Green houseplants are classics, but sometimes a room needs a little more drama. Enter houseplants with purple leaves: living décor that can deliver everything from soft lavender and metallic violet to deep burgundy that looks almost black. They bring color even when no flowers are blooming, which means you get the botanical equivalent of a statement wall without actually painting one.
Purple foliage is more than a visual gimmick. Depending on the plant, those rich tones may come from anthocyanin pigments, colorful hairs, variegation, or combinations of red, blue, and green pigments in the leaf tissue. Light exposure often has a major influence on how strongly those colors appear. Put some purple plants in conditions that are too dark, and they may slowly become greener, leggier, and considerably less glamorous.
The good news is that purple-leaved indoor plants come in almost every personality imaginable. There are forgiving trailers for beginners, humidity-loving tropical divas, compact plants for desks, and sun-loving succulents that would rather you forget to water them occasionally.
Here are 21 purple houseplants worth making room for.
21 Beautiful Houseplants With Purple Leaves
1. Purple Shamrock
Botanical name: Oxalis triangularis
Few indoor plants embrace purple as enthusiastically as the purple shamrock. Its triangular leaflets form dramatic three-part leaves in shades ranging from plum to nearly black-purple. The foliage folds downward at night and opens again in brighter conditions, giving the plant a surprisingly animated personality.
Give purple shamrock bright indirect light and a well-draining potting mix. Water when the surface begins to dry rather than keeping the container permanently wet. Don’t panic if the plant periodically retreats into dormancy; its underground structures can later produce fresh growth.
2. Purple Heart
Botanical name: Tradescantia pallida
Purple heart is one of the easiest ways to add a large amount of purple foliage without requiring a large amount of gardening talent. Its long, pointed leaves and fleshy stems develop their deepest violet coloring in strong light.
Indoors, place it near a very bright window and allow the potting mix to dry somewhat between waterings. Pinching the stems encourages branching and keeps the plant from becoming an impressive collection of purple spaghetti. Cuttings root readily, making this one of the simplest colorful houseplants to propagate.
3. Tradescantia Zebrina
Botanical name: Tradescantia zebrina
This popular trailing houseplant combines green, silver, and purple in stripes that look almost metallic under bright light. The leaf undersides are typically rich magenta-purple, so hanging baskets show off the color particularly well.
Tradescantia zebrina appreciates bright indoor light and well-drained soil. Let the soil dry slightly between waterings. Older stems can become bare and leggy, but pruning solves the problem quickly. Better yet, stick the trimmed tips back into the pot to create a fuller plant.
4. Tradescantia ‘Nanouk’
Botanical name: Tradescantia hybrid ‘Nanouk’
‘Nanouk’ is the cotton-candy cousin of more traditional tradescantias. Its broad leaves display green, cream, pink, violet, and magenta tones, often with brilliantly colored undersides.
Bright indirect light helps maintain the strongest variegation. Too little light can produce stretched stems and duller foliage, while harsh afternoon sunshine behind hot glass may scorch the leaves. Allow some drying between waterings and avoid leaving water trapped around the crown.
5. Oyster Plant
Botanical name: Tradescantia spathacea
Also called Moses-in-the-cradle, the oyster plant produces stiff, sword-shaped foliage in upright rosettes. Many forms have dark green upper surfaces and striking purple undersides, creating a two-tone effect that becomes especially noticeable when the leaves arch outward.
Provide bright indirect light for the best coloring. Let the top inch or two of potting mix dry before watering again. Insufficient light can cause lank growth and a gradual loss of the rich purple pigmentation.
6. Purple Passion Plant
Botanical name: Gynura aurantiaca
At first glance, the purple passion plant looks as though someone dusted an ordinary green plant with violet velvet. Its leaves and stems are covered in fine reddish-purple hairs that glow dramatically when side-lit by a window.
Bright indirect light helps preserve that intense purple appearance. Keep the soil moderately moist but never waterlogged. Pinch young stems periodically for compact growth. Mature plants may produce orange-yellow flowers with a distinctive odor, and many indoor gardeners simply remove them and keep enjoying the foliage.
7. Persian Shield
Botanical name: Strobilanthes auriculata var. dyeriana
If you want a purple plant that refuses to be subtle, Persian shield deserves a prominent spot. Large leaves combine violet, silver, green, and metallic purple, sometimes appearing almost iridescent.
