Species
+

Pilea microphylla (L.) Liebm.

Artillery Plant, Artillery plant, Gunpowder plant, Artillery-plant, Creeping Charly

Climate known 62 photographs Tropical foliage plant
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Pilea microphylla, also known as angeloweed, artillery plant, joypowder plant, lace plant, is an annual plant native to Florida, Mexico, the West Indies, and tropical Central and Southern America. In Guadeloupe and Martinique the local name is ti-teigne or teigne, and in Latin America it is brilhantina. In the southern part of México, specifically in the Yucatán peninsula, the local name is frescura. The plant belongs to the family Urticaceae. More on Wikipedia ›

The opening of Wikipedia, “Pilea microphylla”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Pilea

Pilea, with 600–715 species, is the largest genus of flowering plants in the nettle family Urticaceae.

Text from Wikipedia, “Pilea”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Urticaceae
Described by
(L.) Liebm.
Native to
Missouri, Texas, Arkansas +36
Wild records
761 in range· 298 open

At a glance

Warmest month
29°C
Aug, mean day; nights 24 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
1492mm/yr
12 wet months · peak Sep 205 mm (CHELSA)
Light
25–40DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Grouped as a tropical foliage plant by the genus Pilea, which is reliably one kind of plant (archetype table). Rain rule: a summer growing season, May to October in the northern hemisphere (May to October at the habitat, northern). Habitat rain 1492 mm a year, wettest September at 205 mm, driest January at 63 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 25 to 40 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 14.0 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Adicea microphylla (L.) Kuntze; Adike allophyla Raf.; Chamaecnide microphylla (L.) Nees; Chamaecnide microphylla (L.) Nees ex Miq.; Dubrueilia microphylla (L.) Gaudich. and 23 more.

Cultivation

Grouped as a tropical foliage plant by the genus Pilea, which is reliably one kind of plant (archetype table). The table supplies one figure for this group, a conventional minimum for the cold floor, and no prose.

Its year Rain rule: a summer growing season, May to October in the northern hemisphere (May to October at the habitat, northern).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the year's rain (1055 mm of 1492 mm) falls in May to October, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 25.8 °C against a yearly mean of 23.5 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: November to April.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 1492 mm a year, wettest September at 205 mm, driest January at 63 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

1492 mm a year at the habitat, 1055 mm of it May to October. Wettest month September at 205 mm, driest January at 63 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 1020 mm to 2858 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 25 to 40 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 25 to 40 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 19, the highest 90th-percentile month 43).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 14.0 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 14.0 °C, the absolute minimum 12.3 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 30.4 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 16.4 °C in January (across the envelope cells 8.4 °C to 23.2 °C), warmest day 29.4 °C in August (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 14.0 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER); the archetype table's minimum for a tropical foliage plant, 12 °C, is lower and does not raise it.

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence, and the archetype table's group minimum where that is higher. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 59 to 65% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 24 °C in Jan to 29 °C in Aug; mean night from 16 °C in Jan to 24 °C in Aug. The cold quarter, Dec to Feb, is the three months around the coldest night. 1492 mm of rain a year, most in Sep. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 577 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was 12.3 °C and the 99th-percentile day 30.4 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.10°15°20°25°30°35°30.4° 99th-percentile day (undated)12.3° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400mm rainDLI 25–40RH 59–65 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 577 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C24 / 18–2824 / 20–2926 / 22–3027 / 24–3129 / 24–3129 / 24–3229 / 23–3229 / 24–3229 / 23–3128 / 23–2926 / 21–2824 / 19–28
Night °C16 / 8–2317 / 10–2318 / 12–2419 / 14–2421 / 16–2523 / 16–2524 / 15–2524 / 15–2623 / 15–2521 / 15–2419 / 13–2417 / 10–23
Rain mm63 / 19–15768 / 14–15281 / 15–17674 / 34–202121 / 62–319197 / 92–334185 / 87–327202 / 94–330205 / 118–352145 / 73–36581 / 39–29970 / 23–196
DLI26 / 21–3430 / 25–3835 / 31–4139 / 32–4340 / 29–4338 / 27–4238 / 28–4236 / 29–4132 / 29–3829 / 26–3526 / 22–3325 / 19–32
RH %60 / 57–6860 / 57–6859 / 56–6760 / 56–6862 / 57–7064 / 61–7164 / 62–7164 / 61–7165 / 62–7164 / 60–7162 / 58–7161 / 58–70

