Red-Ivy

Hemigraphis alternata (Burm. f.) T. Anderson

(with comments on additional species)

hem-ee-GRAPH-is awl-ter-NAY-tah

Acanthaceae

Explanation of name:  According to DAV, generic name from Greek hemi-, half, and graphis, stylus or paintbrush.  Alternata means alternate.

Natural range: Java

Recognition: Low, creeping ivy-like plant with opposite, ovate leaves having bluntly serrate-crenate margins and much purple coloration.  Flowers among overlapping bracts, white.

See http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?Code=A514

Hemigraphis repanda, Waffle Plant, has leaves dark green on top and purple beneath, with a distinctive waffle texture.  It is being produced in Florida by tissue culture as a narrow-leaved cultivar, the blades about the shape and size of a butter knife with coarsely toothed margins.

Hemigraphis ‘Exotica’, Purple Waffle Plant, has irregular, distorted leaves with the puckered texture and coloration of H. repanda. 

Hemigraphis reptans (Forst. f.)  T. Anders. ex Hemsl. is introduced and escaped in Miami-Dade Co. (WU2) and in other states. It is a small, compact, ivy-like groundcover having oval leaves with sinuate margins, without purple coloration.

Landscape uses: Groundcover (often not providing thorough coverage), hanging baskets. Escaped from cultivation