Money plant at home
A money plant at home can be a pothos, a jade plant or a braided Pachira, depending on where you live. Most of them started as someone else's cutting, which makes them a hopeful image of prosperity that spreads by sharing.
What it may mean
Ask what a money plant is and the answer depends on where you live. In India the name goes to pothos, a trailing vine kept in bottles of water on windowsills. Elsewhere it is often the thick-leaved jade plant, or the braided Pachira sold as a money tree, a style that took off in Taiwan in the 1980s. What these plants share is not their looks but how easily they spread. A pothos stem roots in a glass of water; a fallen jade leaf can start a new plant. Most money plants in homes began as cuttings from someone else's. That is a hopeful picture of prosperity: not hoarded but passed along, a piece at a time. A money plant at home raises a pleasant question: what could you share that would grow by being given away?
Depending on how you saw it
A cutting from a friend
Pothos and jade cuttings travel from kitchen to kitchen in jars and paper towels, and many plants are older than the friendships that passed them on. Each one carries a little history. What could you pass on, a piece at a time, from something that grows well for you?
A money tree dropping leaves after a move
A braided Pachira often sheds leaves after a change of light, temperature or position, then settles and regrows. The drop is adjustment, not collapse. What needs time to settle after you move it somewhere new?
A jade plant in bloom
Jade plants can cover themselves in small white or pink star flowers in winter, after cool nights and sparing water. They bloom when life is a little lean. What thrives in you when there is less to go around?
A braided trunk
The trunks of a braided money tree are woven together while young and flexible, and they grow into one shape over the years. Loosen the braid too late and it will not come apart. Which ties in your life were woven on purpose, and do they still hold?
Why it happens in nature
Pothos, jade plants and Pachira are forgiving houseplants that tolerate low light or dry spells and grow readily from cuttings, which is partly why they became gift plants. Pachira trunks are braided while young and flexible, and jade plants can flower in winter when nights are cool and watering is light.
To reflect on
What do you have that grows when you give pieces of it away?