The Variegated Thumb

Aglaonemas are known for their patterned foliage with several shades of green, white and silver.  In Thailand, breeders are constantly creating new Aglaonemas with pink and red in the leaves.  Personally, I’m not a fan of these hybrids and I don’t collect any of those.  These hybrids get their red coloration from a natural species, Aglaonema rotundum.

My collection is made up of the more natural-looking Aglaonemas, even though many of them are hybrids.  One of my most recent finds is a variegated form where there are white patches overlaying the green pattern.  The plant was sold to me as variegated Aglaonema ‘Silver Queen.’  However, the leaf pattern does not match the common ‘Silver Queen’, which has lanceolate leaves with a primarily silver coloration and thin streaks of dark green mixed in.

Most Aglaonemas have green petioles (stems).  Some have white and then there are a few that have either pink or russet.  I believe that russet is a mix of pink and green – kind of a brown potato color.  I think these petioles are really neat looking and this is the first Aglaonema I have had with the russet petioles.  (See the image below.)  This is yet another clue that this plant does not come from the common ‘Silver Queen’, but from something else entirely.  Most likely this mystery will never be solved for me.

There are many Aglaonemas in my office building, maintained by a company that checks on them regularly and switches the plants out when they start to look ratty.  There is one Aglaonema that I have admired for a while and I recently got a stem of it to grow myself.  I have no idea what the name is.  The distinguishing features are the dark coloration of the leaves, which are somewhat lanceolate.  It looks similar to a plant I saw at the IAS show called ‘Shades.’  The lighter shades of green are also in an unusual pattern.

The last recent addition to my Aglaonema collection is one which grows as a creeping rhizome, which is different from my other Aglaonemas, which grown on an upright stem.  This plant was sold to me as Aglaonema costatum f. immaculatum.  I sent a photo to my friend, Peter Boyce, who is a career taxonomist in Malaysia.  He told me the plant is actually Aglaonema brevispathum, a member of the Chamaecaulon section, which has this characteristic growth habit.  He studied these plants in the field from Myanmar through Thailand to Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, in lowland dry dipterocarp forest, often along on river banks.   How lucky am I to have Peter to answer my questions!?!  That’s one of the great things about the IAS.  There are people who have very extensive knowledge and a great willingness to share that knowledge.

I was a little worried that I would have trouble growing this particular plant, since it differs from the ones that I know grow well in my care.  But it seems to be doing well, enjoying the environment of my greenhouse and putting out some new leaves.

As legend has it, the founder of the Buddhist faith, Siddhartha Gautama, gained his enlightenment after meditating for 49 days underneath a tree.  That tree, for obvious reasons, has been sacred to the Buddhist faith ever since.  In many ways it is equivalent to the cross on which Christ was crucified.  Some old Christian churches claim to have pieces of the original cross and those pieces are considered holy relics.

The Bodhi tree is unique in that it is a living relic, so it continues to spread throughout the world over time.  The Bodhi tree has been given many names including “Bo tree” and “pipal tree.”  These names are used in reference to the original tree, as well as all trees of that species.  The Latin for this species is Ficus religiosa.  It is a large Banyan, fig tree.  The original tree was located in northeastern India, near the border with Nepal.  Since then, the tree has been propagated to several different locations, resulting in a chain of highly-revered trees which have a tie to world history.  One of the famous propagated trees is in the Foster Botanical Gardens in Honolulu, Hawaii.  Christie and I visited that garden in May 2009 and saw the gigantic Buddha tree.

Recently the tree growing in the Foster Botanical Garden began to set seed.  In Hawaii, this is worthy of concern, as the tree could become invasive, if the seedlings are not removed while they are small.  My good friend, Leland, who has ties to the Foster Botanical Garden, obtained some of these seedlings and sent them to me.

The leaves of this tree are beautiful: cordate with an extended tip, giving them an unmistakable appearance.

