The flowers are small and usually white, produced on sparse panicles up to 120 cm (47") long.

On the ground, or in a wild setting, this vegetative growth habit enables vast swathes of the plant to colonize a single area, as the plantlets develop small roots to eventually anchor into the soil and spread the mass further.

Conversely, if the pups are allowed to remain connected to the mother plant and hang naturally, the appearance vaguely mimics spiders hanging by their silken thread—thus giving the plant the common moniker of "spider-plant".

The plantlets will develop aerial roots when left attached to the mother plant, as a means of absorbing ambient humidity until they make contact with an organic substrate, or the ground.

The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families recognized 191 species as of January 2013[update]:[2]