Pothos vs Dragon tail plant

Epipremnum aureum · Epipremnum pinnatum

Mature size: Pothos reaches about 240 inches; Dragon tail plant tops out near 144. Buying the wrong one for a shelf means rehoming it in a year.

Why these two get mixed up

Both are sold as "pothos". That is not a nickname problem — a plant labelled pothos in a shop could be either of these, and they want different things.

Pothos (Epipremnum aureum) — **Pothos** — Epipremnum aureum. Photograph by Joydeep, Wikimedia Commons , CC BY-SA 3.0.

Dragon tail plant (Epipremnum pinnatum) — **Dragon tail plant** — Epipremnum pinnatum. Photograph by Mokkie, Wikimedia Commons , CC BY-SA 3.0.

	Pothos	Dragon tail plant
Scientific name	Epipremnum aureum	Epipremnum pinnatum
Family	Araceae	Araceae
Light floor	Low	Low
Water	7–14 days	7–12 days
Humidity floor	40%	45%
Mature height	72–240 in	24–144 in
Habit	trailing	climbing
Growth rate	fast	fast
Difficulty	Easy	Easy
Toxic to pets	Yes	Yes
Typical price	$10–25	$15–50

Highlighted cells are where the two actually differ. Everything else they share.

The differences that matter

Mature size

Pothos reaches about 240 inches; Dragon tail plant tops out near 144. Buying the wrong one for a shelf means rehoming it in a year.

Habit

Pothos grows trailing; Dragon tail plant grows climbing. That decides where each one physically works.

Which should you buy?

In a dim room, take either — both have a low light floor.
If you forget to water, take Pothos, which goes 10 days between drinks.
If it is your first plant, take either — both score 1 of 5.
For a small shelf, take Dragon tail plant, which stops around 144 inches.

Full entries

Pothos — care fields with sources, toxicity with every authority consulted, propagation and diagnosis. Dragon tail plant — the same.

Sources

This database's own care records for Epipremnum aureum and Epipremnum pinnatum — every figure compared above.
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Plants of the World Online — accepted names and families for Epipremnum aureum and Epipremnum pinnatum
ASPCA Animal Poison Control — toxicity classification for both, cited on each species entry
Photographs: Wikimedia Commons, individually credited and licensed above

Compiled and edited by Tony Valcarcel · 2026-09-12
Every comparison above is drawn from a recorded field. Where the honest distinguisher is visual we show both photographs rather than describing a leaf we have no field for. How this is sourced.