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Sunday, November 29, 2009

List: Houseplants With Totally or Partially Pink Leaves

As I was composing this list, I had the strong feeling that I'm leaving out something really obvious, but I couldn't figure out what. It's possible that my brain is trying to insist that flowers are leaves. It does that sometimes.

In any case, if you think of any other houseplants that aren't somewhere in this post, let me know in the comments and I'll add it.

Cordyline fruticosa 'Florica' and other cvv. (ti plant)

Cryptanthus 'Elaine' and other Cryptanthus cvv.

Dracaena marginata 'Colorama.' (Madagascar dragon tree)

Ficus elastica 'Tineke.' (rubber plant, rubber tree) (new growth)

Hoya carnosa 'Krimson Queen' and other cvv. (wax flower) (leaf edges or centers)

Hypoestes phyllostachya (polka dot plant) (species and some cvv.)

Pedilanthus tithymaloides, variegated (devil's backbone) (with temperature fluctuations)

Peperomia griseoargentea cv. (some cvv.)

Stromanthe sanguinea 'Triostar.'

Syngonium podophyllum 'Neon.' (arrowhead vine)


I'm pretty fond of Hoya carnosa (though the 'Krimson Queen' in the picture is getting a little cranky lately: I think I made it wait too long for water), and I like Pedilanthus tithymaloides so well that it feels borderline unfair to even mention it. Cryptanthus spp. are also very nice plants, though I'm a little pissed at the genus at the moment, because one I bought from the consignment store this summer turned out to have mealybugs (I checked it, though! I swear I checked!), and they spread to (at least) one of my other plants before I found out and threw them away. Still, aside from that, they've always been good plants for me, and are pretty easy.

Not Pictured:
Aglaonema cvv. (a few relatively uncommon varieties)
Aloe striata (coral aloe) (leaf edges, in very bright light)
Alternanthera ficoidea 'Partytime' (large portions of leaves)
Ananas comosus (ornamental pineapple) (some cvv.)
Begonia rex-cultorum and some other Begonia cvv. (some cvv.)
Breynia disticha (=Breynia nivosa) 'Roseo-Picta' (snowbush, snow-on-the-mountain)
Caladium cvv. (some cvv.)
Calathea ornata
Calathea roseo-picta
Echeveria cvv. (some cvv.)
Episcia cvv. (flame violet) (some cvv.)
Fittonia albivenis (nerve plant) (some cvv.)
Neoregelia cvv. (some cvv.)
Peperomia clusiifolia 'Rainbow' (leaf edges, in bright light)
Philodendron 'Pink Princess'
Saintpaulia ionantha cvv. (African violet) (some variegated cvv.)
Solenostemon scutellarioides 'Pink Chaos,' some other cvv. (coleus)
Tradescantia fluminensis (wandering Jew) (some cvv.)
variegated Tradescantia spathacea (oyster plant, Moses in the cradle)

7 comments:

  1. Nice! I have a variegated green/pink Saintpaulia that I just bought - will take a pic if you want it.
    First pink plant I usually think of is Iresine herbstii, not really pink but red-purple and not a hint of green.

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  2. Very pretty plants. I also thought of the Iresine herbstii when I started reading this post. Can't think of any other plant that might qualify.

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  3. I too have had African violets with pink-splashed leaves, Mr. S. Also pink-white-and-green lemon and ornamental pepper foliage (I raise both as houseplants). Um, do poinsettia bracts count? Like you, I feel sure I'm missing some really obvious things, like pink-variegated pineapple foliage, but I'm here at my computer and not out in the greenhouse and I'm just not getting there... sigh. Great post as always!

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  4. I consider Iresine herbstii a red, not a pink. I mean, color names aren't precise, measurable things, but it doesn't seem close enough to pink for me.

    Poinsettia bracts don't count (poinsettias were mostly what I was referring to when I said my brain was insisting flowers were leaves).

    Probably should include ornamental pineapple.

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  5. How about Caladium? (some cultivars) Even though they aren't great houseplants, some people grow them as such. There are also Episcia varieties with considerable amounts of pink in the leaves, as well as Trandescantia spathacea variegata, (former genus Rhoeo) which is quite pink.

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  6. How about Breynia nivosa 'Roseo-picta'?

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