| Description | Piggyback Plant (Tolmiea menziesii) is a nifty, easy to grow plant. It has the peculiarity of producing a new little plant, "Piggyback" at the junction of the leaf petiole and blade. |
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| Pronunciation | (TOL-mee-uh)(menz-ESS-ee-eye) |
| Plant Type | Indoor Foliage, Wild Flowers, Perennial Tender, Site author's observations |
| Hardiness Zone | 9b-11 |
| Sunlight | bright to semi-shade |
| Moisture | There are many plants that will easily wilt and the Piggy Back is one of these. It needs to be kept evenly moist. The leaves edges and eventually the entire leaf will turn crispy brown if the plant is allowed to dry out to many times. Prefers an above average humidity. |
| Soil & Site | moist, found growing along shady stream banks in moist forests. |
| Growing Media | average house |
| Temperature | Prefers a cool location with temps around 55-60 degrees F. |
| Flowers | small, rather insignificant, greenish/maroon flowers, produced on long, slender, erect racemes, can reach 2 feet long. |
| Leaves | small compact plant with green leaves covered with white bristles, heart shaped lobed can reach 4 inches. |
| Dimensions | It can be grown in a hanging basket. Forms a mound to 9-10 inches. |
| Maintenance | This plant is fast growing and the older leaves are constantly dying. They can be removed and the plant will generate more. It may get to the point when it is best to give the entire plant a hair cut. |
| Propagation | The leaves form new plants at the junction of the petiole and blade. In nature the weight of the leaf will bend down, touching the soil and root. To propagate detach a leaf with a well-developed plantlet leaving around 2-3 inches of the petiole. Stick the petiole into the propagating media deep enough so the base of the leaf touches the media. The leaf will root at this point. The base leaf will shrivel up as the new plant grows. |
| Native Site | A native occurring ground cover from California to Alaska. |
| Misc Facts | This plant is mono-species for the genus. The genus Tolmiea is named after Dr. William Fraser Tolmie, 1830-1886, Scottish physician and botanist. |
| Author's Notes | The most important points to keeping this plant happy is not to hot, not to much sun and never let it go bone dry or you will get "crispy critter" leaves. |
| Notes & Reference | #21-Indoor Gardening (Chicago Botanical Gardens Staff), #158-Plantepedia (Maggie Stuckey) |
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