Species · genus Callisia · Commelinaceae

Creeping Inchplant

Callisia repens (Jacq.) L.

Also known as: Waterweed · "Bolivian Jew" · Chain Plant · Creeping Inch Plant · Inch Plant

Growth habit

annual or subshrub

Native range

Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Aruba, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil Northeast, Cayman Is., Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Mississippi, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Texas, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Windward Is.

Reference · C. repens

Cultivars of C. repens

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under C. repens yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

Callisia repens is a low, creeping subshrub from the warm Americas, with small fleshy leaves on trailing stems that store some moisture. Give it bright indirect light to keep growth dense, and let the top inch of mix dry before watering; its succulent stems rot if kept wet. Ordinary household humidity suits it.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 7-12d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 12 days

Humidity

Medium

Temperature

13–27 °C

Soil mix

Light, free-draining potting mix with added perlite

Propagation

Stem cuttings root readily in soil or water

Fertilizing

Weak balanced liquid feed monthly through spring and summer

Growth rate

Fast

Flowering

Tiny white flowers appear occasionally indoors

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Not yet documented

This is where toxicity lives — every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 7-12d) · ai:claude-fable-5

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Creeping Inchplant yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.