Pothos vs Baby rubber plant

Epipremnum aureum · Peperomia obtusifolia

Pet safety: Baby rubber plant is listed non-toxic to cats and dogs; Pothos is toxic (insoluble calcium oxalates). If the two are sold under the same name, a mislabelled plant is a genuine risk in a house with animals.

Why these two get mixed up

Baby rubber plant is recorded here as a pet-safe alternative to Pothos, so the question is usually whether the swap is actually a fair one.

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

Baby rubber plant (Peperomia obtusifolia) — **Baby rubber plant** — Peperomia obtusifolia. Photograph by Diego Delso, Wikimedia Commons , CC BY-SA 3.0.

	Pothos	Baby rubber plant
Scientific name	Epipremnum aureum	Peperomia obtusifolia
Family	Araceae	Piperaceae
Light floor	Low	Medium
Water	7–14 days	9–14 days
Humidity floor	40%	40%
Mature height	72–240 in	8–12 in
Habit	trailing	upright
Growth rate	fast	slow
Difficulty	Easy	Easy
Toxic to pets	Yes	No
Typical price	$10–25	$12–30

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

The differences that matter

Pet safety

This is the difference that matters most. Baby rubber plant is listed non-toxic to cats and dogs; Pothos is toxic (insoluble calcium oxalates). If the two are sold under the same name, a mislabelled plant is a genuine risk in a house with animals.

Mature size

Pothos reaches about 240 inches; Baby rubber plant tops out near 12. Buying the wrong one for a shelf means rehoming it in a year.

Light

Pothos tolerates low light; Baby rubber plant needs medium as a floor. Put the second in the first's spot and it stretches and declines.

Habit

Pothos grows trailing; Baby rubber plant grows upright. That decides where each one physically works.

Not even related

Pothos is Araceae, Baby rubber plant is Piperaceae. They share a shop label and nothing else — different families, different continents, different care.

Which should you buy?

With a cat or dog in the house, take Baby rubber plant. The other is toxic, and if the shop label is wrong you will not know which you have brought home.
In a dim room, take Pothos.
If you forget to water, take Baby rubber plant, which goes 11 days between drinks.
If it is your first plant, take either — both score 1 of 5.
For a small shelf, take Baby rubber plant, which stops around 12 inches.

Full entries

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

Sources

This database's own care records for Epipremnum aureum and Peperomia obtusifolia — every figure compared above.
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Plants of the World Online — accepted names and families for Epipremnum aureum and Peperomia obtusifolia
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.