Usually called regal waffle flora or red flame ivy , purple ivy ( Hemigraphis alternata ) is a tropical herbaceous plant with sprawling , English ivy - corresponding stems . Its leaves are scalloped and oval to heart - shape , colour silvery gray-headed above and purplish Burgundy wine underneath . The species Hemigraphis repanda may also be called purple ivy because it has spread out stems and narrower violet folio . Its culture is the same as that for Hemigraphis alternata .
Origins
Purple Hedera helix grows along the edge of woodlands on the island of Java in Indonesia . It is also find in adjoining section of Malaysia and southerly India .
Taxonomy
All member of the botanical genus Hemigraphis are phallus of the acanthus family , Acanthaceae . Key features of works in this family are flower clusters or spikes be tubelike or funnel shape - like blossom that yield dry cum capsules as fruit .
Features
imperial ivy grows 3 to 6 inches grandiloquent and spreads its purple - burgundy stems to an overall breadth of 18 to 24 inches . As the root come into contact with moist , fertile soil , the nodes settle down into the soil . The metallic looking leave-taking , about golf game ball - sized , are evergreen . In spring to summer , the peak of the stems bear a midget cluster of white-hot flowers that are well overlooked . one by one , each flower is tubular and has five lobes .
Growing Requirements
Purple ivy can not hold up temperatures below freezing and is grown outside only in USDA hardiness zones 10 and warm . Plant it in a moist , fertile , well - debilitate soil that is not alkalic in pH. High ambient humidity help keep foliage looking immaculate ; dry or moth-eaten windy web site run to leaf browning . Provide a partially shaded situation where no more than 2 to 4 60 minutes of direct Sunday rays reach the leaves in the former morning or former eve hours . A smart , collateral light is utter . Too much Dominicus as well as ironic soil weather can cause scald of leaves . Full sun exposure are best when heat is not unreasonable and grease remain consistently and evenly moist .
Uses
With a prostrate habit , regal ivy makes a lovely tropical ground cover in the mottled subtlety under trees . It also adapts well to container acculturation to shed over the container ’s edges . In cold region , grow empurpled English ivy as a summertime annual or year - round as a houseplant in a ornamental pot or hanging basket .
Concerns
When develop indoors , supervise works for infestations of whitefly , musical scale insect or mealybugs . scurf insect and mealybugs will be conceal on the lower sides of stems and leave of absence .
