Ti, Tiplant, Ti Plant, Ki, Hawaiian Good Luck Plant

Description:

The numerous small, 6-lobed flowers are in branched, drooping panicles. The flowers are sometimes followed by small, rounded, shiny, red fruit. Ti plants with green leaves rarely produce fruit and are instead usually propagated by stem cuttings. The leaves are smooth, hairless, lanceolate to oblong-elliptic in shape, up to 2 feet (0.6 m) long, alternate, and bright green, red, blackish red, reddish purple, pink, brown, or variegated with yellow, cream, or a combination of colors. The leaves are spirally arranged into a fanlike shape at the stem tips. The stems are slender, upright, usually unbranched, and ringed with leaf scars. Here in Hawaii, Ti grows wild in wet to mesic (moderately wet) areas at low to middle elevations. Ti is widely cultivated in Hawaiian gardens because it has attractive, often colorful foliage, is used in Hawaiian cooking, and is believed to bring good luck. The leaves can be used in tropical flower arrangements.

Habitat:

Tree, Shrub, Subshrub