PlantFiles: Hairy Columnea
Columnea hirta

What is commonly called the "Goldfish Plant" is Nematanthus not Columnea. Hirta is a species plant with pure orange hairy blossoms and I do not see it pictured. I was a commercial grower of Gesneriads for many years and grew over 60 varieties of Columnea. The naming pictures and descriptions of the included varieties is mostly erroneous.

i was given some cuttings of this plant from a customer at my work. she called it a dolphin plant. it took alot of reasearch to find out it was a member of the goldfish plant. she gave me specific instructions that may help others........
put in in a hanging planter in an afternoon sunny window,fertilize it the first of every month,and water regularly.
now,this plant of mine is a year old and it does have a 2 wk dormant stage in the fall. it is apparently hard to get a hand on,so if your lucky enough to have it-takke care of it! it is so beautiful..my window has never looked better!!!

I live in Niagara Falls, Canada. I purchased this plant at a local nursery in late spring of 2004. It bloomed all summer and was a very interesting plant but I brought it in for winter and its looking quite brown. I am still watering but I'm not sure its going to survive. I don't know if it should be transplanted, cut back or fertilized. Can anyone help me???