Amaranthaceae FAMILY

Alternanthera ficoidea

Edibility

2/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Perennial

Growth—

Plants are hardy to about 1°c^[1]. Succeeds in full sun to partial shade^[2]. Prefers an organically rich, consistently moist, well-drained soil^[2]. The basic species has green leaves, but several cultivars have been developed where the green leaves are blotched with yellow, orange, red, brown, copper or purple, sometimes with red veining^[2].

Propagation

Seed - Division. Quite easy, since the lower stems root into the ground. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-19. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Alternanthera+ficoidea>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

[1]Desert Tropicals — http://www.desert-tropicals.com/ ↩︎The main focus of the site is succulent plants, but it also contains information on a wide range of other species. Usually at least one good photograph, plus basic information about the plant and its cultivation.
[2]KemperCentreForHomeGardeningPlantFinder — Missouri Botanical Garden · http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/ ↩︎Basic cultivation details, plant uses, habitat etc for several thousand species of plants, mainly from the temperate zone.
[3]Flora of Peru — Macbride. J.F. · Field Museum of Natural History · 1936 ↩︎An excellent attempt at a Flora of Peru, though it is clear that many of the plants were imperfectly known at that time and so information on them was sketchy. Available for download from the Internet.
[4]Cornucopia II — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications, California. · 1998 · ISBN 0-9628087-2-5 ↩︎The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
[5]Plant Resources of Southeast Asia — http://proseanet.org/ ↩︎Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.