Cast iron plant
Sources last read 14 September 2026.
Forgiving Among the more tolerant plants here.
Also called Bar Room Plant, Barroom Plant, common aspidistra, Haran, Iron Plant and Variegated Cast Iron Plant.
Toxicity is partly unassessed
What the sources say about its care
- Light
- Low light 100 fcClemson Extension · read 13 September 2026Full shade, Partial shadeRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Water
- Moist but well-drained or Well-drainedRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Humidity
No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.
ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026- Temperature
How cold this tolerates, not what it prefers. No source read for this site publishes a preferred range for a plant indoors.
H3 — -5 to 1°C -5 to 1 °CRHS · read 13 September 2026- Soil
- Chalk, Clay, Loam, Sand; pH Acid or Alkaline or NeutralRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to cats
- Listed as non-toxicASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Toxic to dogs
- Listed as non-toxicASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Harmful to people
- No statement of harm to people is published for this plant; that absence is not evidence it is safe.RHS · read 13 September 2026
How it usually goes wrong
- Blade tips go crisp and brown
A narrow dry border on the cast iron plant, often with a faint yellow line against the healthy tissue. It appears on several blades at once rather than spreading from one.
Transpiration rises as the air dries, and the tissue furthest from a vein loses first. Penn State Extension notes there is no single humidity figure that suits every indoor plant, which is why this site publishes a range rather than a number. That applies while it is grown indoors; its RHS rating of H3 describes a plant that also grows outside, where the air is seldom that dry.
Telling it apart: Where the plant stands. Browning concentrated on the side facing a heater points at the air.
Penn State ExtensionCast iron plant brown leaf tips and edges: causes- Leaves bruised and browned along the edges after a gale
After a windy spell the cast iron plant shows dry brown edges and torn blades on its exposed side. New growth that follows is undamaged if the weather settles.
RHS describes it as needing shelter. Moving air dries leaf surfaces quickly and bruises soft tissue, so a clump in a windy spot is marked on the side the wind reaches.
Telling it apart: Whether it followed stormy weather. Damage that appeared overnight after wind is weather; damage that develops over weeks is something else.
RHSCast iron plant brown leaf tips and edges: causes- Soft, sagging blades low on the clump in soil that has not dried
The cast iron plant yellows from the base up. Affected blades bend rather than snap, and the pot is still heavy several days after watering.
A pot that does not dry between waterings keeps the roots in water rather than in damp soil, and the blades above them yellow for want of what those roots can no longer send up.
Telling it apart: Two inches down with a finger. Above the soil, drowning and thirst look the same; below it they are opposites.
RHSDiagnose drooping on this Cast iron plant- The clump grows thin and sparse, and leans
Growth on the side of the cast iron plant away from the light slows or stops, so the plant becomes lopsided over a few months.
Clemson puts its lower limit at low light, and RHS rates it for full shade. Darker still, in a hallway or a corner with no window in view, each new blade costs more than it returns, so the clump builds fewer and thinner ones.
Telling it apart: Turn the pot and wait a fortnight. New growth that swings back toward the window is answering a light question.
Clemson ExtensionDiagnose leggy growth on this Cast iron plant
Not sure which it is? Ask the diagnosis questions for Cast iron plant.
Routine care
- Watering
- From spring to autumn and in droughts water regularly; in winter water sparingly.NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Propagation
- Increase by division.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pruning
- Pruning is not needed.RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Pests and diseases
- Can be troubled by vine weevil, thrips, scale insects, glasshouse red spider mite and mealybugs. Diseases: usually none.RHS · read 13 September 2026
Move something and watch
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Photographs
About the plant
Aspidistra elatior, the cast-iron-plant or bar-room plant, also known in Japanese as haran or baran (葉蘭) is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to Japan and Taiwan. Tolerant of neglect, it is widely cultivated as a houseplant, but can also be grown outside in shade where temperatures remain above −15 °C (5 °F). It is used as training material for the seika form of ikebana.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · read 13 September 2026
- Native range
- S. JapanWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026JapanNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026JapanRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Climate
- subtropicalWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- Growth form
- perennial or rhizomatous geophyteWorld Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026Ground Cover, Herbaceous Perennial, Perennial; habit clumping, erect, spreadingNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Clump forming (evergreen)RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Size
- Height 12–36 in; width 12–36 inNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Height 0.5-1 metres; spread 0.1-0.5 metres after 10–20 yearsRHS · read 13 September 2026
- Flowering
- Flowers brown/copper, cream/tan, purple/lavender; blooms in summerNC State Extension · read 13 September 2026Flowers brown in summer; cream in summerRHS · read 13 September 2026
Common problems with Cast iron plant
More of the Asparagaceae family
Asparagus fernBrown brittle margins with a green centre
DracaenaBrown tips on the newest blades first
HyacinthFlowering stops while the foliage carries on
Lucky bambooCrisp margins that appear in winter
Ponytail palmBlades hang and feel thin between the fingers
Snake plantBlades hang and feel thin between the fingers
Plants with similar care
Sources
- ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
- Clemson Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
- NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026
- RHS · read 13 September 2026
- Wikipedia · read 13 September 2026
What this does not cover
The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.
Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.
If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.