Species · genus Hypoestes · Acanthaceae

Ribbon Bush

Hypoestes aristata (Vahl) Sol. ex Roem. & Schult.

Also known as: Hypoestes

Growth habit

scrambling subshrub or shrub

Native range

Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Central African Republic, Chad, DR Congo, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gulf of Guinea Is., Ivory Coast, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Reference · H. aristata

Cultivars of H. aristata

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

No named cultivars catalogued under H. aristata 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.

A scrambling subshrub from across sub-Saharan Africa, Hypoestes aristata grows as soft, leafy understory and forest-margin growth that wants warmth and steady but not soggy conditions. Give it bright indirect light and water when the top inch of mix has dried, letting the surface approach dry between waterings rather than keeping it constantly wet. Its soft stems wilt visibly when too thirsty, which is a useful and forgiving cue.

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

13–26 °C

Soil mix

Rich, well-draining potting mix with added compost

Propagation

Softwood stem cuttings rooted in moist mix

Fertilizing

Balanced liquid feed monthly through spring and summer

Growth rate

Fast

Flowering

Purple-pink tubular blooms indoors with bright light

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Non-toxic to cats & dogs

Polka-dot plant (Hypoestes phyllostachya) — ASPCA non-toxic to cats and dogs. 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 · ASPCA

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Ribbon Bush 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.