I have compiled a list of some of the velvetiest aroids there are.  Not velvet Evlises, velvet aroids.  When I speak of velvet aroids, the main criteria is the feel of the leaves.  Some people describe a wide range of textures as being “velvety,” while others notice small differences in the textures that make them more “satiny” or more like velour.  The feel of the most velvety aroids is made possible due to tiny hairs which reside on the upper leaf surface.  Botanically speaking, this is referred to as velutinous (velvety) adaxial (upper) surfaces.

Most of my blog posts include pictures of my own plants, or at least pictures that I took while visiting some place with nice plants.  This post is an exception.  A majority of the pictures are being used, with permission, from various friends in the International Aroid Society.  Many of these are from Enid Offolter, of NSE Tropicals.  (By the way, Enid probably has the best selection of these plants available for sale.)  Since I don’t own many of these plants, I have to rely on other people’s pictures and descriptions for classifying them as velvety or something similar.  Which brings me to the secondary criteria for being on my velvet aroids list – which is appearance.  Most (but not all) of these plants have an iridescence when you look at the leaves, due to their velvetiness.  It is very prominent on some plants.  Sometimes this feature doesn’t always show up well in photographs, but there are quite a few photographs where you can see this.

I decided that I would concentrate on two genera only for this post – Anthurium and Philodendron.  There are certainly other aroids with velvety textures, although I do believe the most velvety aroids are from these two genera.  I have mentioned others at the end, but I know that when I depart from these two genera, I have no chance of being comprehensive, especially with the gazillion cultivars of Colocasia and Caladium, which are somewhat velvety.

I should also mention that some of these plants change texture with maturity.  For instance, Philodendron hederaceum is quite velvety in juvenile form, but eventually becomes glossy.  Other species only attain the velvety texture when they reach maturity.  Many times it is difficult to tell the differences in these different species, hybrids and cultivars, especially when you are switching back and forth between different websites.  It is a little easier to compare them here, with them all pictured together.  That was part of my impetus for writing this post.  In some cases, seeing their pictures side by side makes you wonder how they are different species!  (see Anthurium crystallinum and Anthurium clarinervium)  But there are distinct differences as you train your eye and begin to look at other parts of the plant, beyond the shape and colors of the leaves.  Enid Offolter has some expertise and tells me that the cross section of the petioles (3, 4 or 5 sided) can tell you a lot about these two plants and the various hybrids.  There is a really good discussion (with photos) about identifying the differences between Anthurium angamarcanum and Anthurium marmoratum here.

And now, on to the list…

 Velvet Anthuriums

Anthurium angamarcanum

If you clicked on that link above, you have already seen some photos of individual leaves of Anthurium angamarcanum, but below you can see a mature plant in all its glory.  Beautiful.

Anthurium besseae

I am not really familiar with this plant and haven’t heard of anyone growing it in cultivation.  I only found a couple of websites with information on this plant.  Since one of them is Tropicos, I know that it is a valid species.

Anthurium clarinervium

This species is very hard for me to separate from Anthurium crystallinum (lower down in the post).  So, how do I know which one is which?  Well, here’s my method.  If the veins on the leaves are so vibrantly white/gold that they are burning your retinas…  that’s clarinervium.  (Did you click that link?  I did warn you.)  If the veins are vibrant but your retinas aren’t in pain, more likely crystallinum.

Anthurium UNKNOWN

This Anthurium has special leaves. They look like the skin of an elephant in their rough texture.  At the same time, they look soft.  See what I mean?  There is a plant in the Alocasia genus with similar looking leaves, but they are very stiff and not velvety.  That plant is Alocasia ‘Maharani.’

Anthurium crystallinum

This is one of the few velvet plants that I own.  I just bought it at the IAS show and sale in Miami last September.  It is still a small plant, but it will one day be a huge and beautiful specimen (if I can keep it alive and happy).  It definitely does not loose it’s velvetiness with maturity.  In fact, this is probably one of those plants which becomes more velvety with age.

Sometimes this plant produces leaves with a closed sinus.  The sinus is the upper opening on the heart-shape.  A picture of Anthurium crystallinum with a closed sinus is shown on the Exotic Rainforest website, here.

