Pilea cadierei

Pilea cadierei grows wild in shaded, wet forest at 500–1500 m in Guizhou and Yunnan in southern China and in neighbouring Vietnam, and has been a staple houseplant since it reached European growers in the late 1930s. Its oval, finely toothed leaves each have three prominent veins, with four rows of raised silver patches between them that look as if they were brushed on with aluminium paint. It grows as a small upright shrub rather than a creeper — usually 15–30 cm tall in a pot, up to 40 cm in the wild — with stems that turn woody at the base and creeping rhizomes that slowly thicken the clump. The best foliage is on young growth, so pinching out the tips keeps it compact, and many growers restart it from cuttings every year or two. It suits roomy closed terrariums and open tropical setups better than small jars, and does best in bright indirect light, high humidity and evenly moist soil; in dim light it turns leggy and sparse.