Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Small
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Tropical rainforest
Range: Central America
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Runners
Defense: Toxins
Status: Uncommon

About

A fast-spreading trailing vine native to Mexico and Central America, Tradescantia zebrina is beloved as a houseplant for its velvety leaves striped in iridescent silver, green, and deep purple — the vivid colours shift with the angle of light thanks to specialised reflective cells in the leaf surface.

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.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Commelinales
Family: Commelinaceae
Genus: Tradescantia
Species: Tradescantia zebrina