Anthurium ‘Mehani’

As far as I understand, this plant is a cultivar of the species Anthurium crystallinum.  That just means that there were some desirable traits of a certain plant and it was propagated (probably cloned via tissue culture) so that all of the offspring would have the same traits.  It is usually just labeled Anthurium ‘Mehani’, but should really be labeled Anthurium crystallinum ‘Mehani.’

Anthurium forgetii

This plant is very uncommon in cultivation, but I did find a couple of nice photos.

Anthurium hoffmannii

This is not a common plant in cultivation and it looks very similar to some of the other velvet Anthuriums.  I am told this one is more of a satiny texture.

Anthurium leuconeurum

According to Deni Brown’s book “Aroids: plants of the Arum family”, this might not be a species, but a naturally occurring hybrid.  For the time being it is given species status.  Here are a couple of links with some information on this plant: World Field Guide, Araceum.

Anthurium magnificum

This is one of those plants that is a little more satiny than velvety, I am told.

Anthurium marmoratum

This Anthurium has large leaves whose leaves are strongly iridescent.

Anthurium pallidiflorum

This is a strap-leaf, pendent Anthurium, with satiny iridescent leaves.  I have a small seedling of this plant, but it’s nothing to look at yet.  Here’s an excellent picture, and another here.

Anthurium papillilaminum

This plant blows me away.  Check out those dark leaves with such an interesting shape.  Very cool.

Anthurium portilloi

This is one of those plants that might be better described as satiny, as opposed to velvety.  It certainly looks that way from the picture.

Anthurium regale

This is one of the more common velvet Anthuriums in cultivation (not that any of them are really common).  It looks very similar to A. crystallinum, A. clarinervium and A. magnificum.  The main difference in appearance, that I notice, is that the sinus of A. regale is considerably wider than any of the others.  One of Steve Lucas’s photos has been immortalized on the latest International Aroid Society promotional brochures.

Anthurium vittariifolium

This is another of the strap-leaf, pendent Anthuriums.  It has satiny leaves of a silver-blue-green color.  There are also some really nice pictures of strap-leaved Anthuriums at the Palm Talk forum here.

Anthurium warocqueanum

This beautiful Anthurium is known for it’s long and slender leaves with velvet texture.  It has been given the common name “Queen Anthurium”, while Anthurium veitchii is known as the “King Anthurium.”  While both of these plants have long, slender leaves, the King Anthurium has a slick, glossy texture to the dark leaves.

Anthurium ‘Ace of Spades’

This plant is presumed to be a hybrid, but the parentage is unknown.  The hybrid is believed to have originated in Hawaii and that’s about all we know.  The most prominent characteristic is the bronze/red leaves, which you can see in each of the following images.

Anthurium ‘Dark Mama’ (Anth. warocqueanum x. Anth. papillilaminum)

This hybrid is the offspring of a set of velvety Anthuriums, resulting in a really unique leaf shape and great, dark color.  Look at the iridescence showing up on that lower right leaf.  Beautiful.

Anthurium ‘Kybutzii’

This plant is of unknown origin.  It might be a species or it could be a naturally occurring hybrid.  It has large, satiny leaves and what appears to be raised primary veins on the adaxial (upper) leaf surface.

Anthurium ‘Nikki’

This is another Anthurium hybrid of unknown parentage.  It came from a notable grower in India.

Anthurium hybrid (Anth. magnificum x. Anth. crystallinum)

Of all the pictures in this post, I think this one is the most striking.  This is quite a unique hybrid.  The most recent plant sold for $52.50 on eBay!

This post continues, so please click on the “2″ below.

My friend, Jason, sent me some orchid seedlings about a month ago, along with a cutting of a Maxillaria.  I put all of these little orchids in pots of moist sphagnum and put them in sealed plastic container.  (It’s actually one of those containers they put rotisserie chickens in at Wal-Mart.)

I’ve been checking on these little ones pretty regularly, making sure I’m not growing mold in there and that the orchids aren’t rotting.  Nothing much has been happening one way or another.

