Jiaogulan (Gynostemma pentaphyllum) in 200 mm Green Hanging Basket

Family: Cucurbitaceae (includes cucumbers, gourds, melons)
Genus: Gynostemma (all species within this genus are perennial climbing vines with tendrils; most are dioecious [having separate male and female plants])

Botanical/Binomial Name: Gynostemma pentaphyllum
Common Names: Jiaogulan, Xiān Cǎo, Immortality Herb, Five-leaf Ginseng, Sweet Tea Vine

Botanical Characteristics: Herbaceous | Perennial | Evergreen | Frost tender | Drought tender
Propagation: Seed | Cuttings | Layering

Always do your own due diligence and seek medical expertise if considering plants for medicinal purposes.

Item Description:
PICK-UP ONLY
This item is the exact plant in the photos. There are several strands in this pot, each around one metre long — one is about 1.2 m long at time of photo.

The strands have been wrapped around the hanging basket and are easily unravelled.

Dimensions of this green hanging basket are 200 mm diameter by 125 mm without hanger, 365 mm with hanger. The clasp hanger is removeable, allowing you the option of hanging or placing on a stand to cascade.

This is a saucerless pot, well-suited for moisture-loving plants such as jiaogulan, as water is retained at the bottom of the pot around a drainage well. This reduces watering requirements by reducing drying out whilst also retaining a reservoir for roots to tap into. Excess water above the reservoir simply drains out the hole.

Plant Description:
Jiaogulan is a medicinal herb traditionally used to improve the circulatory, immune, and nervous systems. It is used as a liver function stimulant and a reducer of blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol levels.

Jiaogulan contains compounds called saponins which are chemically identical to those in ginseng roots, hence one of its common names ‘five-leaf ginseng’'.

The leaves have a bitter cucumber taste (it is in the cucumber family) and can be eaten as is or as a tea.

Growing Information:
Jiaogulan is an easy-care plant requiring not much more than reliably moist-to-wet conditions and occasional fertilising. This plant prefers well-drained soil, shade and filtered light, and likes to climb. The vines grow to 1.5 m length.

Cuttings can be propagated, and sections of stem which have naturally rooted on contact with the ground can also be cut away and uprooted for transplanting elsewhere. Alternatively lay a trailing piece over a pot until it has taken root, then cut this ‘bridge’ between the daughter and mother plant for a new plant to relocate elsewhere.