House plant ID?

[lewic]

Does anyone know what this is, or how to look after it?

I took several cuttings from a friends plant and this is the only one that survived. It grew really well for a while, and was nearly two foot tall at one point, but gradually lost most of its leaves. The leaves get brown blotches on them and drop off, especially in winter (so I guess it may not be suited to our climate)

Could probably do with repotting but would like to make sure it gets the right stuff.

Have looked in loads of plant books, and my mother (who is quite an expert) had never seen one before.

[lewic]

[shirlton]

Is it some variety of begonia?

[lewic]

Wow. I was kindly PM'd with the tip that it might be a Peperomia (thank you John!). Turned out not to be one, but the Peperomia search turned up this thread from someone else who had been trying to ID theirs http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/forums/showthread.php?t=9710

It is a Pilea peperomioides, a Chinese plant which was introduced to this country in 1963 by a 9 year old girl on a school trip to Norway, where it had been brought in by a missionary in 1946. No doubt it would all be illegal nowadays. Kew gardens kept getting sent cuttings for ID but it took them til 1978 to ID it  8)

I thought it must be pretty rare for my Mum not to know what it was!

[Rhubarb Thrasher]

what an interesting story!

[Hector]

It is a Pilea peperomioides, a Chinese plant which was introduced to this country in 1963 by a 9 year old girl on a school trip to Norway, where it had been brought in by a missionary in 1946. No doubt it would all be illegal nowadays. Kew gardens kept getting sent cuttings for ID but it took them til 1978 to ID it  8)
I thought it must be pretty rare for my Mum not to know what it was!

I have this and was told it was a Pilea....also told same story. I got mine from the then head curator at Ness Gardens (plant sale)