The Scottish botanist George Forrest was the first westerner to collect Pilea peperomioides, in 1906 and again in 1910, in the Cang Mountain range in Yunnan Province.

Pilea peperomioides is an example of a plant that has been spread amongst amateur gardeners via cuttings, without being well known to western botanists until the late 20th century.

[5] Pilea peperomioides is an erect, evergreen perennial plant, with shiny, dark green, circular leaves up to 10 cm (4 in) in diameter on long petioles.

In poor growing conditions, it loses its leaves in the lower part of the stem and assumes a distinctive habit.

[9] Thus the plant could be kept in unheated indoor areas or even outdoors in temperate climates; the foliage may be killed back by frost, but regrows in spring.

[10] He reported it surviving for 6 or 7 years with temperatures as low as −9 °C (16 °F), noting that "the stems above ground are killed but it comes again from below ground-level, so deep planting should do the trick".

The plant is readily available in retail greenhouses, which in turn are supplied by industrial-scale farming enterprises.

[3][12] There are three different cultivars which have appeared in the last few years “Sugar”, “White Splash” and “Mojito.” P. peperomioides is propagated through divisions and stem cuttings.