Money Tree Plant

I received this spiffy plant about a year ago from my sweet husband (at that time he was my boyfriend. Apparently, plant gifts get boyfriends into the husband zone with me!) We have a florist in the same strip mall as my company and he would go there often and pick me up unusual gifts. Usually, he’d bring me whatever wildflowers she had that day, but this money tree struck him as special. It’s been sitting on my desk for this whole year and it seems to really like the office-y environment. I wish I liked being in my office as much as this little plant seems to!

I pretty much leave this little guy to its own devices and it does quite well. The florist gave instructions to mist it regularly, as it is a tropical plant, but I find that it doesn’t seem to make any difference whether I mist it or not. Technically, this plant is a bonsai. Bonsai literally means “potted tree,” so more items fit into the bonsai category than I had realized. One of my coworkers admired this plant, so I got one for her as a Christmas gift last year. She repotted it and it dropped all of its leaves and eventually died. It seemed that it had enjoyed being a bit root-bound, which is also typical for potted ficus plants.

The scientific name for the Money Tree Plant is Pachira Aquatica. It is also known by the common names of Malabar Chestnut, Water Chestnut, Guiana Chestnut, and Saba Nut. In its natural habitat, it grows into large, nut-bearing trees. The nuts of the tree are edible and are said to taste like peanuts. In addition, the tree grows delicate white flowers. The plant typically likes to be in swampy areas (hence “aquatic”) and is a good tree for water-logged areas that are not suitable for other trees. In a swampy environment, it likes plenty of room to spread its roots into the mucky water. I’m not sure why, but when this plant is potted, it seems to enjoy the opposite; a tight pot that will allow it to be slightly rootbound and regular but minimal watering in soil that drains well. I do not water mine more than once a week. It would be interesting to me to study why the potted form of the plant would require different conditions than those for a wild tree.

The origin story for this plant is typically told to be that a man went into the woods and prayed for money. He saw this “unusual plant,” took it as an omen that his prayer would be answered, and took it home. He then cultivated it into new plants that he could sell and therefore his money wish was granted. Although it’s a cute story and a good lesson, the truth is that a Taiwanese truck driver took 5 young trees, planted them in the same pot, and braided them together to form a larger tree. He then very effectively marketed it. Who knows, maybe he came up with the origin story himself (yay, marketing!). You can see that mine has five braided branches, but I have also seen money trees with three or four trees braided together. Recently, I was able to continue the braid for an additional half-inch. These trees can grow several feet tall within a pot, but I plan to train this one to remain at about its current size.

Mark and I have a strong interest in bonsai and I hope to post more soon about our adventures and misadventures with the art. My next post will be about my ficus benjamina plants, including the one I’m currently trying to revive.