It prefers bright filtered light, warmth, and relatively consistent moisture in a well-draining mix. Pinching growing tips creates a bushier specimen. Low light tends to mute the shimmering foliage, so don’t hide this tropical beauty in the darkest corner simply because you have an empty table there.
8. Rex Begonia
Botanical name: Begonia rex-cultorum hybrids
Rex begonias could probably fill an entire list by themselves. Their leaves may feature spirals and splashes of silver, charcoal, burgundy, pink, red, violet, and purple. Cultivars with dark purple margins or nearly black centers can be spectacular.
Grow them in bright indirect light. Keep the potting mix lightly and evenly moist while avoiding soggy conditions. They appreciate humidity but also need airflow, making a humidifier preferable to constantly wetting the foliage.
9. Purple Coleus
Botanical name: Coleus scutellarioides
Coleus offers an almost ridiculous number of foliage colors, including deep maroon, chocolate-purple, violet, and near-black cultivars. Options such as ‘Black Dragon’, dark selections in the ColorBlaze series, and other burgundy cultivars can make excellent high-light indoor accent plants.
Give coleus plenty of light and regular moisture without leaving its roots submerged. Pinch growing tips and flower spikes to encourage dense foliage. Coleus also roots easily from stem cuttings, so one plant has a suspicious habit of becoming five.
10. Purple Waffle Plant
Botanical name: Strobilanthes alternata ‘Exotica’
The purple waffle plant earns its name from its deeply puckered leaves. The upper surfaces can appear greenish-purple to metallic purple, while the undersides often display richer wine-colored tones.
Bright filtered light supports strong coloration, but intense direct sunlight can bleach or burn the foliage. Keep the plant warm and provide moderate moisture. Pinching the stem tips encourages a dense, low-growing form that looks excellent in smaller containers.
11. Purple Calico Plant
Botanical name: Alternanthera species and cultivars
Alternanthera cultivars such as ‘Purple Knight’ are grown for dark burgundy to purple foliage. Although frequently used outdoors in warm-season containers, they can also be maintained indoors when given enough light and warmth.
Place them close to a bright window or under a grow light. Weak lighting causes reduced color and stretched growth. Regular trimming keeps plants compact, and cut stems can often be rooted to renew aging specimens.
12. Bloodleaf
Botanical name: Iresine diffusa f. herbstii
Bloodleaf is technically more crimson, burgundy, and reddish-purple than royal purple, but the darker cultivars easily earn a place in a purple indoor collection. Their glossy leaves and vividly colored veins provide excellent contrast beside ordinary green foliage.
Bright light is essential for maintaining bold color. Keep the soil moderately moist but well drained, and pinch stems to prevent legginess. A plant that becomes greenish and stretched is usually asking for more light rather than a pep talk.
13. Purple Ti Plant
Botanical name: Cordyline fruticosa
Ti plants introduce vertical form into a collection dominated by rounded or trailing foliage. Depending on the cultivar, their strap-shaped leaves can combine purple, burgundy, pink, deep red, and green.
Bright indirect light helps preserve the strongest colors. Ti plants prefer warmth, moderate humidity, and moist but well-draining soil. Allow the surface to dry somewhat before watering again, particularly during periods of slower winter growth.
14. ‘Burgundy’ Rubber Plant
Botanical name: Ficus elastica ‘Burgundy’
For a larger statement plant, the ‘Burgundy’ rubber plant is hard to beat. Its thick, glossy leaves are very dark green infused with burgundy, often appearing purple-black from across a room.
Grow it in bright indirect light and let part of the potting mix dry between waterings. Rubber plants are far more forgiving of slightly dry soil than constantly saturated roots. Wipe the large leaves periodically so dust doesn’t turn your elegant indoor tree into something resembling furniture from an abandoned attic.
15. Red Ripple Peperomia
Botanical name: Peperomia caperata cultivars
Dark cultivars of ripple peperomia, including red and burgundy selections, offer deeply corrugated leaves in tones that can lean toward reddish-purple. Their compact size makes them useful for shelves, desks, and narrow windowsills.
Peperomias generally perform well in bright indirect light and loose, well-draining mixes. Their relatively thick foliage means they dislike constant saturation. Let the upper portion of the mix dry before watering thoroughly.
16. Calathea ‘Dottie’
Botanical name: Goeppertia roseopicta ‘Dottie’
‘Dottie’ looks like foliage designed for a nightclub. Its rounded leaves are extremely dark green to nearly black with brilliant pink markings and reddish-purple undersides.
