Epipremnum aureum (Golden Pothos)

  • TropPlant Accession Number (TPAN): 0115
  • Botanical Name: Epipremnum aureum
  • Common Name: Golden Pothos, Taro Vine, Devil's Vine
  • Cultivar: Several, but not distinguished in this post as most share all of the same key features.
  • Family: Araceae
  • Native To: Mo'orea
Epipremnum aureum 
Photo by Matthew Gaston

Landscaping Information

    • Plant Type: Vine, Groundcover, Indoor Plant
    • Texture: Dense
    • Form: Mat
    • Height (on average, in landscape use): 1.5' 
    • Height to Spread Ratio: insignificant, a vining-groundcover
    • Growth Rate: Medium to Fast
    • Landscape Values: Accent, Color, Filler, Framing, Groundcover, Indoor, Lanai, Mass, Patio, Quick Effect, Erosion Control
    • Outstanding Quality: Foliage Color, Foliage Characters
    Epipremnum aureum growing on a tree
    Photo by Matthew Gaston

    Botanical Descriptions

    • Flowers: a "shy flowering plant", this plants lacks a gene that allows for floral development making it the only plant in Araceae that does not flower in natural settings. In 2016, researchers were able to induce flowering. Learn more here.
    • Fruits: Does not produce fruit in its natural habitat. See Flowers section.
    • Foliage Color: Young/immature: light green to Yellow Green. Mature: Variegated Bright medium green to Dark Green (rarely)
    • Foliage Tip: Acute
    • Foliage Base: Cordate
    • Petiole: 1.5"- 4.5"
    • Stipules: 1.5"-3"
    • Margins: Smooth
    • Leaf Arrangement: Alternate
    • Leaf Shape: cordate 
    • Leaf Type: Simple
    • Leaf Texture: Glabrous, smooth, waxy.
    • Leaf Special Notes: Leaf is significantly smaller when young and becomes 4-5 times larger when mature. As a houseplant in temperate climates it appears as a juvenile for decades, not maturing. 
    Epipremnum aureum 
    Photo by Matthew Gaston

    Epipremnum aureum 
    Photo by Matthew Gaston


    • Bark and Trunk: prominent nodes and leaf scars. green (juvenile) to brownish (Mature)
    Epipremnum aureum juvenile (left) and mature stem (right)
    Photo by Matthew Gaston

    Horticultural Information

      • Light Preference: Semi-Shade
      • Light Tolerances: Shade, Semi-Sun
      • Soil Preferences: Not Particular
      • Tolerances: Not Particular, Acidic,  Alkaline, Poor Drainage, Submerged Roots, Smog, Compacted Soil, Moderate Winds, Humidity, Low Humidity, Regular Watering
      • Water Requirements: Moderate watering. 
      • Notes on Maintenance: A bullet proof plant with few maintenance issues. Can cause damage to buildings if its roots grow onto the wall. 
      • Propagation:, Cutting
      • Minimum USDA Hardiness Zone: 10a
      • Weed Risk Assessment Score (WRA): 9, High Risk

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