List: Houseplants Which Can Be Propagated From Single Leaves

It seems like being able to reproduce from a single detached leaf would be so convenient that you'd think every plant would have figured out how to do it, but it's actually a pretty rare quality, limited mostly to succulents, most gesneriads,¹ and a few random others.

One of the big problems when starting regular stem cuttings² of a plant is that until there are roots to take up water from the soil (or rooting medium), the cutting will transpire³ a lot of water through the leaves. For some plants, like Ficus elastica, it's actually recommended that you either remove most of the leaves before trying to root the cutting, or that you cut the leaves in half, so that they'll be able to hang on to more of their moisture instead of transpiring it away.

My theory is that plants that can propagate from single leaves have this same problem, but even more so: they don't even have any stem in which to store water, so they run an even bigger risk of breathing all their water away. Therefore, the plants which are already adapted to hang on to their water, i.e., succulents, would be the ones that would have the easiest time getting by while they wait for roots to start. It's just a theory, and it doesn't account for some of the plants on the list so it's obviously not the entire story, but it seems more or less logical to me, anyway.

As ever, I'm open to additional suggestions, if the reader thinks of something I've left out.

Aeschynanthus speciosus, goldfish plant. The process is slow, but we stuck individual leaves into vermiculite at work, watered the vermiculite when we thought to, and they did eventually root and grow into new plants. Can't remember how long that took; I want to say we planted them in winter and they were putting out new growth by the following fall, or something. I assume this would probably also work for other Aeschynanthus spp., like A. lobbianus (lipstick plant), but I haven't tried.

Begonia NOID (angel-wing begonia). This particular type of Begonia is usually propagated through stem cuttings, but they'll also grow from leaf section cuttings or a single leaf's petiole⁴ stuck into damp soil. For best results, keep the leaf in an enclosed container of some kind to keep the humidity high, until the plant shows new growth.

Crassula ovata (jade plant). This tends to be a much slower process, in my experience, than rooting a stem cutting, but a single, healthy leaf, removed from the stem and allowed to dry for a day or two, will usually start to grow roots almost immediately, whether or not it's lying on soil. For best results indoors, bury the base of the leaf in a gritty, fast-drying medium, place in bright light, and water sparingly.

Echeveria cvv. Process is basically the same as for Crassula ovata. Leaves will root in almost anything; I had crazy wild success with vermiculite at work.

Kalanchoe orgyalis. Also as for Crassula ovata.

Pachyphytum spp. (moonstones) As for Crassula ovata.

Peperomia caperata. New plants will emerge (if they're going to) from the point where the petiole contacts the leaf. The best way I've found to propagate these is to dig a small, narrow trench in a 3-inch pot containing a regular potting mix, cut most of the petiole off the leaf, place the leaf vertically into the trench with the petiole side down (the leaves are more or less heart-shaped; you're putting them into the soil "upside-down"), and cover the pot with a clear drinking glass, or put the whole thing into a closed container of some kind -- the added humidity will help. New plants will appear from what used to be the underside of the leaf. If the leaf goes black and crispy, it's dead and you'll have to try again.

Saintpaulia ionantha cv. (African violet). African violets propagate very much like Peperomia caperata, though a few details are different. You don't want to cut off the petiole; leaving an inch to an inch and a half (2.5 to 3.8 cm) is good. I've had the best luck with planting them in vermiculite, at about a 45-degree angle, petiole end down. Cover and place in a warm, bright spot out of direct sunlight. You may need to remoisten the vermiculite from time to time. A single leaf may produce more than one new plant; if this happens, divide the plants and pot each of them separately. In many cases, the leaf can be cut away from the new plants and its petiole re-buried, where it can produce more plantlets.

Sedum morganianum (burro's tail). As for Crassula ovata. Leaves fall off very easily.

