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Blood Leaf

Iresine diffusa, Amaranthaceae

Sources last read 14 September 2026.

Not yet rated How forgiving it is has not been judged here yet.

Also called Juba's bush.

Blood Leaf (Iresine diffusa), the whole plant.
Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Toxicity is partly unassessed

  • Not assessed for cats. This plant is not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.
  • Not assessed for dogs. This plant is not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.
  • Not assessed for people. RHS publishes no harm statement for this plant. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.

What the sources say about its care

Sources file this plant under other names: Iresine lindenii. Citations below point at the name its source uses.

Light
High light 150 fc
Clemson Extension, filed as Iresine lindenii · read 13 September 2026
Full sun
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Water
Moist but well-drained or Well-drained
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Humidity

No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.

ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%
Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Temperature

How cold this tolerates, not what it prefers. No source read for this site publishes a preferred range for a plant indoors.

H1C — 5–10°C 5–10 °C
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Soil
Chalk, Clay, Loam, Sand; pH Acid or Alkaline or Neutral
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Toxic to cats
Not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety.
ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
Toxic to dogs
Not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety.
ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
Harmful to people
No statement of harm to people is published for this plant; that absence is not evidence it is safe.
RHS · read 13 September 2026

Routine care

Watering
During growth, water generously and feed monthly with a balanced liquid fertiliser; in winter keep just moist.
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Feeding
While growing, water generously and feed monthly with a balanced liquid fertiliser; in winter keep barely moist.
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Propagation
Take softwood cuttings during late winter or early spring.
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Pruning
Pruning is not needed.
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Pests and diseases
Can be troubled by glasshouse red spider mite and glasshouse whitefly. Diseases: powdery mildews can occur.
RHS · read 13 September 2026

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Close view of Blood Leaf (Iresine diffusa) foliage.
Close upYoko Nekonomania, CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

About the plant

Iresine diffusa, or Juba's bush, is a species of plant in the family Amaranthaceae. Its form Iresine diffusa f. lindenii, formerly Iresine lindenii, is commercially available as an ornamental.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · read 13 September 2026

Native range
Trop. & Subtrop. America
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
Ecuador
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Climate
seasonally dry tropical
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
Growth form
subshrub or shrub
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
Bushy (evergreen)
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Size
Height 0.5-1 metres; spread 0.5-1 metres after 2–5 years
RHS · read 13 September 2026
Flowering
Flowers white in summer
RHS · read 13 September 2026

More of the Amaranthaceae family

Plants with similar care

Sources

What this does not cover

The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.

Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.

If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.