Species · genus Dieffenbachia · Araceae

Dumb Cane

Dieffenbachia seguine (Jacq.) Schott

Also known as: Dumbcane · Dumbplant · Mother-in-law-plant · Seguin Tuftroot · Tuftroot

Growth habit

subshrub

Native range

Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Cayman Is., Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Peru, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Windward Is.

Reference · D. seguine

Cultivars of D. seguine

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under D. seguine yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

Dieffenbachia seguine is a tropical understory subshrub from Central and South America and the Caribbean, so it wants warmth, even but not soggy moisture, and bright indirect light out of direct sun. Let the top inch of mix dry before watering again, and ease off in lower light or cooler months to avoid rot.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 7-12d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 12 days

Humidity

Medium

Temperature

18–27 °C

Soil mix

Rich, moisture-retentive but draining potting mix

Propagation

Stem sections laid in moist mix, or air layering

Fertilizing

Balanced liquid feed monthly in the growing season

Growth rate

Moderate

Flowering

Occasional spathe blooms on mature plants

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Toxic to cats & dogs & humans

Araceae contain insoluble calcium oxalate crystals that irritate the mouth and throat if chewed. This is where toxicity lives: every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 7-12d) · ai:claude-fable-5 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (family inference)

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Dumb Cane yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.