Zamioculcas zamiifolia (ZZ plant, eternity plant). The actual stem of a Zamioculcas is usually mostly under the soil; each stalk is actually a single leaf that's been divided into leaflets. The individual leaflets each have the ability to produce new plants, though the process takes a really long time. Remove leaflets from their stalks and plant in a fast-drying potting mix with the base of the leaf under the soil. Water thoroughly when the soil is almost completely dry, then let dry again. Protect from cold (below 60F/16C). Sunlight may speed the process along. Leaflets form small tubers below ground, so unlike Peperomia caperata, the new plant is not necessarily dead even if the original leaflet turns brown and dies.⁵ In my experience, new leaves will begin to appear after about 12-18 months, if they intend to.

Not pictured:

Crassula arborescens
Episcia cvv? (flame violet) -- ought to in theory, though I've never seen anybody say they did it, so I'm not sure about this.
Haemanthus albiflos (shaving brush plant, elephant's tongue)
some Hoya spp. -- by rumor only. Species like H. kerrii (sweetheart hoya) will root on individual leaves fairly easily, but I'm unclear about whether they'll produce new vines from a single leaf, or if so how long that might take.
Kalanchoe beharensis
Kalanchoe blossfeldiana (flaming Katy, florist's kalanchoe)
Kalanchoe bracteata 'Silver Teaspoons' -- see post.
Kalanchoe tomentosa (panda plant)
probably most Kalanchoe spp., really
Nematanthus cvv.? -- like Episcia: it's a gesneriad, so it ought to, but that doesn't mean it actually does. (Nematanthus leaves tend to be small, so they may not be able to store enough water for this to work.)
Peperomia argyreia (watermelon peperomia)
Peperomia scandens (false philodendron)
most Pinguicula spp. (butterworts)
Sansevieria trifasciata cvv. -- though some variegated varieties won't come true from leaves and can only be propagated via runners.
Sedum burrito, Sedum rubrotinctum, most other Sedum spp.
Streptocarpus cvv. -- usually propagated by leaf section cuttings, as for Begonia. New plants can only arise from the leaf midribs, so usually leaves are cut into chevron-shaped pieces and planted in vermiculite or a similar medium.

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¹ Gesneriad = one of the plants in the family Gesneriaceae. African violets (Saintpaulia) are the most commonly-encountered gesneriads, but Streptocarpus (cape primrose), Aeschynanthus (lipstick plant, goldfish plant), Nematanthus (guppy plant, goldfish plant), and Columnea are also sold pretty routinely.
² Stem cutting = most commonly a short (3-4 inch / 8-10 cm) piece of stem, plus leaves or side branches or whatever, rooted in soil, water, or a sterile medium like vermiculite or perlite, for propagation. The most common method of do-it-yourself plant propagation.
³ Transpiration = the loss of water through pores on the leaf surface. Most plants have these pores (called stomata) open during the day, where they can take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Along with oxygen, a certain amount of water is also lost, depending on the temperature, humidity, wind, and so forth. In a plant which is growing normally, the roots replace the water lost to transpiration by taking new water up from the soil.
⁴ Petiole = the "stem" connecting a leaf to the plant's main stalk.
⁵ It's not a particularly good sign, but it doesn't mean that everything's lost, either.

Assorted random plant events

When I quit smoking, some years ago, one of the things I missed about it was having an excuse to go stand outside for a few minutes at a time, several times a day. I'm not otherwise that motivated to go out. Also the nicotine. I still, sometimes, miss the nicotine. The down side of smoking was that it was giving me asthma. (Possibly lung cancer, also, but that wasn't motivation to stop. I bet very few people ever see their lives saved by asthma.) And it was increasingly expensive (I noticed about a week ago that a pack of Marlboros is up over $6.50/pack, around here; it was $1.40 or so when I started, which wasn't even that long ago.), too. But it wasn't without its benefits: there's something to be said for any activity that gets you outside looking at the weeds, bees, phases of the moon, etc.

So now, I take the dog out a couple times a day (first thing in the morning just to the yard, in case she has to go, and then for a 30-60 minute walk a couple hours after that), which leaves me in a really excellent position to notice not only the things that are happening in my very own yard, like the flowers on our maple tree (I suspect silver maple, Acer saccharinum) --


-- but also things happening in other people's yards. Like for example, I have no idea what tree this is (anybody know?), but the flowers are kind of neat:


I saw a bunch of Pulmonaria in full bloom in someone else's yard, so I checked the ones I planted here at the house. No flowers yet, but I have buds.


