Pilea peperomioides

Pilea peperomioides(/paɪˈliːəpɛpəˌroʊmiˈɔɪdiːz/), theChinese money plant,UFO plant,pancake plant, lefse plantormissionary plant,is aspeciesofflowering plantin the nettlefamilyUrticaceae,nativetoYunnanandSichuanprovinces insouthern China.
The Scottish botanistGeorge Forrestwas the first westerner to collectPilea peperomioides, in 1906 and again in 1910, in theCang Mountainrange inYunnan Province.
In 1945, the species was found by Norwegian missionary Agnar Espegren in Yunnan Province when he was fleeing from Hunan Province. He tookcuttingsofP. peperomioidesback toNorway, by way ofIndiain 1946, and from there it was spread throughoutScandinavia.
Pilea peperomioidesis an example of a plant that has been spread amongst amateur gardeners via cuttings, without being well known to western botanists until the late 20th century. This led to the plant earning the nickname of “friendship plant”, or “pass-along plant”. Many horticulturists and hobbyists were not aware of its true classification, in thenettlefamilyUrticaceae, until the 1980s. The first known published image of it appeared in theKew magazinein 1984.Through the early 2010s and 2020s,P. peperomioidesbecame widely available commercially, and is no longer a curiosity. The initial offerings for sale on the mainstream plant market saw great demand for the plant, with prices going as high as US$75 for a single unrooted cutting, advertised onInstagram, as late as 2019.
Pilea peperomioidesis an erect,evergreenperennial plant, with shiny, dark green, circular leaves up to 10 cm (4 in) in diameter on longpetioles.The leaves are described aspeltate—circular, with the petiole attached near the centre. The plant is completely hairless. It grows to around 30 cm (12 in) tall and wide in the wild.  Indoors, it has the potential to grow larger. The stem is greenish to dark brown, usually unbranched and upright, andlignifiedat the base when mature. In poor growing conditions, it loses its leaves in the lower part of the stem and assumes a distinctive habit. The flowers are inconspicuous.
The plant has a superficial resemblance to some species ofPeperomia(hence the specific epithetpeperomioides), also popular as cultivated plants but in a different family, thePiperaceae.  It is also sometimes confused with other peltate-leaved plants such asNasturtium,UmbilicusandHydrocotyle.
This species occurs only in China: in the southwest ofSichuan provinceand the west ofYunnan province. It grows on shady, damp rocks in forests at altitudes from 1,500 to 3,000 m (4,900 to 9,800 ft). It is endangered in its native habitat. However, it is kept in China and worldwide as anornamental plant.
Intemperateregions,P. peperomioidesis treated as ahouseplant, with cultivation recommended at a minimum temperature anywhere from 13 °C (55 °F)to 5 °C (41 °F).However, in its native range, the plant tolerates periods near or below freezing.Thus the plant could be kept in unheated indoor areas or even outdoors in temperate climates; the foliage may be killed back by frost, but regrows in spring.Wessel Marais, theKew Gardensbotanist whodetermined the identityof the plant in the 1980s, later grew the plant outdoors inCazillac, France.He reported it surviving for 6 or 7 years with temperatures as low as −9 °C (16 °F), noting that "the stems above ground are killed but it comes again from below ground-level, so deep planting should do the trick".
P. peperomioidesis propagated from plantlets that sprout on the trunk of the parent plant (these are called offshoots) or from underground shoots (calledrhizomes).These offshoots are often passed on as a lucky plant ("lucky thaler") or friendship plant. Since constant temperatures and high humidity have a positive effect on plant growth.  This plant species is suitable for plantingterrariums.
Although the plant is endangered in its native habitat, it is among the most popular houseplants today. It is in high demand because it is slim, easy to grow, and tolerates dry environments. The plant is readily available in retail greenhouses, which in turn are supplied by industrial-scale farming enterprises.
This species has gained theRoyal Horticultural Society'sAward of Garden Merit.
There are three different cultivars which have appeared in the last few years “Sugar”, “White Splash” and “Mojito.”
P. peperomioides ispropagatedthrough divisions and stem cuttings.
Stem cuttings in Pilea perperomioides are often confused with leaf cuttings, as the propagation technique requires slicing off a leaf of the mother plant; however, the cutting must take place at the stem and include stem tissue for successful propagation. Hence it is technically a stem cutting not a leaf cutting.