Pilea peperomioides Diels

Chinese money plant (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Rosales > Urticaceae > Pilea

Characteristics

Herbs perennial, rhizomatous, glabrous, often dioecious, sometimes monoecious. Stems greenish to dark brownish, often simple, erect, ascending, or climbing, 15-40 cm tall, 0.6-2 cm in diam., thick, woody at base, succulent distally, internodes 0.3-1 cm, rough; leaf scars conspicuous, semiorbicular, 3-4 mm in diam., Leaves spirally opposite, crowded on upper nodes; stipules persistent, light green, becoming brownish when dry, triangular-ovate, caudate-acuminate, squamose, 7-12 mm, with dense linear cystoliths; petiole unequal in length, 2-17 cm; leaf blade abaxially pale green, adaxially green, suborbicular, peltate, unequal in size, 2.5-9 × 2-8 cm, succulent, papery when dry, 3-veined, lateral veins 3 or 4 on each side, inconspicuous, external secondary veins numerous, anastomosing by margin, finely honeycombed abaxially, cystoliths fusiform, often conspicuous adaxially, base rounded or emarginate, margin entire, rarely inconspicuously undulate, apex rounded or obtuse. Inflorescences solitary, in upper nodes, male inflorescence a cymose panicle, 18-28 cm overall, peduncle thick, 5-14 cm; bracts lanceolate, ca. 0.5 mm; female inflorescence shorter. Male flower purplish, pedicellate, in bud obovoid, ca. 2.5 mm; perianth lobes 4, obovate, connate at base, subapically corniculate; stamens 4; rudmentary ovary oblong. Female perianth lobes unequal, largest lobe cymbiform, 1/2 as long as achene. Achene purplish, broadly ovoid, ca. 0.8 mm, slightly compressed, oblique, verrucose, enclosed by persistent perianth. Fl. Apr-Jul, fr. Jul-Sep.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support climber
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality dioecy
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) 0.55 - 0.75
Mature height (meter) 0.15 - 0.5
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

Light 4-6
Soil humidity 2-8
Soil texture -
Soil acidity 2-8
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-11

Usage

Uses medicinal
Edible -
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by divisions or seedlings.
Mode divisions seedlings
Germination duration (days) 14 - 60
Germination temperacture (C°) 18 - 23
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Leaf

Pilea peperomioides leaf picture by Karin Cortoos (cc-by-sa)
Pilea peperomioides leaf picture by Cristina (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Pilea peperomioides world distribution map, present in Belgium and China

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:855664-1
WFO ID wfo-0001143599
COL ID 4HT2D
BDTFX ID 82356
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Pilea peperomioides