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Hypoestes phyllostachya
Also called Flamingo Plant, Freckle Face, Measlesplant, Pink Dot, Polka Dot Plant, Baby's Tears
Polkadot-plant is a small, bushy evergreen subshrub grown for its leaves speckled with pink, red or white spots, and it is commonly grown as a houseplant or bedding annual. Give it bright light without harsh direct sun and keep the soil evenly moist.
Hypoestes phyllostachya, the polka dot plant, is a species of flowering plant in the family Acanthaceae, native to South Africa, Madagascar, and south east Asia. The spots often merge into larger areas of colour.
The genus name Hypoestes comes from the Greek hypo, meaning "under", and estia meaning "a house"; this refers to the calyxes being covered by bracts. The Latin specific epithet phyllostachya means "with a leaf spike".
Hypoestes phyllostachya is cultivated as an ornamental plant and is familiar as a houseplant, but can also be grown outside as an annual plant in cooler climates or a perennial in the subtropics and tropics. In the UK it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Many different cultivars have been created with different foliage colors.
This plant does best in partial sun. In the United States, it is winter hardy in zones 10 and 11. It has low drought tolerance, but is rarely damaged by deer. It spreads by cuttings and seedlings.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Hypoestes phyllostachya 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.
Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.
