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Callisia repens
Also called "Bolivian Jew", Turtle Vine, Chain Plant, Inch Plant, Waterweed, Creeping Inch Plant
In Singapore: Creeping Basketplant, Turtle Vine, Bolivian Jew, 铺地锦竹草 (Grown in Singapore)
Creeping inchplant (Callisia repens) is a succulent, trailing species from the spiderwort family grown mainly as a hanging or ground-cover houseplant. It roots at every node and is easy to propagate from cuttings.
Callisia repens, also known as creeping inchplant or turtle vine, is a succulent creeping plant from the family Commelinaceae. This species comes from Central and South America.
The species is sometimes used as an ornamental plant and it is easily propagated by cuttings. It is also marketed as a houseplant for its drooping habit and the scent of its white flowers. Strong light makes the foliage blush, the plant can stand direct sunlight if there is much humidity. The optimum growth conditions are between 18–22 °C during the day and at least 12 °C at night. Pests include snails.
The species is native to America from the southeast of the United States (Texas, Florida) via the West Indies (Guadeloupe and Martinique) to Argentina and grows in shady, rocky or gravelly spots in subtropical to tropical forests. It is naturalized in Hong Kong and grows on rooftops. In Western Australia, it is an invasive species due to its rapid growth, its tolerance to various environments and the ground cover effect which make it spread very quickly, suffocating local plants or preventing them from germinating.
[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 Callisia repens 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.
