Species
+

Houttuynia cordata Thunb.

Chameleon, Chameleon Flower, Chameleon Plant, Chameleon-flower

Climate known 76 photographs
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Houttuynia cordata, also known as fish mint, fish leaf, rainbow plant, chameleon plant, heart leaf, fish wort, or Chinese lizard tail, is one of two species in the genus Houttuynia. It is a flowering plant native to Southeast Asia. It grows in moist, shady locations. It was named after Martinus Houttuyn.

Text from Wikipedia, “Houttuynia cordata”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Houttuynia

Houttuynia is a genus of two species native to Southeast Asia in the family Saururaceae. One species, H. cordata, is widely cultivated as a culinary herb. The genus was originally described in 1783 by Carl Peter Thunberg when he formally described H. cordata as the only species. More on Wikipedia ›

The opening of Wikipedia, “Houttuynia”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Saururaceae
Described by
Thunb.
Native to
China South-Central, Hainan, China North-Central +15
Wild records
1037 in range· 417 open

At a glance

Warmest month
29°C
Aug, mean day; nights 23 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
1669mm/yr
12 wet months · peak Jun 229 mm (CHELSA)
Light
16–32DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Rain rule: a summer growing season, April to October in the northern hemisphere (April to October at the habitat, northern). Habitat rain 1669 mm a year, wettest June at 229 mm, driest December at 50 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 16 to 32 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 1.9 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Houttuynia chinensis (Decne.) Gérome; Houttuynia cordata f. polypetaloidea T.Yamaz.; Houttuynia cordata f. viridis J.Ohara; Houttuynia cordata var. cordata; Houttuynia cordata var. plena Makino and 7 more.

Cultivation

Its year Rain rule: a summer growing season, April to October in the northern hemisphere (April to October at the habitat, northern).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the year's rain (1281 mm of 1669 mm) falls in April to October, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 21.2 °C against a yearly mean of 15.8 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: October to April.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 1669 mm a year, wettest June at 229 mm, driest December at 50 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

1669 mm a year at the habitat, 1281 mm of it April to October. Wettest month June at 229 mm, driest December at 50 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 1152 mm to 3144 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 16 to 32 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 16 to 32 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 13, the highest 90th-percentile month 37).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 1.9 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 1.9 °C, the absolute minimum -2.8 °C, 13 frost nights in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 31.3 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 0.9 °C in January (across the envelope cells -5.6 °C to 11.5 °C), warmest day 28.7 °C in August (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 1.9 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 59 to 66% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 8 °C in Jan to 29 °C in Aug; mean night from 1 °C in Jan to 23 °C in Aug. The cold quarter, Dec to Feb, is the three months around the coldest night. 1669 mm of rain a year, most in Jun. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 752 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was -2.8 °C and the 99th-percentile day 31.3 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.-10°10°20°30°40°frost31.3° 99th-percentile day (undated)-2.8° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400500mm rainDLI 16–32RH 59–66 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 752 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C8 / 3–179 / 4–1813 / 8–2118 / 14–2422 / 19–2725 / 21–2928 / 24–3129 / 25–3125 / 22–2920 / 16–2616 / 11–2211 / 5–19
Night °C1 / -6–122 / -5–125 / -1–1510 / 5–1815 / 10–2119 / 14–2322 / 18–2523 / 18–2520 / 15–2314 / 9–208 / 3–173 / -3–13
Rain mm59 / 17–16477 / 25–180121 / 47–217135 / 72–243177 / 102–324229 / 140–410223 / 149–388187 / 130–376202 / 98–442128 / 58–24481 / 33–22050 / 16–182
DLI17 / 13–2121 / 15–2526 / 18–3031 / 23–3532 / 27–3631 / 27–3532 / 29–3732 / 29–3526 / 23–2922 / 18–2717 / 15–2316 / 13–21
RH %60 / 54–6660 / 54–6660 / 56–6760 / 57–6762 / 59–6765 / 61–6966 / 62–7065 / 62–6964 / 61–6861 / 58–6660 / 57–6559 / 55–65

Each figure is the median across the 752 grid cells holding the 1008 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 1256:5577 (27.175, 98.875). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -2.8 °C, 1st-percentile night 1.9 °C, 99th-percentile day 31.3 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 752 distinct grid cells holding the 1008 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1256:5577 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 27.00_98.750, lapse-corrected -954 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 1733 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeChina South-Central, Hainan, China North-Central, China Southeast, Tibet, Japan, Korea, Ogasawara-shoto, Taiwan, Assam, Bangladesh, East Himalaya, Nepal, West Himalaya, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam· introduced: Great Britain, Ireland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Italy, Minnesota, New York, Alabama, Costa Rica
Kew's description“rhizomatous geophyte” · “temperate”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker35.652, 139.527 · in the densest population, 318 records (31% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 1037 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 417 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 6 km away. 650 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 29 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 1037 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Houttuynia cordataHouttuynia cordataHouttuynia cordataHouttuynia cordataHouttuynia cordataHouttuynia cordataHouttuynia cordataHouttuynia cordata

Photographs: (c) Jacek Pietruszewski, some rights reserved (CC BY) (7); (c) Stephen Thorpe, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Photographs: iNaturalist did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Houttuynia cordata, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Immunomodulatory and anti-SARS activities of Houttuynia cordata
Kit-Man Lau, Kin-Ming Lee, Chi Man Koon, Crystal Sao‐Fong Cheung (2008) · Journal of Ethnopharmacology
Evaluation of antiviral activities of Houttuynia cordata Thunb. extract, quercetin, quercetrin and cinanserin on murine coronavirus and dengue virus infection
Kher Hsin Chiow, Meng Chee Phoon, Thomas Choudary Putti, Benny K.H. Tan (2015) · Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine
Potential roles of medicinal plants for the treatment of viral diseases focusing on COVID ‐19: A review
Bikash Adhikari, Bishnu P. Marasini, Binod Rayamajhee, Bibek Raj Bhattarai (2020) · Phytotherapy Research
Anti-inflammatory and Antimicrobial Effects of Heat-clearing Chinese Herbs: A Current Review
Rekik Ashebir Muluye, Yuhong Bian, Paulos N. Alemu (2014) · Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine
Anti-inflammatory effect of Houttuynia cordata injection
Hongmei Lü, Yi‐Zeng Liang, Lingyan Yi, Xianjin Wu (2005) · Journal of Ethnopharmacology
Therapeutic potentials of Houttuynia cordata Thunb. against inflammation and oxidative stress: A review
Khanchuila Shingnaisui, Tapan Dey, Prasenjit Manna, Jatin Kalita (2018) · Journal of Ethnopharmacology
Antioxidative Activity, Polyphenolic Content and Anti-Glycation Effect of Some Thai Medicinal Plants Traditionally Used in Diabetic Patients
Winthana Kusirisin, Somdet Srichairatanakool, Peerasak Lerttrakarnnon, Narissara Lailerd (2009) · Medicinal Chemistry
Antileukemic Activity of Bidens pilosa L. var. minor (Blume) Sherff and Houttuynia cordata Thunb.
Jung‐San Chang, Lien‐Chai Chiang, Chi-Chain Chen, Li‐Teh Liu (2001) · The American Journal of Chinese Medicine
Anti-inflammatory Activity of Herbal Medicines: Inhibition of Nitric Oxide Production and Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Secretion in an Activated Macrophage-like Cell Line
Eunkyue Park, Susan S. Kum, Chuanhua Wang, Seung‐Yong Park (2005) · The American Journal of Chinese Medicine

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not asked
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 103 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.