Urticaceae FAMILY

Pilea microphylla

Edibility

0/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

Although a member of the stinging nettle family (Urticaceae), members of this genus do not have stinging hairs[ 266 Title Flora of China Publication Author Website http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ Publisher Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. Year 1994 ISBN Description An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available. ].

Botanical Description

Pilea microphylla is an evergreen, ground-covering annual to short-lived perennial plant forming a dense mat of growth around 30cm high and up to 60cm wide[ 309 Title Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida Publication Author Website http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/shrubs/ Publisher University of Florida Year 0 ISBN Description PDF fact sheets on over 500 shrubs. , 352 Title KemperCentreForHomeGardeningPlantFinder Publication Author Website http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/ Publisher Missouri Botanical Garden Year 0 ISBN Description Basic cultivation details, plant uses, habitat etc for several thousand species of plants, mainly from the temperate zone. ]. The plant is somtimes harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine. An attractive plant with its fern-like appearance, it is often grown as a ground-cover in ornamental gardens and is also grown as a house plant in cooler zones.

Habitat & Origin

Origintropical

Native RangeS. America - throughout, except for Chile, Uruguay; C. America - Panama to Mexico; Caribbean - Trinidad to the Bahamas and southeast N. America.

HabitatOn walls and in waste, rocky places in Bermuda[ 468 Title The Bahama Flora Publication Author Britton N.L.; Millspaugh C.F. Website http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org Publisher Britton N.L.; Millspaugh C.F., New York. Year 1920 ISBN Description A botanical description, often accompanied by the plants habitat, of the Flora of the Bahamas. ]. Moist or wet, shaded banks, often on old walls of masonry or adobe, or in moist soil about dwellings, frequent among cobblestones of streets; at elevations up to 1,600 metres[ 331 Title Flora of Guatemala Publication Author Standley P.C. & J. A. Steyermark Website http://www.archive.org/ Publisher Year 1946 - 1976 ISBN Description A superb reference, though somewhat dated. Gives lots of plant uses as well as information on plant habit and habitat. The entire flora (13 volumes) can now be downloaded from http://www.archive.org/ ].