I don't know...self-exile, shipwreck, incarceration, foreign work with a small apartment, long backpacking trip/RV trip or truck-driving gig, whatever, and you could have one houseplant to keep you company, what would you choose, and why?

Assuming adequate light and moisture requirements could be met.

I think mine would, of course, be Swedish Ivy, Plectranthus australis.

It'd be nice to have something that blooms (they can but mine NEVER have), or was fragrant, or could provide visual entertainment like a flytrap or sundew.

Or get huge and decorate a wall with something vining.

But I don't think so, hopefully I never have to make a choice.

Love the stuff.

Reason? Can't help it.
Gorgeous, fast, and damn-near bullet-proof.

Good memories too, probably helps a lot.

African Violet...if light is adequate. They are the toughest, most adaptable houseplants I have ever owned.

tough question. What if I assume it will thrive in whatever the situation is? Rather than try to pick a plant 'most likely to succeed' no matter what?
Bloom, scent, yes would be nice, it would be great if it grew to give it some excitement..
Brugmansia - given 'summer', grows a whole lot and blooms with scent.

Maybe I would ask for a plant I have never owned!

I'm going to want something to eat. A tomato vine or banana tree, something that keeps producing pretty much constantly. Not very familiar with the habits of many tropical edibles, which is important because I refuse to be shipwrecked in a non-tropical location.

Hahaha!
A tomato seems like a good shipwreck plant.
Scenario.. shipwrecked, and a plant washed up on shore, what do you hope for? Or seeds...

sallyg said: Hahaha!
A tomato seems like a good shipwreck plant.
Scenario.. shipwrecked, and a plant washed up on shore, what do you hope for? Or seeds...

Breadfruit?

It better include instructions! I'd have no idea what is was or how to use it.

sallyg said: It better include instructions! I'd have no idea what is was or how to use it.

Remember Mutiny on the Bounty, with Fletcher Christian and Capt. Bligh?

That mission was all about breadfruit, bringing it from Tahiti to Jamaica to help feed slave labor.

Very nutritious stuff.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
https://www.nationalgeographic...

Might come in handy at least part of the year on an island. Or a coconut tree (except I hate coconut).

I didn't remember that part of the story.

A coconut, I was assuming, based on Castaway lol.

We just watched that movie about a week ago. Although I love plants, no secret around here, but it's such a great moment when they start throwing the plants off of the ship.

I've always wondered what plant it was. I've seen references to breadfruit in other historical fiction.
Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) ?
Split-Leaf Philodendron (Monstera deliciosa) ?

I'm assuming there are already coconuts on the tropical island where I've become shipwrecked.