Dischidia
Dischidia · the Ant Plant
It grows perched on tree trunks in the rainforests of tropical Asia, a small trailing epiphyte with thick, waxy leaves and no need for soil. Several species are stranger still: they grow hollow leaves and rent the space out to ants.
Family
Apocynaceae
Origin
Tropical Asia
In the wild
Perches on bark
Indoors
30–45 cm trails
Growth
Slow
With pets
Not listed
Where it's from
Tropical Asia to the western Pacific
Asia to the Pacific
From India and Sri Lanka across Indochina and the islands of Southeast Asia to northern Australia and the Pacific.
Outdoors: zones 10b–11
Tender tropical. Outdoors only in frost-free climates, mounted on bark or grown in baskets.
Lives on the air
A true epiphyte, it perches on trunks and branches and takes water and nutrients from bark and debris, not ground.
It rents rooms to ants
Species like Dischidia major grow hollow pitcher-leaves. Ants move in and leave behind their debris and dead, and the plant pushes roots inside the leaf to absorb the nutrients, even breathing the ants' exhaled carbon dioxide through pores inside the cavity. It is one of the few common houseplants that is genuinely half of an animal partnership.
Confused with Hoya
It sits in the same family as Hoya, both waxy-leaved epiphytic vines, and the two are sold side by side.
Coins, hearts and watermelons
Leaves come round like nickels, plump like hearts, or silver-striped like a watermelon rind.
Breathes at night
A CAM epiphyte, it opens its pores in the dark to save water in its perched, dry niche.
How to keep it
LightBright, indirect
An east or west window, or a south one behind a sheer. Direct midday sun scorches. Too little dulls the variegation.
WaterLet the mix dry out
Fairly drought-tolerant, with succulent leaves that store water. A wet root zone is the main killer.
HumidityModerate to highPrefers around 50 to 60% but tolerates average rooms. A pebble tray or humidifier helps.
Temperature18–29°CWarmth-loving. Tolerates down to about 10°C. Not frost-hardy.
SoilChunky, free-drainingOrchid bark, coco husk and perlite. It can be mounted or grown in a basket. Standard wet soil rots it.
FeedingLight, in growthA diluted feed about once a month in spring and summer.
DifficultyEasyForgiving and undemanding if kept in a chunky mix and not overwatered.
With petsNot listedNot rated by the ASPCA. Its relative Hoya is non-toxic and Dischidia is widely treated as low-risk, but this is by analogy, not an official assessment.
PropagationStem cuttingsA node-bearing length roots readily in sphagnum, chunky mix or water. Pin a strand down like a Hoya.
RepottingEvery couple of yearsInfrequent, or when crowded. Refresh the chunky mix.
What the data says
Carbon from its tenants
In the ant-house species, the colony is not a guest, it is a food source.
39%
of the plant's carbon was estimated to come from its ant-occupied chambers in isotope work on Dischidia major (Treseder et al., 1995). It feeds on the ants' waste and breathes their exhaled carbon dioxide.
What it costs
The plain species are cheap. The variegates and the ant-leaf species sit at the collector end.
$10–25
Variegated forms and the ant-pitcher species command a premium, often $25 to $60 and up.
IUCN · Mostly not assessed
In the wild
An everyday windowsill trailer that, in the rainforest, cannot be fully understood without the colony living inside it.
Most of the roughly 128 species have no IUCN assessment. Forest epiphytes face the generic pressures of habitat loss and logging, but no genus-wide threat is documented. We grow it ant-free as decoration. In the wild it is one half of a partnership.
When it sulks
Mushy stems and leavesOverwatering or a soggy mix. The number one killer. Switch to chunky bark and water less.
Shrivelled, wrinkled leavesUnderwatering. Rarer than rot, since it stores water.
Leggy, pale, faded growthToo little light.
Scorched or bleached leavesToo much direct sun.
PestsMealybugs, scale and aphids, plus spider mites in dry air.
Varieties & company
The varieties
Watermelon (ovata)Million Hearts (ruscifolia)String of Nickels (nummularia)Variegated Million HeartsAnt Plant (pectinoides)
Pairs with · keep apart from
HoyaOrchidsAir plantsCalatheaPeace LilyCacti
A new plant, every week.
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