something you just can’t do, at least these plants will pull through without a complaint!

1. Aeonium spp. (tree houseleek)
2. Agave spp. (century plant)
3. Aglaonema spp. (Chinese evergreen)
4. Aloe spp. (aloe)
5. Ananas comosus (pineapple plant)
6. Aspidistra elatior (cast iron plant)
7. Beaucarnea recurvata (ponytail palm)
8. Cephalocereus senilis (old man cactus)
9. Cereus peruvianus (Peruvian apple cactus)
10. Ceropegia woodii (rosary vine)
11. Clivia miniata (clivia)
12. Crassula ovata (jade plant)
13. Crassula spp. (crassula)
14. Cryptanthus spp. (earth star)
    

    The thick leaves of the dieffenbachia can generally cope quite well with drier air, but you can see just a bit of damage at the tip of this one. Source: Forest & Kim Starr, Wikimedia Commons

15. Dieffenbachia spp. (dumbcane)
16. Echeveria spp. (echeveria)
17. Echinocactus grusonii (golden ball cactus)
18. Epipremnum aureum (pothos, devil’s ivy)
19. × Epicactus (orchid cactus)
20. Euphorbia lactea (candelabra spurge)
21. Euphorbia milii (crown of thorns)
22. Euphorbia tirucalli (pencil cactus)
23. Ficus elastica (rubber tree)
24. Ficus lyrata (fiddle leaf fig)
25. Gasteria spp. (ox tongue)
26. Gymnocalycium mihanovichii friedrichii ‘Hibotan’ (red ball cactus)
27. Haworthia spp. (zebra plant)
28. Hippeastrum cvs (amaryllis)
29. Hoya carnosa (wax plant)
30. Kalanchoe (kalanchoe, panda plant)
31. Ledebouria socialis (silver squill)
    

    Few plants tolerate dry air as well as living stones (Lithops). Source: Dysmorodrepanis, Wikimedia Commons

32. Lithops spp. (living stone)
33. Mammillaria spp. (pincushion cactus)
34. Opuntia spp. (bunny ears)
35. Pachypodium lamerei (Madagascar palm)
36. Pelargonium graveolens (rose-scented geranium)
37. Pelargonium × hortorum (zonal pelargonium, zonal geranium)
38. Peperomia obtusifolia, P. clusiifolia (baby rubber plant)
39. Philodendron hederaceum oxycardium (heartleaf philodendron)
40. Rhipsalis spp. (mistletoe cactus)
41. Sansevieria trifasciata (snake plant)
42. Schlumbergera (Christmas cactus)
43. Sedum spp. (sedum, donkey’s tail)
    

    The nearly round leaves of Senecio rowleyanus are designed to reduce evapotranspiration. Source: Forest & Kim Starr, flickr

44. Senecio rowleyanus (string-of-pearls)
45. Senecio serpens (blue chalksticks)
46. Stapelia spp. (carrion flower)
47. Streltizia reginae (bird of paradise)
48. Syngonium spp. (arrowhead vine)
49. Yucca elephantipes (spineless yucca)
50. Zamioculcas zamiifolia (zeezee plant)