Moses-in-the-cradle
Tradescantia spathacea
Also called Boat lily, Oyster plant and Rhoeo
Houseplant · Patterned foliageThe only tradescantia here that does not trail at all — a stiff rosette, like a small dark bromeliad. The name is the flower: little white blooms sitting in a purple boat-shaped bract down among the leaf bases.
Care at a glance
- Ease
- Easy
- Water
- Every 8 daysDrench and drain — water the whole surface until it runs from the holes.
- Light
- Bright indirect to some direct sun
- Feed
- Every 30 days
- Humidity
- Average
- Hardiness
- Indoors, or out in high summer RHS H1B, to 10°C
- Size
- 0.35 m tall · 0.3 m across
- Lifecycle
- Perennial
- Origin
- Southern Mexico, Belize and Guatemala
Is it safe for pets and people?
PetsToxic to pets
Signs: irritation of the mouth and gut from the sap; a skin rash in people who handle it bare-handed.
PeopleIrritates skin
HandlingTake care handling it
RHS category C — the sap is a skin allergen across the whole genus; gloves when cutting it back.
Checked against ASPCA and RHS on 2026-08-05.
A guide, not veterinary or medical advice. If a pet or a person has eaten a plant and you are worried, call your vet or doctor now — don’t wait for signs to appear. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
First signs of trouble
- Every leaf browns in the last centimetre at once, right across the rosette — hard tap water, not dry air.Brown leaf tips · disorder