Teddy bear vine
Cyanotis kewensis
Also called Kitten ears, Cyanotis and Teddy bear plant
Houseplant · Patterned foliageNever wet the leaves. The brown fur is the whole plant and water mats it, holds against the stem and rots the strand from the middle — water the compost only, and do not mist it however dry the room feels.
Care at a glance
- Ease
- Medium
- Water
- Every 9 daysSoak, then bone-dry — wait until the soil is dry right through — lift the pot, it tells you.
- Light
- Bright indirect, with an hour of direct sun
- Feed
- Every 60 days
- Humidity
- Low
- Hardiness
- Indoors, or out in high summer RHS H1B, to 10°C
- Size
- 0.2 m tall · 0.5 m across
- Lifecycle
- Perennial
- Origin
- Southern India
Is it safe for pets and people?
No animal-poison authority lists this plant either way.
Nobody has checked this one against a source for us yet, so treat it as unknown rather than safe.
The ASPCA catalogue names neither Cyanotis nor this species in either section, and both were checked. That is an absence and not a clean bill. Note that its relatives in Tradescantia — the inch plants in this same file — ARE listed as toxic to dogs and cats, and nothing has tested whether that goes for this genus, so the absence is not reassurance.
Checked against ASPCA on 2026-09-22. Where a source says nothing, we say nothing.
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
- A strand goes brown and collapses in its MIDDLE while both ends look well, and the fur there is matted flat and dark instead of standing up. It has been misted or watered over the top.Rot from wet fur · disease
- A long naked stem from the pot with leaves only at the far end, and the leaves further back are spaced out rather than overlapping. It wants more light, and the strand should be cut back into the pot.Bare strands · disorder