Imagine a houseplant. Think of it trailing from an understated ceramic pot, possibly on a bookshelf or in the corner of a kitchen. Chances are you thought of something that looks like devil’s ivy. These twisty, near-unkillable vines (Latin name Epipremnum aureum, but commonly – if technically incorrectly – known as pothos) with their elegant tangle of lush, heart-shaped leaves hail from the French Polynesian island of Mo’orea, but they’ve become Britain’s most ubiquitous houseplant. From hair salon to office, or wherever you’re reading this, there’s probably one a few metres away.
They’re so common that you can play a kind of botanical Where’s Wally with pothos: they snake over shelves in Anthropologie and & Other Stories, drape from hanging planters in coffee shops, and contrast with the concrete of the Barbican in London, where head gardener Marta Lowcewicz says they’re chosen because they are “low maintenance”.