Just recently I looked at the container and noticed some yellow.  Uh-oh, I thought.  Something is getting fried or is unhappy.  I opened the container to find that that little Maxillaria variabilis cutting was in bloom!

So much for raising a plant to blooming size!

The Salvia genus, commonly called Sage, consists of somewhere between 700 and 900 species, including perennials, as well as tropicals which are grown as annuals.  Many Salvias are attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds.  Lately I’ve been adding several Salvias to our gardens.  They are great for our climate because they tolerate the heat and bloom throughout the summer.  For me, the tropicals aren’t quite worth growing, although there are some really neat colors available in these varieties.  I might try some of the more tempting tropicals in the future and overwinter them in the greenhouse.

We planted Salvia greggii ‘Pink Preference’ in the corner garden and it came back and bloomed again this year.  It is kind of a magenta pink color.  We got a couple new dark pink Salvias this year (above), but I don’t know their name.  We planted one in the new brick garden and one in the corner garden.  It’s weird but those same plants now look like they have solid red blooms… I would say it was just my flawed memory, but I have pictures (above and 2 pics below) of the same plants with different color blooms.

We also planted a new, light pink Salvia, whose name I don’t recall (but it could be Salvia coccinea ‘Coral Nymph’).

This light pink Salvia has grown incredibly fast this summer, all the while everything else we have outside has been struggling to survive.  We had more than 60 days this summer with a temperature of 100 degrees or more.  The previous record was 50 days in 1 year.  So we blew it out of the water this year.  I’m guessing these Salvias are more than just heat and drought tolerant.  They must enjoy it.  But wait, you might not believe this.  Shortly after we planted this light pink Salvia I noticed some little plants coming up from seed in the corner garden nearby.  I started to yank them and then I realized the leaves matched the big Salvia, so I let them be.  I haven’t seen anything seed and germinate this fast, but now those little seedlings that I let be have grown into mammoth plants just like the parent!

We also got a Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’ (also called Brazilian Sage) which is my favorite.  The blooming bracts are truly black and the blooms are very blue.  These are striking colors that you don’t see very often.   It has been growing on the front porch in a decorative pot all summer.  I was afraid it was not hardy, so I didn’t want to plant it in one of our flowerbeds.  Also, since it’s my favorite, I get to enjoy it a lot more sitting on the front porch.  But I learned that it is actually hardy, so now I am looking for another plant or two so that I can plant it in the corner garden and also overwinter one in the greenhouse for security.  Unfortunately, the heat really took a toll on this plant.  Just when I realized it was dead, I was given hope by a seedling coming up in the pot.  Just like the light pink Salvia from the corner garden, this plant has quickly matured and now has blooms on it!  Unfortunately, I don’t have a good picture of our plant, so here’s a link to see a really good bloom picture.

One of the more common Salvias for the perennial garden, is also a blue/purple shade.  This one is Salvia farinacea.  It has distinctive bloom stalks with white buds that are nice enough even before the flowers open.  See the picture below.

Finally, I’m going to throw in two non-Salvia.  One of these plants is similar in growth habit and form and neither of the two is significant enough right now to get their own post.  The first plant is the Saliva wannabe, Plectranthus.  We had one of these a couple of years ago and I really liked it for the dark green foliage, bloom color and heat tolerance.  It’s a neat plant and is staying on the hot front porch for now.  It did really well for a long time and then started giving in to the heat recently.  If it is still alive here in a couple of weeks, I’ll bring it in to the greenhouse to keep it over the winter since it is not hardy here.  Since ours has not done well with the extreme heat this year, I have to use a link to pictures here.  This might not be the exact variety that we have, but it is very close.

The other non-Salvia is the common Texas Bluebonnet.  Sadly, this little plant did not like our hot and dry summer.  We have a neighbor that has a bunch of this growing in their front yard along the curb.  I might get some seed from them and try to grow them that way next year.  The color of the Bluebonnets are really impressive, not to mention the neat foliage.

What is your favorite variety of Salvia?  Is it tolerant of heat and drought?  How about the cold hardiness?