Dieffenbachia is one of the easiest indoor houseplants to grow and one of the most common indoor plants. This tropical shrub shows off lush leaves that are usually marked in shades of cream, yellow, or white. It adds fun color and texture into a home. Although it looks like a friendly plant on the exterior, the interior isn't as friendly as you think. Beautiful photo of Dieffenbachia. In order to obtain this slide, we began by grinding up a small piece of Dieffenbachia and added water to it. The picture you see on the left is the wet mount of the beautiful Dieffenbachia . Within Dieffenbachia are cells called Idioblast. They have various functions such as storage of reserves and minerals. Their main function is to protect plants from predators with the crystals that they produce. Idioblast taken at 400x magnification These crystals are called raphides. Raphides are needle-shaped crystals of calcium oxalate that are very toxic. When ingested, it can cause stinging/burning in the mouth, paralysis and airway impairments. Raphides taken at 400x magnification In this video, we can see raphides being ejected from idioblast. How cool is that? Final thoughts!Although Dieffenbachia contains a chemical toxin when ingested, I still think that they are "friendly" plant. They add such warm and beauty into a room that it's hard to consider them a foe.
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AuthorContent is created by students participating in the Plant Structure course at Oregon State University for Winter 2017. Archives
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