Species · genus Gynura · Asteraceae

Red-vegetable

Gynura bicolor (Roxb. ex Willd.) DC.

Also known as: Velvetplant · Okinawa Spinach

Growth habit

subshrub

Native range

Assam, Caroline Is., China South-Central, China Southeast, East Himalaya, Hainan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Taiwan, Thailand, West Himalaya

Reference · G. bicolor

Cultivars of G. bicolor

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

No named cultivars catalogued under G. bicolor 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.

Gynura bicolor is a soft-stemmed subshrub from warm, humid regions across the Himalaya, southern China, and Southeast Asia, where it grows in dappled light at forest and field margins. Give it bright indirect light and let the top inch of mix dry before watering again, since its fleshy foliage holds moisture and the soft stems rot if kept soggy. It stays leafier and less leggy with steady warmth and some humidity.

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 5-10d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 10 days

Humidity

Medium

Temperature

16–28 °C

Soil mix

Rich, moisture-retentive but draining mix

Propagation

Stem cuttings root easily in water or soil

Fertilizing

Balanced feed monthly through the growing season

Growth rate

Fast

Flowering

Small orange blooms; grown for its purple-backed leaves

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 5-10d) · ai:claude-fable-5

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Red-vegetable 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.