# Houseplant Care & Pet-Toxicity Lookup (GBIF + ASPCA) (`dataengineered/houseplant-care-toxicity-lookup`) Actor

Look up any houseplant: GBIF-verified name, quantitative light (Lux) & watering care metrics, and ASPCA dog/cat toxicity — a source URL on every record. Export CSV/JSON/Excel.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/dataengineered/houseplant-care-toxicity-lookup.md
- **Developed by:** [DataEngineered](https://apify.com/dataengineered) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Agents, Integrations
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.00005 / actor start

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md):

```bash
npm install apify-client
```

In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md):

```bash
pip install apify-client
```

In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md):

````bash
# MacOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash
# Windows
irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex
```bash

In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md).

If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).


# README

## Houseplant Care & Pet-Toxicity Lookup 🌿 — GBIF + ASPCA

**Look up structured houseplant data** — care metrics and pet safety — for any plant name. Unlike a generic plant API, this Actor **understands houseplant care**: it verifies each name against the **GBIF Taxonomic Backbone**, computes quantitative **light (Lux), watering, temperature, and humidity** metrics, and joins **ASPCA dog/cat toxicity** — with a **source URL on every record** so any fact is re-verifiable.

Turn a plant list (your app catalog, nursery inventory, or care guide) into one clean, structured **houseplant dataset** you can export to CSV, JSON, or Excel.

### What this Actor does

- 🌱 **Quantitative care** — light category mapped to a standard **Lux band**, plus watering-day interval, temperature range, and target humidity per plant.
- 🐾 **ASPCA pet toxicity** — dog/cat determinations with clinical signs. `toxicity_status` is `aspca_verified`, conservatively `aspca_genus_inferred`, or `unknown` — **never guessed "safe"**.
- 🔗 **GBIF-verified taxonomy** — accepted canonical names, synonyms preserved, and a `gbif_source_url` to re-verify each record.
- 📋 **Curated default list** — run with no input to look up a bundled set of ~270 popular houseplants, or pass your own `plantNames`.
- 🎚️ **Honest quality flags** — every row carries `care_confidence` so you can filter to exactly the rows you trust.
- 🔎 **Filters** — by family, pet-safe only, or species-verified toxicity only.

### Output — one item per plant

| Field | Description |
| :--- | :--- |
| `scientific_name`, `synonym_scientific_name` | GBIF-accepted name + trade synonym |
| `common_name`, `family` | Common name + GBIF-verified family |
| `light_requirement_level`, `min_lux`, `max_lux` | Light category + Lux band |
| `watering_frequency_days` | Watering interval in days |
| `min_temp_celsius`, `max_temp_celsius`, `ideal_humidity_percent` | Climate targets |
| `is_toxic_to_dogs`, `is_toxic_to_cats`, `is_toxic_to_horses` | ASPCA flags (blank = unknown) |
| `toxicity_symptoms`, `toxicity_status` | Clinical signs + where the toxicity came from |
| `care_confidence` | `high` / `medium` / `low` data-quality grade |
| `gbif_usage_key`, `gbif_source_url`, `retrieved_at`, `dataset_version` | Full provenance |

Export from the dataset as **CSV, JSON, Excel, or via API**.

### Input

Run with **no input** to look up the built-in curated houseplant list, or configure:

```json
{
  "plantNames": ["Monstera deliciosa", "Snake Plant", "Peace Lily"],
  "maxPlants": 25,
  "filterFamily": "Araceae",
  "onlyPetSafe": false,
  "onlyToxicityVerified": false,
  "requestDelaySecs": 1.0
}
````

### How it works

1. For each plant name, verify it against the GBIF backbone (accepted name, family, synonyms).
2. Compute category-normalized care metrics (light category → Lux band; watering/temp/humidity from plant-type norms).
3. Join ASPCA pet-toxicity, applying safe-direction genus inference where a species isn't individually listed.
4. Push one clean, provenanced record per plant to the dataset.

### Use cases

- **Plant-ID and plant-care apps** (structured care + pet-safety data).
- **IoT smart planters** — Lux targets and watering intervals as machine values.
- **"Is this plant safe for my cat?"** features backed by ASPCA determinations.
- **ML / RAG corpora** and plant data APIs.

### FAQ

**Which plants does it support?** Any plant name GBIF can resolve. Pass your own `plantNames` or use the bundled curated list of ~270 popular houseplants.

**Where does the data come from?** Taxonomy is verified live against the public **GBIF** API; toxicity uses the public **ASPCA** Animal Poison Control toxic/non-toxic determinations; care metrics are a deterministic normalization ruleset.

**Why are some fields empty?** Coverage is honest — toxicity is `unknown` (never "safe") when a plant isn't on the ASPCA list, and `care_confidence` grades every row. Use `onlyToxicityVerified` or `onlyPetSafe` when you need complete safety data.

**Can I get the whole thing as a ready-made dataset?** Yes — a curated snapshot of **270 houseplants** (hand-verified care, 891 ASPCA toxicity records, a 20,000+ species taxonomic index, and enrichment) in SQLite + CSV + JSON, plus custom feeds, is available separately: **[houseplants-botanical-floradb.pages.dev](https://houseplants-botanical-floradb.pages.dev/)** · **floradb.hardhat456@simplelogin.com**.

