I was extremely fortunate to walk into my local nursery today and snag three beautiful plants for 50% off...always a good thing. GRIN Of course the tags all read "tropical foliage plant" with no botanical names or even common names.After a lot of searching through LariAnn's articles here on DG, I think I have nailed two of the three in question. Any help is greatly appreciated.
The first plant: Alocasia reginula 'Black Velvet' ? (Thick, velvety leaves)
The second plant is also, I believe, Alocasia reginula, but not a "named cultivar"
I am not at all sure on this one, but think possibly Alocasia tigrina or A. tigrina superba...
Agree with you on the first. The second I don't think is an Alocasia. I have a small one like that but can't remember the name. They can grow fairly large. The third I'm not familiar with.
The second plant is Philodendron gloriosum, a juvenile. the first one is definitely Alocasia reginula "Black Velvet". The third one is Alocasia "tigrina superba", which some are calling a type of Alocasia zebrina (I agree they are related, but i disagree that they are different types of the same species). I published an article about this issue in last year's Aroideana.
LariAnn
"Gloriosum" is what I was trying to think of. They ramble around and develop a fairly large leaf. I'll have to write it down.
Thank you tropicbreeze, Rachel and LariAnn.
The Philodendron shows how easy it is to make an assumption, incorrectly I might add. It was the only one of its' kind in a large group of Alocasias, leading me to believe the entire group to be alocasias....Caveat emptor....grin. I must admit that I looked at pictures and found one with similar venation and assumed they were the same....and I am a Lewis Carrol fan ("things are seldom what they seem....")grin
Thanks to you all, I can now assure each plant its' proper care.
LariAnn,
Is it a possibility that; A.Zebrina, A.Reticulata and A.Tigrina Superba are All just "related"?
That is my hypothesis, based on the results I have obtained from breeding with these plants, and is the position I assumed in my Aroideana article last year. The progeny of the crosses are uniformly like the parent, whether it be zebrina, reticulata, or tigrina. This is as I would expect from breeding with a species rather than a variety. By contrast, seed set on A. gageana yields occasional A. odoras! That is a case where I would assert that A. gageana is a sport of A. odora.
LariAnn
Thanks for your help!
