In eighth grade, I was really into Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a personality test that categorizes a person into one of 16 personality types. I don’t really remember what drew me to MBTI, but I found the idea of “categorizing” my personality extremely fascinating.

Each MBTI type is a combination of four different letters that create a personality type. For each letter, you can have one the following: Introverted (I) or Extroverted (E), Sensing (S) or Intuitive (N), Feeling (F) or Thinking (T) and Perceiving (P) or Judging (J). For instance, since I am an INFP, I would be introverted, intuitive, feeling and perceiving.

While it is tricky to categorize someone’s personality into a tee, I decided to take a shot at this with succulents! 

ENTP — mother of millions

The first thing you’ll probably notice when looking at this plant is its unique leaves, with clusters of small plantlets growing at the edges. Like an ENTP, it’s stubborn as its seeds can survive for years and can grow in all seasons.

ENTPs spread their ideas everywhere they go and are unafraid to take up a challenge, moving through life quickly, just like how mother of millions spreads its seeds and is very fast growing.

Courtesy of The Spruce

How many plantlets can you count?

INFP — Zebra haworthia

Zebra haworthia are a rather small succulent that is covered in white stripes, like those of a zebra. Like their MBTI type, they’re small and can be just glanced over quickly at first, but their unique personalities shine through for those who stay, similar to how the Zebra succulent’s stripes are a true beauty for a select few. It’s an easy plant to take care of, reflecting the rather easygoing and chill nature of INFPs.

Courtesy of Ramsey Succulents

A uniquely striped succulent for equally as unique INFPs.

ENFP — Fishbone Cactus

While this succulent may seem strange at first, with its leaves’ wavy shape akin to a fishbone, that weirdness is exactly what makes it an ENFP. 

ENFPs are not afraid to be themselves, outgoing and one-of-a-kind, just like this succulent that grows so unpredictably in so many different directions with such unique leaves. The fishbone cactus doesn’t really have a structured way of growing, making them lean more towards perceiving (the P in ENFP), which represents a more disorganized and “going with the flow” sort of life.

Courtesy of House Plant House

The fishbone cactus will grow whichever way they wish to!

ESFP — Schlumbergera

This cactus is especially unusual because of the beautiful, pinkish flowers that grow from them. This ensures they pop out in any room and attract people toward it, just like the fun-loving and extroverted ESFP, who can catch the eyes of everyone when they step into the room with their carefree and likable personalities.

Sensing types (the S in ESFP) are more detail-oriented and focus on what they see in front of them. ESFPs especially tend to live in the moment and use their senses to truly enjoy the world around them. The brightly colored flowers of the schlumbergera are the exact definition of something that appeals to the senses, in particular, people’s sight.

Courtesy of Gardeners World

The colorful schlumbergera is sure to catch your eye!

ESFJ — Aloe vera

This is probably the most well-known succulent, similar to how popular ESFJs usually are in their communities. Both ESFJs and aloe vera are always there to help people, whether that’s lending a helping hand or a helping leaf.

When aloe vera is applied directly on skin, it can feel tight or sticky, which is part of the healing process. This can be compared to ESFJs and their strict moral codes and a tendency to be very structured and responsible people.

Courtesy of the Spruce

Simple, yet the most recognizable of all succulents.

All MBTI-succulent analyses aside, I don’t think MBTI should be taken too seriously. Nobody’s personality can be confined to just four letters, but it’s always fun to categorize and compare everything as it makes personalities easier concepts to grasp. On this journey of succulent personality discovery, I ended up learning a lot more about succulents. And who knows? Maybe I’ll even get a succulent of my own in the future.