Being out and about with Sheba also means I saw my first dandelions a bit earlier than I probably would have otherwise, on April 1:


Nothing particularly showy and gorgeous in this post, but it's interesting anyway, I think. In particular, I don't very often get to look closely at tree flowers, and would almost certainly not have checked out the Pulmonaria at home, if not for the walks. So there's some horticultural benefit to having a dog. Unintended consequences.

Question for the Hive Mind: Euphorbia NOID

Wondering if anybody knows of any Euphorbia species which have milii-like flowers like those above, but much larger. The flowers in the picture were maybe an inch, inch and a half (2.5 to 3.8 cm) across, and the stem looked less like Euphorbia milii and more like Pachypodium lamerei: sort of silvery-shiny, and a good inch and a half (3.8 cm, again) thick, with longer but sparser thorns than on the E. miliis I've seen. I didn't get any pictures of the stem, and am now wishing I had, but I'm hopeful someone will know anyway. Is this probably still a milii cultivar? Are there hybrid Euphorbias like what I've described?

It's probably too late for me to buy one (this was some time ago, at Frontier Garden Center in Cedar Rapids), but I'm curious about how variable of a species E. milii might actually be.

(EDITED because for some reason I am unable to remember that it's miLii, not miLLii.)

Random plant event: Stapelia gigantea flower

The Stapelia flower bud I told you about last week opened on Wednesday. I was a little disappointed to learn that it was only an S. gigantea; I knew that was most likely (the pot had a newspaper clipping taped to it, about S. gigantea, so I knew that's what the previous owner had thought it was), but I was secretly hoping for something a little more unusual.

Which is pretty unreasonable of me, as I'm sure if it'd been some other Stapelia, I'd have been disappointed that the flower wasn't bigger, or something like that. Some people just can't be made happy.

The smell is more or less what I was expecting: it's in that whole dog shit / rotten flesh neighborhood, but not strong enough to make the whole house stink. The biggest smell-related surprise for me is that Sheba appears not to care. Maybe it's just that she can't actually reach it, so she has no reason to get excited. Or, more frighteningly, maybe she just thinks this is how houses are supposed to smell.

Anyway. So here are various photos of the flower. They all blow up much larger if opened in a separate window.

The entire plant. The pot is six inches (15 cm) in diameter.

Close-up of the important part of the flower. Hard to believe that the entire huge stinky production is all just to get a couple flies to visit this.

Close-up intended to illustrate the hairiness of the flower.

Close-up on the hairs around the outside of the flower.

The flower one last time.

Saturday morning Nina and/or Sheba picture

It's very difficult to get a decent picture of Sheba; she has a tendency to strike a perfect pose for just a few seconds less than the time it takes me to turn on the camera and start it autofocusing. So I get a lot of shots of her blurred back half running out of frame. Nina, who spends the bulk of her time sitting perfectly motionless, is a lot more cooperative. I'm just saying.

Sheba report:

Walking Sheba using the harness we got for Fervor works much better than using the leash-and-collar system we were doing before. I can't figure out why it would be that much different, from her perspective. Possibly she clued in to the whole "walking" thing and it just happened to coincide with changing to the harness. Whatever it is, walks have gotten much more enjoyable. So that's good.

And no, the harness is not ordinarily on her like this; I hadn't noticed when I took the picture that she'd stepped over the leash. I was concentrating on getting the picture.
We still haven't chosen a new name for her, after a week to think about it: she sort of responds to "Zeal,"¹ more so than any of the other names under consideration (the leading three candidates for me, at least, are Anya,² Yoshimi,³ and Maui,⁴ though I don't think Whiskey,⁵ Yoko,⁶ or Zeal have officially been ruled out.). And there's also the chance she'll remain "Sheba," because we're sort of used to calling her that, and she sort of responds to it.⁷




And then there's the puking thing. As of Thursday night, we've had Sheba for seven and a half days, and she's vomited three different times already. The first time doesn't count, because it was pretty obviously carsickness, but still. I gather from reading around the internet that throwing up is just something that dogs do from time to time, and it doesn't necessarily signify illness like it would for a person. Nor does she seem to be particularly uncomfortable during or after, so I'm not worried about it yet, but still -- this was not in the brochure.

