How to Grow and Care for Hexastylis

The Hexastylis arifolia bears several common names, including little brown jug, Wild Ginger, and Heartleaf. Don't let its common names fool you, this plant is toxic and is grown for its green to bronze foliage. It gets its name, little brown jug, due to its bloom, which looks like a small brown jug when it opens.

Hexastylis shuttleworthii, commonly known as largeflower heartleaf, is a flowering plant in the pipevine family. This plant is a low growing, rhizomatous perennial that produces jug-shaped flowers in early summer. It is native to the Southeastern United States.

Hexastylis virginica commonly known as Virginia heartleaf is a prostrate perennial plant in the Aristolochiaceae (birthwort family). It is found in the mideastern United States from Maryland and Virginia in the north south to North Carolina and Tennessee. The plant is encountered in deciduous and mixed forests. Its flowers emerge in early spring.

Dwarfflower heartleaf is a low-growing, perennial herbaceous plant, distinguished by its heart-shaped, evergreen leaves which flourish in the shaded, moist soils of its native woodland environments. Its diminutive size belies the enchanting maroon to dark purple flowers, mostly hidden beneath the foliage, that emerge in early spring, lending a subtle charm to the forest floor. These flowers exhibit a remarkable hexagonal symmetry, a visual cue to the plant's unique identity.

Little heartleaf is named for its heart-shaped leaves, which emit a spicy smell. Little heartleaf has truly bizarre flowers, which sit on the ground and look like purplish-brown pitchers laid on their sides.