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Iresine herbstii
Herbst's bloodleaf is an evergreen, short-lived perennial grown mainly for its red or purple leaves, often kept as an annual or a pot plant. Keep it warm, moist and bright, and protect it from cold.
Iresine herbstii, or Herbst's bloodleaf, is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae that is native to Brazil. Some call this plant the chicken gizzard plant and beefsteak plant.
Its leaves make it a popular ornamental plant. There are many varieties whose leaves or most parts of the plant are green, red or purple. For example, Iresine herbstii aureoreticulata is green, but mixed colors are also possible. It is often found in gardens, but it cannot tolerate cold and is kept cool in the home or greenhouse over the winter. It is therefore most commonly seen as a potted plant for the windowsill. If Iresine herbstii suffers from drought, it can react much more sensitively than other plants and become extremely limp, but it regains its turgor pressure as soon as it has water available again.
It can be easily propagated by cuttings. It also quickly takes root in a glass of water (not only at the node, but at various points on the stem). It is often cultivated as an annual and repeatedly re-grown.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Iresine herbstii 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.
Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.
