List: Green-Leaved Plants With Red or Purple Undersides

I could have sworn that I'd read that leaves with red or purple undersides are an adaptation by understory-dwelling plants to collect more light. Damned if I can find a source to back me up, though: Google failed me completely. I checked some of my books, too. So maybe that's not true. Most of these do appear to be understory plants, though, whatever the reason for their pigmentation.

Alpinia luteocarpa (bamboo ginger)¹.

Calathea roseopicta 'Medallion.' I think.

Cissus discolor (begonia vine).

Cyanotis kewensis (teddy bear plant).

Excoecaria cochinchinensis (Chinese croton).

Hemigraphis exotica (purple waffle plant).

Nematanthus NOID (guppy plant).

Philodendron hederaceum micans (heart-leaf philodendron).

Selaginella erythropus cv. (red spike moss)

Tradescantia spathacea. (oyster plant, Moses in the cradle)

Making recommendations from this batch of plants is pretty easy, since there are only four plants on the list that I've had good experiences with (Cyanotis, Nematanthus, Philodendron, Tradescantia).

Of those four, Philodendron hederaceum micans is far and away the easiest; it's an adaptable, flexible plant that will survive a fair amount of abuse while still looking good. Tradescantia spathacea is next: it's a perfectly nice plant, and also very tolerant, but it won't develop the purple coloration without a lot of light, so it is demanding on that one point.

Cyanotis kewensis and Nematanthus cvv. are both a little fussy for me: both are usually robust and fast-growing, but both also sometimes die back for no obvious reason, and Nematanthus sometimes abruptly defoliates, which is likely either a cry for more light or a delayed response to drought. Both also need fairly bright light, and not all Nematanthus varieties have the red underside. So those are tied for my third recommendation.

The rest of this field is not very promising.

I've never tried Alpinia luteocarpa, but the ginger family plants I am acquainted with aren't plants I'd necessarily recommend to anybody.²

Calatheas are virtually never a good idea, for anybody, though they're not the worst choice from the list.

I've heard of people keeping a Cissus discolor indoors for any substantial length of time, but I think the people telling those stories are lying.

Excoecaria cochinchinensis and I only just met, so I have no idea what it's like.

I've tried Hemigraphis exotica twice now and will not be buying a third one; they need very intense light to maintain their coloration, plus they can't go dry, even briefly. Since briefly going dry is something that's very likely to happen to a plant that's in intense light, this basically means that you really have to be on the ball with the watering.

And, finally, Selaginella erythropus, which may be the very worst choice possible from this list, unless you plan to put it in a terrarium. In a terrarium, it'll probably do great.

Not pictured:

