General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Partial Shade to Full Shade
Water Preferences: Mesic
Dry Mesic
Dry
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 7a -17.8 °C (0 °F) to -15 °C (5 °F)
Plant Height: 18 to 30 inches (46-76cm)
Plant Spread: 12 to 18 inches (30-46cm)
Leaves: Evergreen
Flowers: Showy
Resistances: Tolerates dry shade
Toxicity: Leaves are poisonous
Roots are poisonous
Propagation: Other methods: Division
Other: Produces plantlets along petiole at leaf node.
Containers: Suitable in 1 gallon

Image
Common names
  • Piggyback Plant
  • Pickaback Plant
  • Piggyback-Plant
  • Thousand Mothers
  • Youth on Age
  • Mother-of-Thousands
Botanical names
  • Accepted: Tolmiea menziesii
  • Synonym: Tiarella menziesii

Photo Gallery
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: 2011-03-16
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: 2011-04-17
Location: Granite Falls, WA
Date: 2017-08-28
Piggyback Plant nestled beside an old growth tree stump
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: 2011-04-09
Location: Akureyri Botanical Gardens
credit: Hedwig Storch
Location: Granite Falls, WA
Date: 2017-08-28
Washington State Native Plant
Location: Lake Twenty-Two Research Natural Area
photo credit: Walter Siegmund
Location: Sunriver Nursery, Orem, Utah
Date: 2011-11-26
Location: Sunriver Nursery, Orem, Utah
Date: 2011-11-26

Date: 2012-12-01

Date: 2012-12-01

Date: 2012-12-01

Date: 2013-01-25

Date: 2013-01-25
Location: Cedarhome, Washington
Date: 2013-05-23
Blooming in the wild, shown with mixed native groundcover
Comments:
  • Posted by Bonehead (Planet Earth - Zone 8b) on Jan 1, 2013 8:12 PM concerning plant:
    Native in the Pacific NW, found in the forest understory. I've had it migrate to my flower beds, and it makes a nice groundcover. Is also used as a house plant. The genus is named for William Tohmie, an early botanical collector and physician at Fort Vancouver; and the species is named for Archibald Menzies, an early botanist to explore the PNW coast.

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