Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Small
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Subtropical forest
Range: Southern China
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Runners
Defense: Toxins
Status: Uncommon

About

The Chinese money plant is prized for its perfectly round, coin-shaped leaves held aloft on long upright petioles, giving it a distinctive UFO-like silhouette. Native to the mountains of Yunnan, China, it spreads generously by sending up small offshoots — called "pups" — from its roots.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Rosales
Family: Urticaceae
Genus: Pilea
Species: Pilea peperomioides