Fittonia albivenis

Fittonia albivenis grows wild on the shaded floor of South American rainforests, from Colombia and Venezuela down through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and northern Brazil. Its oval leaves are mapped by a fine network of contrasting veins — white, pink, or red — that trace every curve of the blade. A low, creeping subshrub, it spreads sideways across the ground rather than reaching upward, knitting into a soft carpet beneath taller plants. It does best in steady warmth, bright indirect light, and humidity above 60 % — conditions a closed terrarium provides almost effortlessly. Outside one it earns its reputation as a drama queen, collapsing flat at the first hint of dry air and only perking back up once the moisture returns.