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Houttuynia cordata
Also called Chameleon Plant, Chameleon Flower, Houttuynia, Chinese Lizard Tail, Heartleaf Houttuynia, Fish Mint, Fish Plant
In Singapore: Fishwort, Chameleon Plant, Heartleaf, 鱼腥草 (Grown in Singapore)
Houttuynia cordata, often sold as the 'Chameleon' cultivar, is a fast-spreading groundcover grown for its heart-shaped leaves mottled yellow, red and green. It thrives in moist soil or shallow water with partial sun, and it can become invasive.
Houttuynia cordata, also known as fish mint, fish leaf, rainbow plant, chameleon plant, heart leaf, fish wort, or Chinese lizard tail, is one of two species in the genus Houttuynia (the other being H. emeiensis). It is a flowering plant native to Southeast Asia. It grows in moist, shady locations. It was named after Martinus Houttuyn.
Houttuynia cordata grows in moist to wet soil or slightly submerged in water, as long as it is exposed partially or fully to the sun. It can become invasive in gardens and difficult to eradicate as its roots run deep and actively spread. It can be propagated by division.
It is usually found in one of its cultivated forms in temperate gardens. The 'Chameleon' variety (synonymous with H.cordata 'Court Jester', 'Tricolour', and 'Variegata') is slightly less vigorous than the parent species, with stubbier leaves mottled in both yellow and red. Another common variety, 'Flore Pleno', has masses of white bracts and retains the vigor of the parent species.
It is native to Nepal, Taiwan, Myanmar, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Japan, China, Thailand, Vietnam and Korea. In South Korea, it is found in Gyeongsangbuk-do, Ulleungdo, and the Southern region.
[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 Houttuynia cordata 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.