Speaking of not in the brochure -- she got her anal glands emptied on Tuesday, but the smell is still around occasionally, if not as often as it used to be. Unpleasant, but perhaps it will pass.

She also enjoys ice cubes, begs for food a lot (though she's getting better about it -- we've agreed that we don't want to start feeding her people food, lest there be confusion about which people food she's allowed to eat, but sometimes it's hard to restrain myself 'cause of how she's adorable), and is, variously: obsessive about birds, pretty interested in squirrels, bewildered by snakes, scared of cats, and desperate to meet other dogs, all of them, even the ones who are clearly barking at her in a threatening manner. She spends a lot of her day attempting to determine exactly where I and the husband are, so she can sit down precisely in between us. (This is more complicated when one of us is upstairs and the other is in the basement, but she does the best she can.) She's not entirely disinterested in the plants, as Fervor seemed to be, but I haven't actually seen her try to chew anything. The biggest problem to date has been that she's gotten into the orchid bark once and the empty plastic pots twice. No real damage either time (though she may have eaten a little of the orchid bark), but it's something that needs to be watched.

Sheba being bewildered by a garter snake.
Otherwise, it looks like things are pretty much working out. It's different, obviously, and we're all still adjusting, but it seems like this is going to be okay.

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¹ Chosen to parallel "Fervor."
² I think Anya is the female "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" character to whom I best relate. Tara was excluded from consideration because the husband's former cat was named Tara (not after the "Buffy" character), but I probably would have gone with Anya anyway. (EDITED TO ADD: Anya also fits her personality better than some of the other options.)
³ From the Flaming Lips song (and album) "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots;" Sheba responds slightly to "Yoshimi" too but it's probably too many syllables to use for this. Also it gets the song stuck in my head.
⁴ The husband lived in Maui off and on for an extended period during his misspent youth.
⁵ From the character in "Dollhouse."
⁶ From Yoko Ono. "Ono" was rejected as a name because of the danger of accidentally calling the dog every time something bad happened, though I prefer its sound to that of "Yoko." (EDITED TO ADD: Personality is entirely wrong for Yoko, though the husband noted that if we named her that, we could attach a tiny pair of scissors to her collar so people could cut off pieces of her fur. [We would not actually do this, as it would be dangerous.])
⁷ People have been calling her this for about a month now, so she's kind of used to it, but I don't think she responds to then name as much as tone of voice. I mean, we could still change it if we wanted. We don't know what her name was before she was a stray.

Pretty picture: Miltoniopsis Keiko Komoda

Another orchid picture from the show in Bettendorf last Saturday. Before sitting down to write this post, I'd thought that Miltoniopsis was a multigeneric hybrid (a hybrid from two or more genera of plant, as opposed to the more typical hybrids from multiple species within a genus) of some kind, maybe Miltonia crossed with Phalaenopsis or something, but it turns out that no, Miltoniopsis is in fact its own genus of six species (wikiposedly), from Central America and the northernmost parts of South America. They're always quite pretty in the pictures (and not bad in real life either, as far as it goes), though one doesn't see them for sale very often.


These are the orchids called "pansy orchids," for their resemblance to pansies (Viola cvv.). It's not a perfect similarity, but I can see where they get the name.

Question for the Hive Mind: ferny-looking outdoor NOID

I feel like I should probably know what this is already; it looks somehow both really familiar (could we have sold these at the garden center?) and really foreign (surely I'd remember seeing these before, if they were as weedy as they appear to be?). These have been coming up around town in the last couple weeks, especially in ditches and vacant lots.

Not an uninteresting plant, in any case. If you need a closer (or better-focused) look, the picture is much bigger when opened in a separate window.

UPDATE: Okay, duh. I am informed in comments that this is Queen Anne's lace, Daucus carota. Which makes perfect sense. I guess I've never known what it was unless it had flowers on it, and haven't paid the foliage any attention before.