This prayer-plant relative prefers bright filtered light, warm temperatures, and higher humidity. Keep the soil lightly moist without turning it swampy. Mineral-heavy water may contribute to damaged leaf edges in sensitive plants, so filtered water can be useful when local tap water is particularly hard.
17. Stromanthe ‘Triostar’
Botanical name: Stromanthe sanguinea ‘Triostar’
‘Triostar’ combines cream, green, blush pink, and deep burgundy-purple undersides. Because its leaves naturally change position, flashes of dark color appear throughout the day.
It likes warmth, humidity, and bright indirect light. Strong direct sunshine may scorch the pale variegated sections. Maintain lightly moist soil and good drainage. While not the easiest beginner plant on this list, a healthy specimen can become one of the most striking foliage plants in the room.
18. Purple Sword Alocasia
Botanical name: Alocasia lauterbachiana
Purple sword alocasia brings a completely different silhouette to an indoor collection. It produces long, narrow, wavy-edged leaves with green upper surfaces and darker purplish undersides and stems.
Provide bright indirect light, warmth, and a chunky, well-aerated potting mix. Water when the upper layer begins to dry. Alocasias appreciate humidity but strongly dislike sitting in stagnant, oxygen-starved soil.
19. Black Sweet Potato Vine
Botanical name: Ipomoea batatas, dark-leaved cultivars
Ornamental sweet potato vines such as ‘Blackie’ and similar cultivars produce dramatic dark burgundy-purple foliage. They’re normally used outdoors, but cuttings or container plants can be grown indoors in very bright locations.
Expect vigorous trailing growth when conditions are good. Give the plant strong light and enough room to spread. Because indoor light is usually weaker than outdoor sunshine, supplemental grow lighting can help maintain compact growth and deep coloration.
20. Echeveria ‘Perle von Nürnberg’
Botanical name: Echeveria ‘Perle von Nürnberg’
Not every purple houseplant needs tropical humidity. This popular succulent produces elegant rosettes whose powdery leaves can blend lavender, gray, pink, and violet, particularly under strong light.
Place it in your brightest available window or under an appropriate grow light. Use fast-draining succulent soil and allow the mix to dry thoroughly between waterings. Too little light produces stretched growth; too much water produces a far less reversible problem.
21. ‘Zwartkop’ Aeonium
Botanical name: Aeonium arboreum ‘Zwartkop’
‘Zwartkop’, sometimes sold as black rose aeonium, produces rosettes of exceptionally dark burgundy leaves that can appear nearly black-purple. The color becomes strongest under very bright conditions.
Like most succulents, it needs excellent drainage and careful watering. Allow the soil to dry substantially before watering again. Indoors, maximizing light is usually the biggest challenge, making a sunny window or supplemental grow light valuable.
How to Keep Purple Houseplants Colorful
Give Them Enough Light
Light is one of the most important factors affecting foliage color. Many purple-leaved plants gradually become greener in inadequate light because they produce more chlorophyll while attempting to capture available energy.
That does not mean every plant should be dropped into blazing afternoon sun. Tropical foliage plants such as rex begonias, prayer plants, and Persian shield typically prefer bright filtered light, while purple heart, dark coleus cultivars, and succulents can tolerate or require substantially stronger illumination.
Use Containers With Drainage
A decorative planter is not worth much if it slowly converts your root system into soup. Drainage holes allow excess water to escape and make moisture management dramatically easier.
A suitable potting mix should also match the plant. Succulents need a coarse, rapidly draining medium. Tropical foliage plants generally prefer a richer mix that retains some moisture while remaining aerated.
Water According to the Plant, Not the Calendar
The classic instruction to “water every Saturday” sounds wonderfully organized and is also an excellent way to overwater plants during cool, cloudy weather.
Instead, check the soil. Purple heart, peperomia, rubber plants, aeoniums, and echeverias can dry noticeably between waterings. Rex begonias, Persian shield, stromanthe, and similar tropicals usually prefer more consistent moisture.
Pinch and Prune Fast-Growing Plants
Tradescantia, coleus, Persian shield, bloodleaf, and purple passion plants respond well to regular pinching. Removing growing tips encourages side shoots, producing fuller plants rather than increasingly long stems with foliage concentrated at the ends.
How to Decorate With Purple-Leaved Houseplants
Dark foliage looks especially effective beside chartreuse, silver, white, and pale green plants. A burgundy rubber plant beside a lime pothos creates an immediate contrast, while a purple shamrock in a white ceramic planter can look surprisingly sophisticated.
