Epipremnum aureum 'Happy Leaf' ('Manjula')

Origin and background of Epipremnum aureum 'Happy Leaf' ('Manjula')

In 2010, one branch of a ‘Compacta’ plant near Mumbai, India, began producing leaves with a new pattern. That changed branch gave rise to ‘Manjula’.

Mo‘orea in the Society Islands is the wild home of Epipremnum aureum. The vine climbs trees there with aerial roots, and detached stems can take root as new plants.

Care for supported aroid vines

• Light: Give Epipremnum ‘Happy Leaf’ bright, indirect light and protect the pale areas from hot midday sun. Its growth is naturally compact, and dim light slows it further.
• Watering: Let the upper part of the rootball approach dryness before watering deeply. Check the middle of a dense pot, then allow complete drainage.
• Temperature and humidity: Steady indoor warmth is suitable. Normal household humidity works, while moderately humid air can ease leaf opening and aerial-root growth.
• Growth habit: Wavy margins are normal for this cultivar. Let stems trail, or place their nodes, the points that produce leaves and aerial roots, against a textured support when larger climbing growth is wanted.
• Care: Choose stem pieces carrying green as well as cream colouring.

When Epipremnum aureum 'Happy Leaf' ('Manjula') needs attention

• Wavy margins and mixed colours: The gently wavy blade and irregular cream, pale-green and dark-green fields are normal Manjula traits. Repeated distortion is more suspicious when new leaves also carry silver scars, black thrips droppings or insects. Inspect folded leaves and compact nodes before trying to correct the natural shape.
• Brown areas in pale tissue: Cream sections can show sun, heat or dehydration damage clearly. A dry patch limited to the exposed side usually stops after the plant is moved or water supply is stabilised. A wet, expanding lesion, soft leaf stalk or darkened stem requires root and disease checks.
• Mealybugs, scale and thrips: White wax and cottony clusters indicate mealybugs; attached covers indicate scale; silvery scars with black specks fit thrips. Look around leaf-stalk bases and tight nodes. Isolate the plant and remove visible insects. Choose an indoor-plant control whose label names the pest. Try it on one small cream patch for the stated test period. Continue across infested tissue and hidden junctions only if the test area stays unchanged, repeating as directed.
• A leaf that will not unfurl: Temporary sticking can follow uneven moisture, dry air or leaf surfaces clinging together. Gently free only tissue that releases without tearing. If the problem repeats, inspect the roots and search the folded leaf for thrips; humidity alone will not solve pest feeding or root damage.

Epipremnum aureum ‘Happy Leaf’ (‘Manjula’) is toxic to people and pets

• Keep this plant away from children, cats and dogs.
• Its leaves and stems contain insoluble calcium oxalate crystals, which can irritate the mouth, throat, skin and eyes.
• Chewing may cause burning pain, drooling, swelling, vomiting or difficulty swallowing. Contact a veterinarian or medical professional after exposure, especially if swelling or breathing problems occur.

About the name Epipremnum aureum

Epipremnum combines Greek epi, meaning upon, with premnon, meaning tree trunk, referring to the way the vine attaches to a support.

Heinrich Wilhelm Schott established the genus Epipremnum in 1857 in Bonplandia (Hannover), volume 5, page 45.

Jean Jules Linden and Édouard-François André first described it as Pothos aureus in 1880 in L’Illustration Horticole, volume 27, page 69. George Sydney Bunting later placed it in Epipremnum as Epipremnum aureum in 1964 in Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, volume 50, page 28.