Piggyback Plant | Tolmiea menziesii

The image shows close-up flowers with tubular shapes, featuring slender petals and stamen, surrounded by green foliage.
Photo Credit: Walter Siegmund
The image shows green leaves with a textured surface, surrounded by other greenery and a brown background.
Photo Credit: J Brew
The image features a dense patch of green leaves intertwined with dark, wet logs surrounded by fallen foliage.
Photo Credit: J Brew
The image shows close-up flowers with tubular shapes, featuring slender petals and stamen, surrounded by green foliage.
The image shows green leaves with a textured surface, surrounded by other greenery and a brown background.
The image features a dense patch of green leaves intertwined with dark, wet logs surrounded by fallen foliage.

Spike with small tubular flowers April to August. Grows in moist forests and along streambanks. This is one of the few native species which can tolerate the low humidity inside modern homes, therefore it has been sold as an indoor houseplant. Small buds at the base of the leaf blades develop "daughter plants," thus the common names piggy-back plant or youth-on-age. Good groundcover for woodland gardens, near bodies of water, or along a path. It can also be grown in a container or hanging basket.

 

Plant Details

Habitats Riparian Forests, Bottomland Forests
Habitat Notes Found in moist forests and stream banks at lower elevations.
Mature Height 10”
Shade Preference shade, part sun
Soil Tolerance Moist soils
Special Uses Attracts insects, bees and butterflies; Ornamental