• Several Alocasias have green or gray surfaces with purple undersides, including A. amazonica 'Polly,' A. 'Mayan Mask,' and A. lauterbachiana. They're a bit too attractive to spider mites for my tastes, and 'Mayan Mask' is huge, but it is possible to grow them indoors. (suggested by tay696)
• Many Begonia cvv. have red undersides; B. x erythrophylla, the "beefsteak begonia," has a particularly vivid green-red contrast and is easy to grow.
• Virtually all Calathea varieties have red or purple undersides: C. burle-marxii, C. insignis (rattlesnake plant), C. makoyana (peacock plant), C. ornata, C. roseopicta, C. 'Corona,' C. rotundifolia, and C. rufibarba would all qualify, among several others. The only two I can think of that don't have a contrasting underside are C. concinna and C. zebrina. None are particularly recommended as houseplants, for a number of reasons.
• Some Columnea species / varieties have red undersides; the only one I know of specifically is C. orientandina, and its leaves are only red underneath at the leaf tips. Columneas seem to grow okay for me, though I've only had any since spring; other people appear not to find them terribly difficult. (suggested by allandrewsplants)
• A handful of Euphorbia species have green leaves with red-violet to violet backs: E. millotii, E. pachypodioides, and Synadenium grantii;³ Synadeniums are typically either uniformly green with red flecks or uniformly red-violet, but there are plants out there which are green with a red-violet flush on the undersides of the leaves. I have only grown Synadenium, which is ridiculously easy; I don't know what the other two are like in cultivation. (suggested by Sentient Meat)
• Geogenanthus poeppigii (seersucker plant; formerly G. undatus) has highly textured leaves (texture is similar to Peperomia caperata) which are dark green with silver stripes on top and purple underneath. I don't know what it's like as a houseplant; I don't think I've ever even seen it for sale, but it's in a lot of the books, so people must have grown it once.
• Tahitian bridal veil, Gibasis geniculata, has small green leaves with purple undersides when grown in good light, and is a fairly easy-to-grow, if messy, plant.
• Homalomena 'Purple Sword' has broad leaves, mottled in green and gray, with purple backs and petioles. (It is, for some reason, often sold as an Aglaonema or Schismatoglottis; there doesn't seem to be much consensus on the ID, from what I could find on Google.) I haven't been happy with the Homalomenas I've tried to grow (though 'Emerald Gem' and I did eventually reach an understanding), and I've never seen a Schismatoglottis for sale so I assume they're probably difficult as well. Aglaonema and I get along great, which is a major part of my concluding that the plant in question is probably not an Aglaonema. (suggested by tay696 as Aglaonema)
• Hoya curtisii has small heart-shaped leaves which are marbled green and silver on top and flush brownish-red on the underside in certain conditions. I've never grown one, but assume their care is similar to that for other Hoyas. (suggested by Tigerdawn)
• In bright light, Maranta leuconeura var. erythroneura (prayer plant) leaves will have a red back. The other varieties of M. leuconeura never have red undersides, as far as I know. Not recommended, though people do grow them.
• Monadenium rubellum (sometimes M. montanum var. rubellum) is an unusual caudex-forming succulent. The leaves are green with dark red undersides. I've never seen one for sale or tried to grow it.
• Musa zebrina has large green leaves which are splotched with red above and solid red below. I've never tried to grow this one, either, but I would guess it's probably fairly difficult indoors. They may be grown outdoors during the summer and then brought in to go dormant during the winter.
• Paphiopedilum delenatii and some other Paphiopedilums have reddish-purple backs on the leaves, at least in some conditions. Not recommended for beginners, but growable. (suggested by orchideya in comments)
• Peperomia rugosa has glossy, bumpy, olive green leaves with a red underside. I don't know how it is as a houseplant, but I'm about to find out 'cause I just got one. (I didn't know what it was, or I wouldn't have. I'd been hoping to find out that it was a Begonia with atypically symmetrical leaves.)
• Pereskia aculeata cv. 'Godseffiana's (lemon vine, yellow rose cactus) leaves aren't so much green on top and red underneath as they are yellow on top and hot pink underneath, but I figure it's close enough. I've only had one briefly (since May), but I like it a lot, and all indications are that it's going to be an easy plant.
• Philodendron linnaei is sometimes, but not always, green with a purple underside (possibly light-dependent?). It doesn't seem to be sold very widely, so I have no idea what it's like as a houseplant.
• Philodendron mexicanum has glossy, long green leaves with a red back, and is pretty easy to grow.
• Plectranthus ciliatus (candlestick plant, blue spur flower) develops a purple underside in strong light; I had trouble finding a way to get enough light on my plant, when I tried growing it indoors.
• Plectranthus x 'Mona Lavender' leaves are green on top and dark purple underneath. Easy to keep alive indoors, but best color requires ridiculous amounts of light. My main problem with them has been water-related: a potbound plant dries out too quickly, but when I repotted, the plant died. (suggested by Don and Kapt'n Splash in comments)
• Many but not all Saintpaulia (African violet) varieties will get red undersides to the leaves under good conditions. Saintpaulia and I have a troubled history, so I don't recommend them personally, but many, many people get along with them very nicely, and hey, you might be one of those people.
• Saxifraga stolonifera's (strawberry begonia) leaves are gray with a red back. It's usually a very easy plant; mine are being weird at the moment and I'm not sure why.
• Stromanthe sanguinea 'Magicstar' has dark green leaves with white flecks and a red-violet underside; 'Triostar's leaves are pink underneath and irregularly brushed with white and green on top. Both are approximately Calathea-level difficulty; I've been successful with mine, over reasonably long periods, but not everyone is so lucky.
• Syngonium erythrophyllum has dark green leaves with red undersides; I have only ever seen it for sale on the (now defunct) Asiatica Nursery and have no idea what it's like as a houseplant. (suggested by tay696 as Syngonium)
• Some cultivars of Tradescantia zebrina (green/silver on top, red-purple beneath) or Tradescantia fluminensis (dull olive green on top, purple beneath) qualify. It's also possible to turn a T. zebrina that's supposed to be purple green by not giving it enough light; I think in those cases the underside turns green too, but it's been a while since I've seen it so I'm not sure. T. zebrina is easy to grow, if prone to running a bit out of control; T. fluminensis didn't do well for me indoors the one time I tried it. (T. zebrina suggested by Tigerdawn)
• -->I'm open to other ideas, if anybody can think of other plants that fit the category.<--

