Money Tree

A plant object carrying a prosperity reading — one of the most common household plants in the practice. The money tree (Pachira aquatica) is a living plant placed by the wood element and by the prosperity reading attached to its name. As with all plant objects, its condition is part of the reading.

This database documents placement principles, not outcomes. A plant object carrying a prosperity reading — one of the most common household plants in the practice. The naming of objects is itself part of the practice — a plant is chosen as much for what its name says as for what it is, which is a documented feature of Chinese material culture generally.

The plant belongs to wood; the prosperity association belongs to naming custom. The classical sources supply the first, not the second, and their rule is that the plant must be healthy and must not be allowed to crowd an entrance. It is grouped under Wood (木) in the five-element system.