One easy species, many forms. Epipremnum is a small genus of about fifteen climbing aroids native to tropical Asia and the western Pacific (Plants of the World Online, n.d.). Almost every pothos in cultivation is one species, Epipremnum aureum, the golden pothos, along with its many color selections. In the wild it climbs tree trunks by clinging roots, and its leaves grow large and slit as it climbs into the canopy.

Indoors it rarely gets the chance, so it stays in its small, heart-shaped juvenile form, which suits it fine for a shelf or a hanging pot. Give it a moss pole and good light and the leaves grow noticeably larger, and in time can develop the splits of a mature plant.

A quick clarification. The silver-speckled “satin pothos” is not a pothos at all but a Scindapsus, a separate genus with its own needs. The cultivars on the cards below are the true pothos, all forms of one forgiving species.

Light. Pothos is famously tolerant, growing on in light too low for most plants. It grows faster and keeps its markings better in bright, indirect light, though, and the heavily variegated forms need that brighter light to hold their cream and white. Keep harsh direct sun off the leaves, which it scorches.

Water. Let the top inch or two of mix dry, then water thoroughly and let it drain. Pothos would far rather run a little dry than sit wet; soggy mix brings yellow leaves and root rot. When in doubt, wait a day.

Substrate, support and feeding. A standard well-draining potting or aroid mix suits it, in a pot with drainage. Let it trail from a shelf or train it up a moss pole; a climbing plant with good light makes markedly larger leaves. A light feed every other month through spring and summer is plenty.