Not every plant needs a sunny sill. Nine that cope with gloom, ending with one that outlived Victorian parlours lit by coal gas.
It evolved on the floor of Central American rainforests, under a closed canopy. Indoors it reaches about 2 to 4 feet and is non-toxic to cats and dogs.
One of very few plants that still flower in dim light. The white 'petal' is not a petal at all but a spathe — a modified leaf wrapped around the real flowers.
Its leaves fold upright every evening and reopen at dawn, driven by swollen hinges at the leaf base. Direct sun scorches the markings, so shade suits it.
Pick a dark green variety, not a pink or heavily variegated one. The more green pigment a leaf carries, the less light it needs to feed itself.
A shelf-top vine that keeps growing in a corner other plants sulk in. Snip a stem below a leaf joint, stand it in water, and it roots within a few weeks.
It survives gloom, but with a catch: the yellow marbling fades and leaves revert to plain green. That is the plant harvesting more light, not a sign of illness.
It uses desert-style photosynthesis, opening its pores at night to save water. Overwatering kills far more of them than a dark corner ever will.
Underground it grows potato-like rhizomes that hoard water, so it shrugs off weeks of neglect. It is the plant that survives windowless offices on strip lighting.
Named for what it endures. It filled Victorian parlours because it tolerated soot and coal-gas fumes, and George Orwell borrowed it for a 1936 novel title.
Low light slows growth rather than stopping it. Water less often in a dark room — dim light plus a wet pot is what actually rots roots.