Money Tree Feng Shui: Plant, Jade & Crystal Tree Explained (2026)

Three different things called a money tree

Search for a money tree and you will get three unrelated objects, which is why advice about them contradicts itself so often. They are:

1. The Pachira aquatica — the braided-trunk houseplant sold in garden centres as "money tree." A tropical wetland tree from Central and South America.
2. The jade plant (Crassula ovata) — a succulent with round, coin-like leaves, called the money plant or lucky plant, and the older of the two living traditions in Chinese practice.
3. The crystal money tree — a wire ornament with tumbled or chipped stones for leaves, usually citrine, jade, or amethyst, mounted on a base.

They share a symbolic role and almost nothing else. Care advice for one will kill the other, and placement advice differs. This guide covers each separately.

The Pachira — the braided money tree

The plant most people mean. Its braided trunk is not natural: growers plait the stems of several young saplings together while they are still supple, and the plant grows on as one.

The story attached to it is modern rather than ancient — commonly told as a Taiwanese tale of a poor farmer who found the tree, took it home, and prospered by selling its seeds. The braiding is said to trap fortune within the trunk, and five-stem braids are considered luckiest because five leaves per stalk correspond to the five feng shui elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, water.

Placement. The wealth corner — the far back-left of a room or home as you stand at the entrance looking in, or the southeast if you work by compass. Living plants belong to the wood element, which is the element traditionally associated with growth and this area, so the pairing is consistent. Avoid the bathroom, and avoid a spot where it will be regularly knocked.

Care, which matters because a dying plant in the wealth corner is the exact thing feng shui warns about:

• Bright, indirect light. Direct midday sun scorches the leaves.
• Water thoroughly, then let the top few centimetres dry out before watering again. Overwatering is what kills most of them — the trunk will soften and the leaves yellow and drop.
• It likes humidity, being a wetland species, but tolerates normal indoor air.
• Rotate it occasionally so it grows evenly rather than leaning toward the window.
• Leaf drop after moving house or rooms is normal; it usually recovers.

The jade plant — the older tradition

Crassula ovata, the jade plant, is the money plant of longer standing in Chinese practice. Its thick, rounded leaves resemble coins or jade discs, and the plant's steady, slow growth carries the symbolism: accumulation over time rather than sudden fortune.

It is traditionally given as a housewarming or business-opening gift, and it is common to see one just inside the entrance of a shop or restaurant.

Placement. The wealth corner, or near the entrance to welcome prosperity in. Some practitioners specifically avoid the bedroom and bathroom for it.

Care is the opposite of the Pachira's in the way that matters most:

• It is a succulent. Water sparingly and let the soil dry out completely between waterings.
• It wants more direct light than the Pachira — a bright windowsill suits it.
• Free-draining soil. Sitting in wet compost causes root rot.
• Very long-lived. A jade plant kept well can outlast the person who bought it, which is part of its symbolism.

If you take one thing from this section: the braided money tree wants steady moisture and indirect light, and the jade plant wants to dry out in bright light. Treating either like the other is the usual reason they fail.

The crystal money tree

An ornament rather than a plant — a wire frame with stone chips or small tumbled stones wired on as leaves, set on an agate slice or a stone base. Nothing to keep alive, which is its practical advantage.

Stone choice follows the same associations as loose crystals:

• Citrine — the merchant's stone, for flow of income. The most common choice.
• Jade — steady, long-term prosperity in the Chinese tradition.
• Green aventurine — opportunity and good fortune.
• Pyrite — protecting and holding resources.
• Amethyst — used where the intention is calm and clarity rather than money, often placed in a study or bedroom instead.

Placement is the wealth corner again, or a desk's far-left back edge if you want it somewhere you actually sit. On a desk it functions as a visible reminder, which is most of what these objects do.

A crystal tree is a focus for intention, not a mechanism. It also needs occasional dusting — the tradition's dim view of neglected objects in the wealth corner applies to ornaments as much as to plants.

Which one should you choose?

• You want the traditional Chinese symbol and you are good with plants — the jade plant. Longest-standing association, effectively permanent if kept well.
• You want the recognisable braided tree — the Pachira. More decorative, more forgiving of low light, less forgiving of overwatering.
• You travel, have low light, or kill houseplants — the crystal tree. No care beyond dusting, and no risk of the dead-plant-in-the-wealth-corner problem.
• You want the crystal association specifically — a citrine cluster on its own does the same work as a crystal tree and usually costs less.

Pets are worth a thought: keep any of them out of reach of animals that chew houseplants.

Keep exploring

• Feng shui wealth corner — how to find it
• Bagua map crystals — all nine areas
• Feng Shui Crystals: placement for wealth and harmony
• Citrine meaning
• Crystals for money · Crystals for abundance