Money Plant: Devil's Ivy at Home-Indoor Environment - Essay Sample

Introduction

The plant in preference for my case is the money plant, otherwise known as the Devil's Ivy. The plant's location is at my house. Thus, its environment is indoors.

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The devil's Ivy plant is scientifically known as Epipremnum aurem. It is also known as the devil's vine. It is commonly known to many people as a money plant. The devil's ivy is a species of flowing plants in the arum family Aracease. Aracease is native to Mo'orea of French Polynesia ("Perennial | plant", 2020). The devil's ivy is known to be a popular houseplant in temperate areas or regions. Over the years, the devil's ivy has become naturalized in tropical and sub-tropical forests across the globe (world). These regions include the Pacific Islands, West Indies, Australia (north), and also southern Asia. The devil's vine is known to have caused severe ecological damage in the regions mentioned above (forests). Devil's ivy famously known as the money plant has multiple other common names, which include: ivy arum, silver vine, marble queen, taro vine, Solomon Islands ivy, hunter's robe, golden pothos, and also Ceylon creeper.

The plant is known as the devil's ivy or devil's vine for the reason that it is almost impossible to kill it and also that the plant stays green even in dark conditions. For this reason, the devil's ivy is often mistaken with Philodendron in plant stores. The name money plant originated and is common in the Indian subcontinent. Without artificial hormone supplements, devil's ivy rarely produces flowers, and that spontaneous flowering is rarely a case. Scientifically classified, the devil's ivy is of Kingdom Plantae. Its clades are Tracheophytes, Angiosperms, and Monocots, its order is Alismatales, family; Araceae, genus; Epipremnum, and species; E. aureum. The money plant's binomial name is Epipremnum aureum. Epipremnum aureum is synonymous with Epipremnum mooreense, pothos aureus, Rhaphidophora aurea, and Scindapsus aureus ("Money plant", 2020).

Since then, the devil's ivy has been assigned to several genera. The name pothos originated from genera Pothos Aureus where it had been named. After observation of a flower from the devil's ivy, it was named Raphidophora aurea. Through research and studies on the flower, the devil's ivy was synonymized to the species Epipremnum pinnatum. There followed further studies and examinations of the devil's ivy parts (leaves and growing patterns) that separated it from Epipremnum pinnatum and into Epipremnum aureum. Based on the devil's ivy descriptions, its final genera Epipremnum aureum is known to be an evergreen plant or vine. Devil's vine grows up to 20 meters, and 66 fit tall. Its stems grow up to 4 centimeters and 2 inches in diameter. The devil's ivy climbing means are aerial roots that adhere to surfaces. The devil's vine's leaves are alternate and heart-shaped. These features are similar to the juvenile plants except the fact that juvenile leaves are much smaller as compared to the devil's ivy's leaves. Production of flowers is in a spathe for the devil's ivy. The stems of the money plant are of the trailing type, especially when it climbs up trees. The trailing stems take root when they reach the ground, which necessitates their growth along with it.

The devil's ivy is shy-flowering in nature. Even though, E. aureum being classified as an angiosperm (produce flowers in their life cycle), it does not develop flowers in its life cycle. This fact makes E. aureum the only species in the family; Araceae that does not produce flowers. Therefore, it does not matter where the devil's ivy is grown since it is a shy-flowering plant. Neither do the conditions under which the devil's ivy is exposed to nor the environment matters. The plant cannot flower due to the generic impairment of the gibberellin (GA) biosynthetic gene. The impairment causes the devil's ivy's inability to develop bioactive gas. Bioactive gas is responsible for the flowering of plants through the floral meristem identity gene; otherwise, without the development of the bioactive gas, no plant can produce a flower. Floral meristem is usually absent in Epipremnum aureum because of lack of the bioactive gas, which is the reason as to why the devil's ivy or vine does not flower. The devil's vine is currently widespread and wild in many tropical countries around the world.

The money plant or devil's ivy/ vine is a popular houseplant and common in temperate regions. Devil's ivy has multiple cultivars that are explicitly selected for yellow, white, and light green variegation leaves. Devil's ivy has numerous uses and benefits with it. Money plant is often used in decorative displays, especially in shopping areas. It is also used as a decorative display in other areas, including offices and public sectors and locations.

Devil's ivy is used for decorative purposes because of its beautiful nature and that; it needs less or little care in its growth ("Benefits of the Money Plant (Scindapsus aureus): Myth or Reality?", 2020). The beautiful nature is through the money plant's leaves, for it is ever leafy. In the case of tropical countries, devil's ivy is often wild and is thus used in public gardens, and also public parks. When given adequate care and support, the devil's vine or ivy can grow up to about 2 meters as a houseplant. However, when grown as a houseplant, the devil's ivy rarely produces mature hard leaves. Indirect light is of importance when aiming at growing the devil's vine indoors. Prolonged direct sunlight can often burn and destroy the money plant's leaves.

Money plant neither requires extreme nor low-temperature conditions; instead, it requires medium temperature conditions. Devil's ivy does not require a lot of water; it only needs water when the soil beneath its roots runs dry. Money plant often requires replanting for a period of every two years. During its care and support, a liquid fertilizer should always be applied mainly during spring. In hydroponic cultures, the money plant usually h and a robust plant. Robust to mean that the devil's ivy supports extreme conditions of its growth.

