Dischidia ruscifolia (million hearts)

Japanese name: ディスキディア ルスキフォリア
Scientific name: Dischidia ruscifolia

[Overview]
A climbing evergreen perennial.
The stems are green and thick, produce roots from the nodes, and grow epiphytically on rocks and trees, reaching about 1 m in length.
The leaves are simple and opposite, heart-shaped with pointed tips, fleshy, with entire margins.
They have short petioles.
Umbels emerge from the leaf axils, and it flowers all year round if the temperature allows.
The flowers are small, urn-shaped, white to cream-colored, and the corolla is 5-lobed at the tip.
The fruit is a follicle.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by cuttings or layering.
It has weak cold tolerance, and it is safest to keep it at 10°C or higher to overwinter.
Plant it in sphagnum moss alone or in well-drained soil.
It may also be grown attached to a tree fern board or similar.
From autumn to spring, place it in a sunny spot; in summer, place it in partial shade, since direct sunlight damages the leaves.
Take care not to let it become too wet; from spring to autumn, water thoroughly after the planting medium has dried, and keep it on the dry side in winter.
It prefers high air humidity, so place it where it is not exposed to air from heating or cooling, and mist the leaves with a sprayer.
Apply fertilizer sparingly, giving liquid fertilizer once every 3 months, or diluted liquid fertilizer once a month.
Scale insects can occur.

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