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Products > Plants - Browse By Region > Callisia repens
 
Callisia repens - Creeping Inchplant
   
Image of Callisia repens
[2nd Image]
Habit and Cultural Information
Category: Perennial
Family: Commelinaceae (Spiderworts)
Origin: South America
Evergreen: Yes
Red/Purple Foliage: Yes
Flower Color: White
Bloomtime: Spring/Summer
Height: <1 foot
Width: Spreading
Exposure: Sun or Shade
Irrigation (H2O Info): Medium Water Needs
Winter Hardiness: 20-25° F
Callisia repens (Creeping Inchplant) - A low growing evergreen perennial to 4 inches tall and spreading to 4 feet or more on stems that root at the joints. The 1 inch long soft downy leaves are dark green above and rich purple below. Small white flowers appear in late spring or early summer.

Plant in full coastal sun to part shade. Cold hardy to 20°F. This plant is an attractive groundcover for a regularly irrigated location in full coastal sun or in a drier shady location. Also makes a nice container or hanging basket plant. Though we have not had any such problem (and have experimented on ourselves!), the leaves are reported to be an irritant to the skin of people and pets.

Callisia repens is native to Mexico, Central America, South America, and the West Indies but has spread worldwide as an ornamental plant and in some tropical and in some subtropical locations is considered to be a noxious weed though this plant has not risen to concern in our mediterranean climate. The name for the genus is derived from the Greek word 'kallos' meaning "beauty" and the specific epithet is the Latin word for "creeping, in reference to the way the plant creeps along the ground Other common names include Turtle Vine, Inch Plant, Bolivian Wandering Jew and Honeycomb. Our plants came to us as cuttings from John Greenlee and we have grown in since 2017. We also grow the We also grow the large bromeliad-like groundcover