Pilea peperomioides

Name: Pilea peperomioides
SKU: pda479
Availability: InStock

The eternal and unfailing pancake & friendship plant

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Tags: evergreen, graphique, perennial, persistant, plant, RHS Award of Garden Merit, secheresse, soleil SKU: pda479 Category: Beauty & Resilience, Bees and Butterflies, Better Indoors, Evergreen, Frost Hardy, Make it Pop, The Stunners

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Pilea peperomiodes, also known as the Chinese money plant, has a dome of beautiful and unusual leaves that look like small lily pads.

It is an erect, evergreen perennial plant, with shiny, dark green, circular leaves of various sizes on long petioles.

The leaves are described as peltate—circular, with the petiole attached near the centre.

The stem is greenish to dark brown, usually unbranched and upright, and lignified at the base when mature.

The flowers are inconspicuous.

In the wild it is around 30cm high, though inside it can become quite the beast once you find its ‘happy place’.

Pilea peperomioides is a low maintenance species that thrives in a bright spot near a window, but it is best to keep the plant out of direct sunlight as too much direct sun can cause the leaves to burn.

However, too little light can cause the leaves to fade and the plant’s overall health to suffer, so take time to find a spot that’s just right.

It is an easy going plant that is good for beginners as it’s quite forgiving of neglect in terms of watering and feeding.

👨‍🌾GARDENING TIPS👨‍🌾:

- 👀 If you are unsure what Pilea needs, just observe. She will let you know
  - - If the leaves beginning to droop > this can be a sign that she needs water and/or light. Check the soil, check the light. And maybe change the location!
    - If the leaves beginning to yellow > this can be a sign that her soil is too soggy
- 🛞 Rotate your plant periodically to ensure even growth on all sides and clean the leaves often so the plant can photosynthesize efficiently
- 🐍 Can handle high levels of humidity, so it is good for terrariums

The Tale:

Interestingly, this plant belongs to the the nettle family Urticaceae.

Originally it was collected (for the West) by a Scottish botanist George Forrest in 1906 and again in 1910, in the Cang Mountain range in Yunnan Province.

But the plant became popular among non-botanists in the West before it was properly studied, spreading across friend and family circles via cuttings.

This led to the plant earning the nickname of “friendship plant”, or “pass-along plant”.

Pilea comes from the Latin word pileus, meaning ‘felt cap’ – a reference to the absence of hairs on the leaves and stems.

The plant has a superficial resemblance to some species of Peperomia – hence the specific epithet peperomioides.