-

¹ "Bamboo ginger" is also the common name of Costus stenophyllus, which looks nothing like this and has leaves which are solid green on both sides. Just so you know. ² Except maybe for Zingiber malaysianum, which did very nicely for me for a very long time, though we're having some relationship problems at the moment. Some of this is Sheba's fault. ³ (Which is technically Euphorbia umbellata now, but sometimes I have trouble letting go of the names.)

Walkaways Part 11

Just another random batch of stuff I didn't buy. Some of them are very cool, but wrong for me for one reason or another; some would have worked just fine, and I just couldn't justify it to myself because I was buying other stuff instead, or I was having a weird day, or something.

First up is the one that most impressed me.

Ananas lucidus. Ex-job. Don't remember the price.
In person, this is a tall, dark red/brown/black plant with a bit of white bloom on the backs of the leaves. It photographed badly, due to interference with other stuff in the background, and too much light, and the camera being just kind of generally bad at color reproduction. If I have a chance to take a better picture sometime, I will do so. But the point is, this is big and spiky and dark and very cool-looking, but way too big for the house, and buying it would almost certainly have taken more than half the money left in my checking account, so it stayed at the store.

Fruit of Ananas lucidus.

Cyanotis somaliensis. Reha Greenhouses. $5.
Cyanotis somaliensis has been stalking me, I think: I keep seeing it around, and almost buying it, but I haven't been able to convince myself I need one yet. Part of the problem is that I didn't know what it was until fairly recently; once I found out, that was a problem too, because my current Cyanotis, C. kewensis, has been . . . well, not difficult exactly, but sort of hard to communicate with.

But that's been resolved, more or less, so it's probably only a matter of time before I get a C. somaliensis.

Crested Euphorbia lactea grafted to E. drupifera. Ex-job. $25 or $30, probably.
I'm not really a big fan of grafted plants, and with one exception, I don't really care for crested plants either. So this one never had a chance. But I thought it was worth including here for the people who like them; I've seen lots of different color varieties, but I'd never seen one that was speckled like this.

Aglaonema NOID. It was 'Susie' something, or something-"Susie." Possibly it was "Susan," not "Susie." I don't know. It wasn't on the tag; somebody told me and then I half-forgot. Ex-job. $30.
Too much money, but I would have bought it otherwise. I like the red Ags, and this was small enough that I'm sure I could have squeezed it in somewhere.

Aloe dorotheae 'Sunset.' Reha Greenhouses. $7? $5? Something like that.
This was a size problem. I don't have a lot of full-sun spots in the house, and although it might not look it in the picture, this was a big plant. I didn't think I could find a spot big enough for it that also get enough light for the plant to stay red. Plus I was buying two and a half other Aloes already.

Acalypha wilkesiana NOID. Pierson's (Cedar Rapids). Didn't ask about price.
I suspect this is one of those plants that looks great in the store, but when you get it home and try to grow it gets all leggy and pale and needs to be pinched back every five seconds. (See: Iresine herbstii, Solenostemon scutellarioides.) It just has that look.