For shelves, combine plants with different habits rather than lining up seven similarly shaped pots. A trailing Tradescantia zebrina can spill downward while a compact rex begonia fills the middle level and an upright cordyline adds height.
Metallic purple plants such as Persian shield also look excellent where natural light can hit the foliage from the side. Side lighting reveals the leaf texture and iridescence much better than placing the plant deep inside a dark room.
Practical Growing Experience: What You Learn After Living With Purple Plants
One lesson becomes obvious very quickly when maintaining purple foliage indoors: the color itself can act as a useful diagnostic tool. A purple heart or tradescantia that was vividly colored when purchased may slowly produce greener new leaves after being moved several feet away from a window. Nothing mysterious happened at the nursery. The home’s light level simply isn’t equivalent to greenhouse conditions.
Moving the plant closer to a bright windowor providing a properly positioned grow lightoften improves new growth. Existing leaves may not magically repaint themselves, so judge the improvement by the next several leaves rather than expecting an overnight transformation.
Another practical lesson is that colorful plants look much better when they’re kept compact. Fast-growing tradescantias are particularly educational. Leave them untouched for months and the stems may become long, sparsely leafed, and oddly determined to explore the floor. Regular pruning creates a completely different plant.
Instead of throwing away those cuttings, they can often be propagated. Tradescantia and coleus are especially cooperative. Several rooted cuttings replanted around the mother plant can turn a thin container into a dense mound of foliage. This is one of the cheapest tricks for getting that lush nursery-pot appearance.
Moisture management is another area where experience changes habits. New plant owners often interpret colorful tropical foliage as a request for enormous amounts of water. Unfortunately, “tropical” does not mean “keep the pot permanently flooded.” Most roots still require oxygen.
The better habit is to physically check the potting mix. Lift lightweight pots occasionally to learn how they feel when dry versus freshly watered. Push a finger into the upper soil layer. For larger pots, a wooden skewer can provide additional information about moisture deeper in the container.
Humidity-sensitive species bring their own lesson. Stromanthe and some begonias may develop crispy edges in extremely dry indoor air even when their roots receive adequate moisture. Placing compatible tropical plants together and using a humidifier can be more effective than repeatedly misting leaves, which only raises humidity briefly.
Then there are the succulents, which teach almost the opposite lesson. A lavender echeveria positioned beside moisture-loving tropicals should not automatically join their watering schedule. Its pot should dry much more thoroughly. Grouping plants visually is great; treating every plant in the group identically is not.
Finally, purple foliage works best when you resist the urge to fill every inch of a room with it. One dark rubber plant can anchor a bright corner. A purple shamrock can create a compact accent on a table. A cascading tradescantia can turn an ordinary shelf into a focal point.
The most successful indoor displays generally mix purple plants with plenty of green. That contrast is exactly what makes violet, burgundy, magenta, and near-black leaves look so dramatic in the first place.
Which Purple Houseplant Should You Choose?
For an easy starter plant, try Tradescantia zebrina, purple heart, or purple shamrock. They grow relatively quickly and provide immediate color.
For dramatic tropical foliage, choose Persian shield, rex begonia, or a purple Ti plant. If you’re willing to provide extra humidity and attention, Stromanthe ‘Triostar’ can be spectacular.
Prefer less frequent watering? A purple-toned echeveria or ‘Zwartkop’ aeonium may fit your routine better, provided you have enough light.
And if you want a substantial indoor tree rather than another small pot, Ficus elastica ‘Burgundy’ brings dark foliage and architectural structure in one package.
Conclusion
Houseplants with purple leaves prove that indoor gardening doesn’t have to mean fifty slightly different shades of green. From the velvety hairs of purple passion plant and striped foliage of Tradescantia zebrina to the metallic leaves of Persian shield and nearly black rosettes of ‘Zwartkop’ aeonium, there is a purple plant for almost every indoor gardening style.
The secret is matching each plant to your home’s actual conditions. Consider how much light you can provide, how often you realistically want to water, and whether your indoor air is humid or dry. Choose accordingly, and colorful foliage becomes much easier to maintain.
Start with one or two varieties, learn how they respond to your space, and expand from there. Before long, your ordinary green houseplant shelf may acquire enough purple, burgundy, silver, and magenta to look like it hired an interior designer.
Note: Plant appearance, mature size, light tolerance, and foliage color can vary among cultivars and indoor growing conditions. Some ornamental houseplants may also irritate skin or be unsafe if eaten by pets or children, so verify the exact species and cultivar before placing plants within reach.
