Pilea matsudai Taiwan Silver

Pilea matsudai Taiwan Silver is part of a group of perennial shade plants related to nettles, non-stinging, grown for their magnificent foliage. This plant, native to the humid forests of Taiwan, forms a beautiful clump of dentate leaves adorned with wide silver-grey bands on a dark green background. It is a cold-resistant, unique and graphic plant that thrives in semi-shaded and damp areas of the garden, even in dense shade and very humid places.

Pilea matsudai Taiwan Silver belongs to the Urticaceae family, just like nettles. It is a perennial herbaceous plant that starts its deciduous growth quite late in spring and disappears in winter. In nature, it is always found in shady and slightly humid places, in the humus of the undergrowth. It eventually forms a beautiful mass of vegetation 60 cm (24in) to 1 m (3ft) high and 80 cm (32in) wide, depending on the richness of the soil it grows in. From its stump, upright slightly arched stems emerge in April-May, covered along their entire length with opposite leaves, elongated and regularly toothed along the edges, 10 to 12 cm (4 to 5in) long, changing from light green to dark green, with parallel silver-grey bands on either side of the central vein. The flowering, quite insignificant, occurs in October. It takes the form of panicles filled with tiny whitish-green to yellowish flowers at the tips of the stems.

Pilea matsudai Taiwan Silver is a remarkable perennial to liven up all damp, shady areas where the sun has difficulty reaching, at the base of trees, in damp undergrowth, along a path or against a north or east-facing wall. In partial shade, it pairs well with ferns and enhances hydrangeas or rhododendrons. It can be accompanied by hellebores, astilbes, or the astonishing Farfugium Wavy Gravy with its frizzy foliage, as well as the toad lily (Tricyrtis).