I was, therefore, not interested. But there's no denying that it looks great in the store.

Bryophyllum tubiflorum. Reha Greenhouses. $5.
I kind of want one of these, but it seemed like the sort of thing I could trade for, rather than buy. Not that $5 is a terrible price for a 4-inch plant, though. I hear the flowers are nice.

Monstera adansonii. Ex-job. $25? $30?
We had these at work when I first started, and although it was hard not to be impressed with the speed of growth, they got out of hand almost immediately. The distance between leaves (the internodal distance) is long, so you get lots of vine but not much leaf. Also, we had occasional problems with spider mites. And it's expensive. It just seemed like trouble.

NOID plant from Commelinaceae. Reha Greenhouses. $5.
I don't actually know what this is. I know it looks like a fuzzier, shorter version of purple heart (Tradescantia pallida), and maybe it actually is, but the lady there said it was something else. They had regular T. pallida there as well, and when the two were side by side, the T. pallida was much darker and smoother. They also had a hairier all-green version (which I think was Tradescantia sillamontana) and a less-hairy plant that looked identical to the above NOID, but was green on top and purple underneath. She didn't know what any of them were called, botanically, but said that the differences in coloration were intrinsic, not the result of getting different culture. This is the sort of thing I could possibly figure out on my own if I took an afternoon to Google, and I'll still do that if I have to, but I'm hoping that maybe someone will know without me having to go to that trouble.

I have no memory of the reasoning why I didn't buy it. It was probably that the two and a half Aloes were just cooler.

List: Houseplants With Brown or Partly Brown Leaves

Brown is a pretty unusual color for a living plant, though it's such a common color for dead ones that one wonders why more living plants don't try it, for the camouflage.

This is a particularly tough category, so some of these are a stretch, and others aren't a stretch but the pictures don't show it well. If anybody has some recommendations for brown-leaved plants that I've left out, I'd be happy to hear them.

Alworthia 'Black Gem.'

Cryptanthus cvv. (some cvv.)

Cyanotis kewensis.

Kalanchoe orgyalis.

Kalanchoe tomentosa 'Chocolate Soldier.'

Lithops sp.

Philodendron 'Prince of Orange.'

Pilea 'Moon Valley.'

Solenostemon scutellarioides 'Tilt a Whirl.'

Vriesea splendens.
I have varying levels of experience with the above set of plants, so my recommendations may be less reliable than usual, just so you know. The three of the above I would recommend most strongly would be Alworthia 'Black Gem,' Philodendron 'Prince of Orange,' and Vriesea splendens. None of them are particularly good in low-light situations, but that's true of everything on the list.

My favorite is the Alworthia: I've had one (and then, later, several) for a long time, and I can't recall them ever being any trouble. The brown color doesn't develop without pretty intense light, but even when they're just green, they're good plants.

Second favorite would have to be Vriesea splendens, which is maybe not the brownest of the plants on the list, but it's also pretty easy to grow. Easier than its reputation would have you believe, anyway.

Third would be Philodendron 'Prince of Orange,' which is not, technically, a plant I've grown, but I've had the related plants 'Moonlight' and 'Autumn,' and those have both (eventually) become well-behaved citizens of the plant collection. Light was apparently the main issue, though temperature might have been a problem also. 'Autumn' was all but brought back from the dead, i.e., it was restarted from cuttings, and 'Moonlight' has always been pretty-well behaved, but it turned into a rock star when moved to the plant room about a year ago. (Fertilizer, it turns out, is also helpful. I should do a fertilizer post sometime.) I have no reason to think 'Prince of Orange' is significantly worse than the others. The brown coloration is very temporary, and happens somewhere during the leaves' transitions from orange (brand new) to green (old), but if you're not too picky about the definition of "brown," it's in there.

The anti-recommend probably ought to be Lithops spp., but I've been hard on Lithops lately and feel bad going after it a second time. So instead, I will un-recommend Solenostemon scutellarioides 'Tilt-a-Whirl.' I managed to keep a number of coleus indoors over the winter, even propagating them as I went, but even with lots of artificial light, I was unable to keep them from getting leggy and hideous on me (particularly 'Splish Splash'). Though they can be overwintered indoors, and extremely motivated persons can grow them under lights year-round, I don't recommend bringing them inside if there's any chance of growing them outside.

