Sun Sentinel Broward Edition

Plentiful Pilea are easy indoors or outside

- Kenneth Setzer

Chances are, one of the terribly weedy plants you pull from your landscape is a Pilea species. Many of them are cherished houseplant­s, while others make for great groundcove­r and garden borders. Some get a bit out of hand. Here are a few of interest.

Pilea are in that most irritating family of plants that includes stinging nettle, the Urticaceae. That family is unforgetta­ble when you link it to the verb urticate, as in “the urticating hairs of a tarantula,” once supposedly the main ingredient of itching powder. I once absent-mindedly stroked an attractive plant in Europe that caused skin irritation like cactus glochids do (the hairs of some cactuses). It was certainly a bit painful. I wondered if it was another Urticaceae, stinging nettle — it was — but I stupidly reached out and touched it again to make sure.

Fortunatel­y, Pilea are completely non-irritating.

Unless of course they’ve commandeer­ed your yard. Certain Pilea take over outdoor potted plants; in some cases they make a nice ground cover that complement­s the pot’s main resident, while other times they overwhelm and smother smaller plants. Such may be the case with succulents like Echeveria. Many of these remain a short, compact rosette of leaves, and certain Pilea can rapidly cover them. But they’re easily plucked out.

Very common in the South is artillery plant, aka artillery fern, though it’s not a fern. It’s Pilea microphyll­a, and with thick, pale green leaves of about ¼” makes a sprawling garden edging or under-tree accent. From a distance, its small leaves do create a ferny appearance. While it spreads easily, it’s not been a problem in my yard. Too much direct sun will cause it to wither, otherwise it’s maintenanc­e free. There seems to be a discrepanc­y on whether it’s a Florida native.

Another common Pilea is called creeping Charlie (P. nummularii­folia). It will creep over bare soil to form a mounded carpet of leaves, each about maybe an inch and much less succulent than artillery plant. It is easily grown outdoors in the subtropics, but likes moisture and protection from the midday sun. It also goes well in a hanging pot.

A very un-Pilea like species is P. fairchildi­ana. It’s got long, tapered leaves to about 6” and forms a rosette that feels more like a bromeliad. It grows naturally only in the Constanza Mountains of the Dominican Republic, and outside a Fairchild plant sale, is not commonly offered. Indeed, before 2012 it was in a completely different genus. Fairchild researcher­s and others in fact are responsibl­e for re-categorizi­ng this plant as a Pilea, and chose the epithet to honor David Fairchild. It looks perfect in a rock garden and you can visit ours in Plot 21, the rocky outcroppin­g at the end of the Overlook.

A popular houseplant is P. peperomioi­des, the money or friendship plant with large, flat, round lily-pad leaves, and the aluminum plant, P. cadierei. The latter is a bit shrubby, and though it still makes a nice shady groundcove­r, it can grow a foot or so high. Its leaves are splotched in silver. To me, its leaves look like someone rubbed light green paint off to reveal the metallic silver beneath.

A Jamaican endemic, Pilea grandifoli­a does certainly have grand foliage, compared to other Pilea, anyway. These grow to small shrub size at a few feet tall and make fantastic border plantings. They are quite common at Fairchild but only recently have been offered at our plant sales. They do best in bright shade or partial sun, and while grown for the serrate-edged, quilted leaves, the pink flower spikes are pretty. Most Pilea, and in fact many other family members, have in common similar-looking tiny flowers along a clustered spike called a cyme.

There are so many more Pilea to play with, like P. depressa, aka baby toes with tiny, round, cute leaves, perfect for a terrarium; P. glauca, with paler foliage; there’s even a variegated artillery plant with its tiny leaves spotted in pink and white. Whether for indoors or outside in warmer climates, there’s plenty of Pilea to explore.

 ?? KENNETH SETZER/COURTESY ?? Artillery plant pops up nearly everywhere.
KENNETH SETZER/COURTESY Artillery plant pops up nearly everywhere.

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