Devil's ivy is of importance (beneficial) in air conditioning since it removes indoor pollutants. Indoor pollutants include benzene, toluene, formaldehyde, xylene, and also trichloroethene. Money plant is also used in aquariums. When grown in aquariums, the devil's ivy is given an allowance to grow its roots into the water, which is beneficial for both the aquarium and the devil's ivy, for it can absorb lots of nitrates essential for its growth.

Devil's ivy also gives oxygen to the atmosphere. Oxygen is crucial for human breathing and even for plants during respiration. Oxygen is an air conditioning gas, especially for animals and people. Thus, the devil's ivy produces oxygen during photosynthesis, which is an essential gas in the atmosphere. The devil's ivy is, therefore, considered as being a plant with luck. Luck, in this case, is associated with wealth, prosperity, happiness, and also health. All these are as a result of keeping the devil's ivy indoors (that is, in the house).

For my case and the sake of observations, the plant under observation is the devil's ivy or money plant, as mentioned above. The devil's ivy is in my house and thus a houseplant. Based on my observations, the money plant is green in color with green-yellow shiny, attractive leaves. The leaves are heart-shaped and alternate. The devil's ivy is on its own in the house and not surrounded by any other plant. The stem is about 4 centimeters in diameter. The devil's vine's height is about 18 meters. The money plant has alternating stripe s of green and yellow colored leaves. The plant does purify the air around the house and also helps keep the environment around fresh. For this reason, the devil's ivy is beneficial to our health by providing conducive beautiful surroundings in the house.

The devil's vine filters the air in the house and also increases the flow of oxygen in the house (Meshram et al., 2015). According to my observation, the devil's ivy has alternate leaves, just like the published descriptions on the same. The plant is flower-shy, with heart-shaped leaves, stem diameter of about 4 centimeters as compared to the published measurement of 4 centimeters and some inches. The plant's height I observed of about 18 meters is close to the published maximum height of up to 20 meters. The location of the devil's ivy, in this case, is in the house and based on publications, money plant has more benefits and essence when grown indoors.

Planting the money plant in the house instead of outside in the garden or anywhere else was aimed at bringing about good luck. Just like any other beautiful plant, the devil's ivy is spirit-touching and touches our souls. Planting the devil's vine in the house is because it grows rapidly, and with foliage and being grown in the house is more controllable and can be managed effectively by limiting factors such as exposure to sunlight. The seed pods of the devil's ivy are coin-shaped. The plant is self-seeding and that, it usually grows as biennials. During photosynthesis, the leaves produce energy. The energy is stored in the money plant's developing root system.

When placed in front of a sharp angle or corner, the devil's ivy reduces stress and anxiety ("Best Indoor Air Purifying Plants Recommended by NASA-Money Plant or Pothos or Devil's Ivy: - My Garden Forest", 2020). Arguments and disorders of sleep are also avoided with the presence of the devil's ivy in the house. It is known that money plant activates positive energy in our daily lives, and thus, with the devil's vine in the house, our positive energy is activated into actions. The money plant is hard to be killed and needs little care, which enables everyone regardless of their level of attention to managing it successfully by planting it in their houses. The soil that holds the devil's ivy is well-drained and that it is of good water holding capacity since the plant does not do well in super dry soil. About the fertilizer, since the devil's ivy can grow even without the application of fertilizers, a few contents are added and in an equal proportion of nutrients for the plant's vigorous growth. Fertilizer is, of course, added during the growing season rather than during the winter season. There always comes a season where the plant stops showing any signs of growth, and during these seasons, fertilizer application is reduced to a limited period of even two months.

The devil's ivy is often pruned to reduce its rapid growth and also to maintain its shape. The exercise involves reshaping and allowing the plant to restart its growth. Propagation is another technique that helps the devil's ivy's beauty; it can be through air layering or clipping vines and root pothos in water. Bacteria and fungi are the negative factors that affect the devil's ivy's growth in the house (Shafique et al., 2017). They cause the roots to rot and leaves to have spots, and this can be avoided by maintaining the soil in a moist condition rather than in wet conditions. Some pests invade the plant, including spider mites. Although, the common pets are the mealy bugs. Bugs are removed by the cotton swap, which is dipped in rubbing an insecticidal soap or alcohol.

References

Benefits of the Money Plant (Scindapsus aureus): Myth or Reality?. Dengarden. (2020). Retrieved 7 March 2020, from https://dengarden.com/gardening/Significance-of-growing-money-plant-in-your-house.

Best Indoor Air Purifying Plants Recommended by NASA-Money Plant or Pothos or Devil's Ivy: - My Garden Forest. My Garden Forest. (2020). Retrieved 7 March 2020, from http://mygardenforest.com/__trashed-2/.

Meshram, A. N. J. U., & Srivastava, N. I. D. H. I. (2015). Epipremnum aureum (Jade pothos): a multipurpose plant with its medicinal and pharmacological properties. Journal...