Species · genus Pilea · Urticaceae

Artillery Plant

Pilea microphylla (L.) Liebm.

Also known as: Gunpowder Plant · Lace Plant · Rockweed · Creeping Charly · Military-fern

Growth habit

annual or biennial

Native range

Arkansas, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Cayman Is., Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Florida, French Guiana, Georgia, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Louisiana, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Missouri, Netherlands Antilles, Panamá, Peru, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Southwest Caribbean, Suriname, Texas, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Windward Is.

Reference · P. microphylla

Cultivars of P. microphylla

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

No named cultivars catalogued under P. microphylla 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.

Pilea microphylla is a small, fast-growing herb of warm tropical and subtropical regions, often found colonizing moist, shaded ground and crevices. It wants bright indirect light and a mix that stays lightly moist but never soggy; water when the top inch of mix has dried. As a short-lived annual or biennial, it grows and self-seeds quickly, so expect modest size and a limited lifespan rather than a long-term specimen.

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 5-9d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 9 days

Humidity

Medium

Temperature

16–27 °C

Soil mix

Loose, fast-draining potting mix

Propagation

Stem cuttings or self-sown seedlings

Fertilizing

Dilute balanced feed every 4 to 6 weeks in the growing season

Growth rate

Fast

Flowering

Tiny greenish flowers that puff pollen; foliage is the draw

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 5-9d) · ai:claude-fable-5

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Artillery Plant 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.