Blushing philodendron vs Heartleaf philodendron

Philodendron erubescens · Philodendron hederaceum

Light: Heartleaf philodendron tolerates low light; Blushing philodendron needs medium as a floor. Put the second in the first's spot and it stretches and declines.

Why these two get mixed up

Both are Philodendron, so they arrive on the same shelf under near-identical labels and are routinely swapped in the trade.

Blushing philodendron (Philodendron erubescens) — **Blushing philodendron** — Philodendron erubescens. Photograph by Hooker, Wikimedia Commons , Public domain.

Heartleaf philodendron (Philodendron hederaceum) — **Heartleaf philodendron** — Philodendron hederaceum. Photograph by KENPEI, Wikimedia Commons , CC BY-SA 3.0.

	Blushing philodendron	Heartleaf philodendron
Scientific name	Philodendron erubescens	Philodendron hederaceum
Family	Araceae	Araceae
Light floor	Medium	Low
Water	6–11 days	7–12 days
Humidity floor	50%	40%
Mature height	24–120 in	6–120 in
Habit	climbing	trailing
Growth rate	fast	fast
Difficulty	Easy	Easy
Toxic to pets	Yes	Yes
Typical price	$25–120	$10–30

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

The differences that matter

Light

Heartleaf philodendron tolerates low light; Blushing philodendron needs medium as a floor. Put the second in the first's spot and it stretches and declines.

Habit

Blushing philodendron grows climbing; Heartleaf philodendron grows trailing. That decides where each one physically works.

Which should you buy?

In a dim room, take Heartleaf philodendron.
If you forget to water, take Heartleaf philodendron, which goes 9 days between drinks.
If it is your first plant, take Heartleaf philodendron, at 1 of 5.
For a small shelf, take either.

Full entries

Blushing philodendron — care fields with sources, toxicity with every authority consulted, propagation and diagnosis. Heartleaf philodendron — the same.

Sources

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