Pilea Peperomioides

''Pilea peperomioides'' (), the Chinese money plant, UFO plant, pancake plant or missionary plant, is a species of flowering plant in the nettle family Urticaceae, native to Yunnan and Sichuan provinces in southern China.

History

The Scottish botanist George Forrest was the first westerner to collect ''Pilea peperomioides'', in 1906 and again in 1910, in the Cang Mountain range in Yunnan Province.

In 1945, the species was found by Norwegian missionary Agnar Espegren in Yunnan Province when he was fleeing from Hunan Province. He took cuttings of ''P. peperomioides'' back to Norway, by way of India in 1946, and from there it was spread throughout Scandinavia.

''Pilea peperomioides'' is an example of a plant that has been spread amongst amateur gardeners via cuttings, without being well-known to western botanists until the late 20th century. This led to the plant earning the nickname of “friendship plant”, or “pass-along plant”. Many horticulturists and hobbyists were not aware of its true classification, in the ''nettle'' family Urticaceae, until the 1980s. The first known published image of it appeared in the ''Kew magazine'' in 1984. Through the early 2010s and 2020s, ''P. peperomioides'' became widely available commercially, and is no longer a curiosity. The initial offerings for sale on the mainstream plant market saw great demand for the plant, with prices going as high as $75 USD for a single unrooted cutting, advertised on Instagram, as late as 2019. The average price for a 3- or 4-inch pot being around $5-10 USD, with the median price for slightly larger plants capping out around $20 USD, in September of 2022. The affordable price, coupled with its ease of propagation, has led to a gradual decrease in cost (yet certainly not popularity) of this species.

Description

''Pilea peperomioides'' is an erect, evergreen perennial plant, with shiny, dark green, circular leaves up to in diameter on long petioles. The leaves are described as peltate—circular, with the petiole attached near the centre. The plant is completely hairless. It grows to around tall and wide in the wild, sometimes more indoors. The stem is greenish to dark brown, usually unbranched and upright, and lignified at the base when mature. In poor growing conditions, it loses its leaves in the lower part of the stem and assumes a distinctive habit. The flowers are inconspicuous.

The plant has a superficial resemblance to some species of ''Peperomia'' (hence the specific epithet ''peperomioides''), also popular as cultivated plants but in a different family, the Piperaceae. It is also sometimes confused with other peltate-leaved plants such as '' Nasturtium'', '' Umbilicus'' and ''Hydrocotyle''.

Range

This species occurs only in China: in the southwest of Sichuan province and the west of Yunnan province. It grows on shady, damp rocks in forests at altitudes from 1500 to 3000m. It is endangered in its native habitat. However, it is kept in China and worldwide as an ornamental plant.

Cultivation

With a minimum temperature of , in temperate regions, ''P. peperomioides'' is cultivated as a houseplant. ''P. peperomioides'' is propagated from plantlets that sprout on the trunk of the parent plant (these are called offshoots) or from underground shoots (called rhizomes). These offshoots are often passed on as a lucky plant ("lucky thaler") or friendship plant. Since constant temperatures and high humidity have a positive effect on plant growth, this plant species is suitable for planting terrariums.

Although the plant is endangered in its native habitat, it is among the most popular houseplants today. It is in high demand because it is slim, easy to grow, and tolerates dry environments. However, it is not a new fad, and has been further popularized by social media trends on Instagram, TikTok, and other websites. The plant is readily available in retail greenhouses, which in turn are supplied by industrial-scale farming enterprises.

This species has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

There are three different cultivars which have appeared in the last few years “Sugar”, “White Splash” and “Mojito.”

See also

*''Hydrocotyle vulgaris'', a similar looking plant
*''Umbilicus rupestris'', a succulent of similar appearance

References

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{{Taxonbar, from=Q311696

Endemic flora of Yunnan
peperomioides
Plants described in 1912
House plants