Each figure is the median across the 577 grid cells holding the 718 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 1601:1918 (9.925, -84.075). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 12.3 °C, 1st-percentile night 14.0 °C, 99th-percentile day 30.4 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 577 distinct grid cells holding the 718 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1601:1918 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 10.00_-84.375, lapse-corrected +492 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 1149 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeMissouri, Texas, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southwest, Mexico Southeast, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Bahamas, Cayman Is., Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Leeward Is. AB Ant, Netherlands Antilles, Puerto Rico, Southwest Caribbean, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuelan Antilles, Windward Is., French Guiana, Guyana, Surinam, Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru· introduced: Greece, Yugoslavia, Canary Is., Madeira, Benin, Gambia, The, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Burundi, Cameroon, Gabon, Gulf of Guinea Is., Rwanda, Zaïre, Tanzania, KwaZulu-Natal, Chagos Archipelago, Comoros, Mauritius, Réunion, Seychelles, Gulf States, China South-Central, Hainan, China Southeast, Nansei-shoto, Assam, Bangladesh, East Himalaya, India, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Himalaya, Andaman Is., Laos, Myanmar, Nicobar Is., Vietnam, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Solomon Is., Norfolk Is., Fiji, Gilbert Is., Nauru, Niue, New Caledonia, Samoa, Santa Cruz Is., Tokelau-Manihiki, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis-Futuna Is., Cook Is., Line Is., Marquesas, Society Is., Tuamotu, Tubuai Is., Caroline Is., Marianas, Marshall Is., Hawaii, Michigan, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, C. American Pacific Is., Bermuda, Ecuador, Galápagos, Brazil West-Central, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Brazil North, Brazil South, Argentina Northeast
Kew's description“annual or biennial” · “wet tropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker26.32, -80.14 · in the densest population, 177 records (23% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 761 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 298 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 65 km away. 1126 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 43 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 761 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Pilea microphyllaPilea microphyllaPilea microphyllaPilea microphyllaPilea microphyllaPilea microphyllaPilea microphyllaPilea microphylla

Photographs: no rights reserved · CC0 (4); (c) Diogo Luiz, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Scott Ward, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) marique, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Photographs: iNaturalist did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Pilea microphylla, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Ethnomedicines used in Trinidad and Tobago for reproductive problems
Cheryl Lans (2007) · Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine
Antioxidant and radioprotective effect of the active fraction of Pilea microphylla (L.) ethanolic extract
K Prabhakar, Veeresh Prabhakar Veerapur, Punit Bansal, Vipan K. Parihar (2006) · Chemico-Biological Interactions
Phenolic compounds isolated from Pilea microphylla prevent radiation-induced cellular DNA damage
Punit Bansal, Piya Paul Mudgal, Pawan G. Nayak, Steve Thomas Pannakal (2011) · Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B
Antioxidant Activity and Total Phenolic Content of Some Medicinal Plants in Urticaceae Family
Amir Modarresi Chahardehi, IBRAHIM, Darah, SULAIMAN, Shaida Fariza (2009) · DergiPark (Istanbul University)
Antioxidant, Antimicrobial Activity and Toxicity Test ofPilea microphylla
Amir Modarresi Chahardehi, Darah Ibrahim, Shaida Fariza Sulaiman (2010) · International Journal of Microbiology
Polyphenolic fraction of Pilea microphylla (L.) protects Chinese hamster lung fibroblasts against γ-radiation-induced cytotoxicity and genotoxicity
Piya Paul Mudgal, Punit Bansal, Pawan G. Nayak, Steve Thomas Pannakal (2011) · Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology
Controle de plantas daninhas na produção de mudas de plantas ornamentais
Francisco Cláudio Lopes de Freitas, José Antônio Saraiva Grossi, Aline Ferreira Barros, Eliane Rezende Mesquita (2007) · Planta Daninha
Do Pilea Microphylla Improve Sperm DNA Fragmentation and Sperm Parameters in Varicocelized Rats?
Reza Heidari, Rafieh Alizadeh, Niloufar Abbasi, Parichehr Pasbakhsh (2015) · PubMed
Pollen allergen skin test and specific IgE reactivity among Filipinos: a community-based study
Maureen Sabit, Cecil Wong, Agnes Andaya, John Donnie Ramos (2020) · Allergy Asthma and Clinical Immunology
Pertumbuhan Batang, Akar dan Daun Gulma Katumpangan (Pilea microphylla (L.) Liebm.)
Agustina Tri Hapsari, Sri Darmanti, Endah Dwi Hastuti (2018) · Buletin Anatomi dan Fisiologi

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Pilea 3 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not asked
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 99 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.