ornata—Handsome and stately despite its small stature. The cupped, pointed-oval leaves are somber green on top and enlivened with lines of light green along the curved veins. Underneath, the veins become raised ribs and are wine red.
prostrata—Personally, I have my suspicions about this sprightly creeper. When it is young, discontented, or ailing, its fat little button-leaves along the thready stems are a plain light green. It looks so much like the species rotundiflora (nummularifolia) that you can’t tell the two apart. But when prostrata is happy and romping around in its favorite environment, the leaves turn blue-green and wear an ornate embroidery of silver over the veins. Botanically, I’m probably wrong. See what happens when you grow it.
rubella—Rosettes of tiny oval moss-green leaves stand out at intervals up and down the straight stems and all the branches. The undersurface is gaudy red, and so are the stems. Pinch often to keep it bushy.
CARE. Warm, loamy garden soil, filtered sun, dry side. Water with care. Drainage to prevent rot.
PROPAGATION. Leaf cuttings, stem cuttings, division of the plant or rooting stem (roots at joints), seeds.
SPECIAL USES. Excellent house plant, dish gardens.
Pilea Urticaceae
With one exception, this is a genus of creepers, crisp, fleshy—spreaders, and bushlets for dozens of decorative uses indoors (and outdoors in tropical climates). Their common characteristics are much-branched stems bearing a full measure of variously colored, patterned, and shaped foliage, and very greenish flowers in flat clusters at the branch tips.
cadieri minima—Dwarf form of the popular aluminium plant, or watermelon pilea, eagerly branching into a plump bush. The quilted deep-green leaves are splotched with aluminium-silver. And the splotches are faintly reminiscent of watermelon markings.
depressa—Crowded stems spill over the pot, bearing round sea-green leaves neatly toothed on the edge. Stems root where they touch the soil.