Not pictured:

Calathea makoyana, a little
Codiaeum variegatum, some cvv.
some Episcia cvv.
some Gasteria cvv.
some Kohleria cvv. (thanks, Andrew!)
some Pelargonium x hortorum cvv.
Philodendron 'Autumn' (in the same way as for 'Prince of Orange')
Pilea involucrata 'Norfolk' (?)
Polyscias scutellaria, a little bit
Sansevieria kirkii var. pulchra 'Coppertone' (thanks, Karen!)
Zamia furfuracea (in high light)
Zingiber malaysianum (under certain viewing conditions)

[Exceptionally] Pretty pictures: transmitted light -- Part XXVI

I just started a new round of plant-watering on Monday, so I'm having some trouble keeping up with the blog, but times like this are why I save up these pictures. This particular round is about evenly split: half of them are, I think, pretty good, and the other half were kind of disappointing. But a couple of the good ones are really really good. So.

(The previous transmitted light posts can be found here.)

Cissus rotundifolia. Okay, so it's not that interesting, but it's a thick leaf. Only so much I can do.

Euphorbia milii NOID. The leaves on these are so small that I'm actually kind of surprised I managed to get this much detail.

Anthurium crystallinum 'Mehani.' This seemed to work out pretty nicely. It's at least sort of a dramatic image. Incidentally, my 'Mehani' is blooming again. The flowers are still not pretty, though.

Cyanotis kewensis. Meh. Though you can see the family resemblance to Tradescantia pallida. Or at least I can.

Haworthia sp., tagged as H. comptoniana but might be H. tesselata or some other Haworthia species. The plant had to be tossed, unfortunately, due to mealybugs. I'm hoping to have the chance to try again.

Pellionia pulchra. Still haven't quite nailed this one: the leaves are both small and thick, so it's going to be a challenge to get right. Someday, though.

Cryptanthus 'Elaine.' This isn't what I was expecting it to look like; I thought the banding (vertical in this picture) would show up more prominently. Instead it's kind of a muddy mess. Oh well.

Cordyline fruticosa 'Kiwi.' Cordyline fruticosa can pretty much always be relied on for a nice transmitted light picture.

Solenostemon scutellarioides 'Splish Splash.' I'm extremely proud of this.

Dieffenbachia 'Tropic Rain.' I think this went pretty well too, though it lacks the drama of the 'Splish Splash.'

List: Houseplants Which Trail But (Mostly) Don't Climb

The line here is a bit arbitrary, but sometimes you want a plant that's going to just lay there, and sometimes you want a plant that's going to climb up things. This list is for the plants that are just going to lay there. A lot of these are used as hanging-basket plants.

A few of these plants will climb to some degree if they're being grown outside (some, like Ficus pumila, are downright obnoxious about it), but indoors, you generally have to provide them something to climb and then anchor the stems with some kind of plant tie at regular intervals, or make them some kind of constantly-moist support, or some other impractical thing like that. Most of the plants in this list won't climb particularly well even with assistance, and can be relied on not to get any crazy ideas about running themselves up your curtains. Your mileage may vary, of course.

This is an even less comprehensive list than usual, because the number of plants with this basic growth habit is practically never-ending. I'll add suggestions as people are moved to leave them in comments.

Note: this list was done by request for Joseph Tychonievitch of Greensparrow Gardens, who asked. I don't promise to take all list requests (some lists just can't be done as easily as others), and anybody who wants one is going to have to take a number and wait anyway, because Joseph asked for FOUR of them, but I'm more or less open to doing posts by request, in theory. Just so you're aware.

