Caladium
Caladium bicolor · Heart of Jesus
It grows on open forest edges and riverbanks across the warm, wet tropics of South America, dying back to an underground tuber in the dry season. Its leaves are so thin they are often translucent, painted in white, pink and red over green.
Family
Araceae
Origin
Tropical South America
In the wild
Forest edges
Indoors
0.3–0.75 m
Growth
Fast, then dormant
With pets
Toxic
Where it's from
Tropical Central and South America
Amazon and beyond
Native to the Amazon basin and surrounds, including Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and the Guianas.
Outdoors: zones 9–10
Reliably perennial only in the frost-free tropics. A summer annual everywhere colder.
Invasive in the wet tropics
A documented weed in Trinidad and Tobago, Guam, Hawai'i, the Philippines and beyond. Do not dump tubers in warm climates.
It dies on purpose
A caladium is a tuber, not an evergreen. In cool or dry conditions it drops all its foliage and goes fully dormant as a bare lump underground, then resprouts the next warm season. The plant you think has died is simply asleep.
Not dead, dormant
The bare tuber is alive and resprouts when it is warm and watered again.
Store it warm and dry
Lift the dormant tuber and keep it above about 7°C, never cold or wet.
One Florida town
Roughly 98% of the world's caladium tubers are grown in Lake Placid, Florida.
How to keep it
LightPart to bright shade
Filtered sun. Direct sun scorches and bleaches the thin leaves.
WaterKeep moist in growth
Consistently moist through active growth, then taper off hard as leaves yellow in fall.
HumidityHighA wet-tropics plant. Dry indoor air browns the fragile leaf edges.
TemperatureWarm only, above 16°CThrives where nights stay above about 16°C. Cold tubers sulk or rot.
SoilRich, humusy mixMoist, fertile, slightly acidic and well-draining.
FeedingRegular in growthA hungry, fast leaf-maker. Feed through active growth, stop at dormancy.
DifficultyEasy to moderateEasy as a summer grower. Year-round indoor keeping is harder because of the dormancy.
With petsToxicInsoluble calcium oxalate crystals. Mouth burning, drooling and vomiting if chewed.
PropagationTuber divisionCut the dormant tuber into pieces, each with at least one eye, then replant in warmth.
RepottingYearlyTubers are lifted and restarted each spring. Pot up or divide when restarting.
What the data says
What it costs
Very cheap, sold by the bag of tubers and mass-produced in Florida. Only newer patterns carry a premium.
$2–8
Per tuber. Scarce named selections and newer Thai multicolour introductions run higher, roughly $15–40, with no speculative mania.
IUCN · Not threatened
In the wild
The inverse of the usual tension: a houseplant so successful it has escaped and become a weed.
Caladium bicolor is not a conservation concern. It is mass-propagated globally and has escaped cultivation to become an invasive weed across the world's wet tropics. Thriving in our homes and over-thriving in the wild.
When it sulks
No leaves, looks deadUsually dormancy, not death. Cool or dry conditions trigger it; the tuber is alive.
Scorched or bleached leavesToo much direct sun, or dry air on the thin leaves.
Yellowing leavesThe onset of dormancy in fall, or overwatering and cold mid-season.
Mushy tuberStored too cold or too wet, or planted into cold wet soil. Keep it warm and dry.
Torn, tattered leavesThe leaves are thin and easily damaged by wind or rough handling.
Varieties & company
The varieties
'Candidum''White Christmas''Red Flash''Carolyn Whorton''Thai Beauty'
Pairs with · keep apart from
FernsPeace LilyPhilodendronSnake PlantCactiSucculents
A new plant, every week.
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