*Toxicity data is informational, not veterinary advice.*

***

*Keywords: houseplant scraper, plant care data, ASPCA pet toxicity, toxic plants for cats and dogs, houseplant dataset, GBIF taxonomy, plant care API, indoor plant data, lux light requirements.*

# Actor input Schema

## `plantNames` (type: `array`):

Scientific or common houseplant names to look up (e.g. 'Monstera deliciosa', 'Snake Plant'). Leave empty to use the built-in curated list of ~270 popular houseplants.

## `useCuratedSeed` (type: `boolean`):

When no names are provided, look up FloraDB's bundled list of ~270 popular houseplants.

## `maxPlants` (type: `integer`):

Limit how many plants to look up (0 = no limit). Keep small for a quick test run.

## `filterFamily` (type: `string`):

Only output plants in this GBIF family (case-insensitive), e.g. Araceae. Leave blank for all families.

## `onlyPetSafe` (type: `boolean`):

Keep only plants with a determined ASPCA toxicity that are non-toxic to both dogs and cats. Never includes 'unknown' plants.

## `onlyToxicityVerified` (type: `boolean`):

Keep only records whose toxicity is a species-level ASPCA determination (drops genus-inferred and unknown).

## `requestDelaySecs` (type: `number`):

Politeness delay between GBIF API calls.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "plantNames": [
    "Monstera deliciosa",
    "Snake Plant",
    "Peace Lily"
  ],
  "useCuratedSeed": true,
  "maxPlants": 25,
  "onlyPetSafe": false,
  "onlyToxicityVerified": false,
  "requestDelaySecs": 1
}
```

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "plantNames": [
        "Monstera deliciosa",
        "Snake Plant",
        "Peace Lily"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("dataengineered/houseplant-care-toxicity-lookup").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "plantNames": [
        "Monstera deliciosa",
        "Snake Plant",
        "Peace Lily",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("dataengineered/houseplant-care-toxicity-lookup").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "plantNames": [
    "Monstera deliciosa",
    "Snake Plant",
    "Peace Lily"
  ]
}' |
apify call dataengineered/houseplant-care-toxicity-lookup --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=dataengineered/houseplant-care-toxicity-lookup",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "Houseplant Care & Pet-Toxicity Lookup (GBIF + ASPCA)",
        "description": "Look up any houseplant: GBIF-verified name, quantitative light (Lux) & watering care metrics, and ASPCA dog/cat toxicity — a source URL on every record. Export CSV/JSON/Excel.",
        "version": "0.1",
        "x-build-id": "59SzuSWxfVt87lebg"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/dataengineered~houseplant-care-toxicity-lookup/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-dataengineered-houseplant-care-toxicity-lookup",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/dataengineered~houseplant-care-toxicity-lookup/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-dataengineered-houseplant-care-toxicity-lookup",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK",
                        "content": {
                            "application/json": {
                                "schema": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/dataengineered~houseplant-care-toxicity-lookup/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-dataengineered-houseplant-care-toxicity-lookup",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "components": {
        "schemas": {
            "inputSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "plantNames": {
                        "title": "Plant names",
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "Scientific or common houseplant names to look up (e.g. 'Monstera deliciosa', 'Snake Plant'). Leave empty to use the built-in curated list of ~270 popular houseplants.",
                        "default": [],
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    },
                    "useCuratedSeed": {
                        "title": "Use the built-in curated houseplant list",
                        "type": "boolean",
                        "description": "When no names are provided, look up FloraDB's bundled list of ~270 popular houseplants.",
                        "default": true
                    },
                    "maxPlants": {
                        "title": "Max plants",
                        "minimum": 0,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Limit how many plants to look up (0 = no limit). Keep small for a quick test run.",
                        "default": 25
                    },
                    "filterFamily": {
                        "title": "Filter by botanical family",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Only output plants in this GBIF family (case-insensitive), e.g. Araceae. Leave blank for all families."
                    },
                    "onlyPetSafe": {
                        "title": "Only pet-safe plants",
                        "type": "boolean",
                        "description": "Keep only plants with a determined ASPCA toxicity that are non-toxic to both dogs and cats. Never includes 'unknown' plants.",
                        "default": false
                    },
                    "onlyToxicityVerified": {
                        "title": "Only species-verified toxicity (ASPCA)",
                        "type": "boolean",
                        "description": "Keep only records whose toxicity is a species-level ASPCA determination (drops genus-inferred and unknown).",
                        "default": false
                    },
                    "requestDelaySecs": {
                        "title": "Delay between GBIF requests (seconds)",
                        "minimum": 0,
                        "maximum": 10,
                        "type": "number",
                        "description": "Politeness delay between GBIF API calls.",
                        "default": 1
                    }
                }
            },
            "runsResponseSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "data": {
                        "type": "object",
                        "properties": {
                            "id": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "actId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "userId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "startedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "finishedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "status": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "READY"
                            },
                            "meta": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "origin": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "API"
                                    },
                                    "userAgent": {
                                        "type": "string"
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "stats": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "inputBodyLen": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2000
                                    },
                                    "rebootCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "restartCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "resurrectCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "computeUnits": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "options": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "build": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "latest"
                                    },
                                    "timeoutSecs": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 300
                                    },
                                    "memoryMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1024
                                    },
                                    "diskMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2048
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "buildId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultKeyValueStoreId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultDatasetId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultRequestQueueId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "buildNumber": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "1.0.0"
                            },
                            "containerUrl": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "usage": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "usageTotalUsd": {
                                "type": "number",
                                "example": 0.00005
                            },
                            "usageUsd": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "number",
                                        "example": 0.00005
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```