Aechynanthus speciosus, (goldfish plant) and other Aeschynanthus spp. (lipstick plant)

Cyanotis kewensis (teddy bear vine)

Dischidia ruscifolia (million hearts)

Epipremnum aureum 'Neon,' and other Epipremnum aureum cvv. (pothos)

Gynura aurantiaca (purple passion plant, purple passion vine)

Hedera canariensis 'Gloire de Marengo' (Algerian ivy)

Maranta leuconeura 'Marisela,' and other Maranta leuconeura cvv. (prayer plant)

Pellionia pulchra

Pilea depressa (baby toes)

Senecio rowleyanus (string of beads, string of pearls)
EDIT: Whoops. I published this without adding any commentary on the pictured plants.

I guess my three favorites from the above list are probably Aeschynanthus spp., Gynura aurantiaca, and Pellionia pulchra, with Cyanotis kewensis serving as first alternate.

This is partially process of elimination, because I've had moderately bad experiences with a lot of the other plants on the list, either from bugs (Maranta, Hedera), rot (Epipremnum), or decline from unknown causes (Pilea, Senecio). And I've never actually owned a Dischidia.

Not pictured:

Callisia fragrans (basket plant)
Ceropegia woodii (string of hearts)
Chlorophytum comosum (spider plant, airplane plant, mala madre)
Cissus rhombifolia (grape ivy; oakleaf ivy) (will climb a little)
Cissus rotundifolia (Peruvian grape ivy) (will climb a little)
Codonanthe spp.
Columnea cvv.
Crassula muscosa (= C. lycopodioides) (watch-chain crassula)
Davallia spp. (rabbit's-foot ferns)
Dischidia nummularia ("button orchid," says davesgarden.com, though it's not an orchid)
Episcia cvv. (flame violet)
Ficus pumila (climbing fig) (will climb a little)
Fittonia albivenis (nerve plant)
Hedera helix (English ivy) (will climb a little)
Hoya carnosa (will climb a little)
Hoya lacunosa (will climb a little)
Hoya kentiana (will climb a little)
Hoya kerrii (sweetheart hoya) (will climb a little)
Hoya pubicalyx (will climb a little)
Ludisia discolor (jewel orchid) (Also other "jewel orchids" like Goodyera, Anoectochilus, Macodes, etc., though those are a lot harder to find.)
Monstera adansonii (swiss cheese philodendron) (will climb a little)
Monstera deliciosa (split-leaf philodendron, swiss cheese philodendron) (will climb a little)
Nematanthus gregarius (guppy plant)
Neoregelia 'Fireball'
Philodendron gloriosum
Philodendron bipennifolium (horse-head philodendron) (will climb a little)
Philodendron erubescens 'Red Emerald' (will climb a little)
Philodendron hastatum (will climb a little)
Philodendron hederaceum (heart-leaf philodendron) (will climb a little)
Phlebodium aureum 'Mandianum' (bear's paw fern)
Pilea nummulariifolia (creeping charlie)
Plectranthus ciliatus
Plectranthus verticillatus (Swedish ivy)
Plectranthus oertendahlii
Polypodium formosanum 'Cristatum' (E.T. fern)
Pseudorhipsalis ramulosa
Rhipsalis spp. (mistletoe cactus)
Saxifraga stolonifera (strawberry begonia)
Schlumbergera truncata cvv. (holiday cactus, Thanksgiving cactus, Christmas cactus)
Scindapsus pictus (satin pothos) (will climb a little)
Scyphularia pycnocarpa (possum tail fern)
Sedum burrito (burro's tail)
Sedum morganianum (also burro's tail)
Senecio jacobsenii (trailing jade)
Senecio radicans (string of bananas)
Soleirolia soleirolii (baby tears)
A few cvv. of Solenostemon scutellarioides (coleus)
Stapelia spp. (carrion flower)
Stephanotis floribunda (Madagascar jasmine) (will climb a little)
Streptocarpus saxorum cvv. (streptocarpella)
Syngonium podophyllum (arrowhead vine) (will climb a little)
Syngonium wendlandii
Tolmiea menziesii (piggyback plant)
Tradescantia fluminensis
Tradescantia pallida (purple heart, purple queen)
Tradescantia sillamontana (kitten ears)
Tradescantia zebrina (wandering Jew)