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Heart of Jesus

Caladium bicolor

Also called Angel Wings, Artist's Pallet, Caladium, Elephant's Ear, Fancy Leaf Caladium

In Singapore: Fancy Leaf Caladium, Caladium, Angel Wings, Heart of Jesus, Elephant's Ears (Cultivated in Singapore)

Heart of Jesus
Photo: Nativeplants garden, CC BY-SA 4.0

Heart of Jesus is a tuberous tropical plant from Latin America, grown mainly for its large heart-shaped leaves with bold green, white, pink, and red markings. Keep it warm and humid, and protect the tubers from frost and rot.

Family
Araceae (Arum family)
Grows as
Bulb
Light
Bright indirect, Part shade
Water
Keep soil evenly moist during active growth and reduce watering as the leaves fade in autumn.
Soil
Well-draining, rich, peat-based potting mix.
Temperature
21–30 °C; protect below 15 °C
How easy
Moderate
Safety
Toxic: All parts contain calcium oxalate crystals that cause burning and swelling of the mouth, tongue, and lips, plus nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea; sap can irritate skin.
Native range
C. America to Argentina (Salta)
Climate
wet tropical

About

Caladium bicolor, called Heart of Jesus, is a species in the genus Caladium from Latin America. It is grown as a houseplant for its large, heart or lance-shaped leaves with striking green, white, pink, and red blotching. Hundreds of cultivars are available. (See List of Caladium cultivars.) It can be planted outside in USDA Hardiness Zone 10 as an ornamental. It is a problematic invasive species in Trinidad and Tobago, Guam, Micronesia, Palau, Hawaii and the Philippines, and naturalized populations can be found in most of the rest of the world's tropics, including Africa, the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia and Malesia.

Safety

C. bicolor contains calcium oxalate crystals, making all parts of the plant poisonous to humans, livestock, and pets. Sap coming in contact with the skin may cause skin irritation. Ingestion may cause burning and swelling of the lips, mouth, and tongue, as well as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. If a pet consumes caladium, in addition to vomiting, etc., the symptoms include drooling, pawing at mouth or face, and decreased appetite.

Other Caladium plants

Caladium praetermissum · Angel's Wings · Caladium

[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Caladium bicolor by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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