Todays picture of my Mickey Mouse xanthosoma ears. Every ear is just as deformed as the next. And they dont straighten out like some Mickey Mouse ears do. These are full grown, adult ears. Pretty wild, huh. I have seen some ears with a little bit of pocket, but never this deformed. How about every one elses, I would love to see some other MMs.
That's weird I wonder what is going on?
Linda
The nursery I got them from , all of them are this deformed. Just taking the mutation to an extreme. Wild, huh.
Strange- I have noted that when I get an infestation of something/anything- so common here, that my leaves begin to deform, course nothing like your photo!
I had a friend sent me one a few years back. I was always trying to 'cure' it because it looked like it had something???.... LOL It never did look right to me so it was passed to another friend.
This message was edited Jun 11, 2006 6:33 PM
I've neen in the garden since early morning. Its so much easier to work when the soil is wet.
That's how they look in the nursery garden center near me, I ponder every time (because I love the variegation ) but decide I dont want to look at it. I can see its appeal, just not for me.
Im sure I'll ponder it nexy time too.
oh and my deformed leaves don't fetch such a nice price! LOL.
Lisa~
Here's coupla pix of my MM. A friend gave me one last year and I overwintered it indoors where it went completly dormant. It was taking so long to come up, that I unpotted it and found all these little babies in the bottom of the pot.
Mostly normal-looking, not much of the "melted plastic" look.
This is the original plant. I took the bulb out of the pot during the winter and set it aside to prevent rotting.
I never noticed the little hairlike thready "tail" that very young leaves have. Guess that's Mickey's.
raydio, do you have your MM in a saucer of water for humidity or watering purposes? i've done it with my orchids and was just curious.
The MM I had in Ft Lauderdale did have the pockets as your picture shows Rylaff. I have 2 that made the move and and regrown, they don't seem to be quite as deformed this year.
I also bought a bunch from a local wholesaler and they don't seem to have as many pockets.
It must just be the individual "sport" that is subject to change as it gets older.
I had a couple Illustrus that sported green leaves with black veining. I put them aside and watched them. They have since reverted back to their normal colors.
Molly
:^)))
ashleykelly~
Yes. I just put it in the filled dish to see how it would do. I have my Colocasia esculenta (common EE) and an Illustris in water too.
MollyMc~
Most of mine don't have pockets this year, but this plant keeps morphing as it goes so we'll see what happens. My Illustris was also mostly green with black mottlings when it first came up but with each new leaf, it gets more black and should be "normal" before long. They do that.
Robert.
Yes, the MM's should have the little cupping corner pocket, and a much squarer leaf (hence the Mickey Mouse head shape) That's how you can easily tell them apart from the Albo Marginata Colocasia, which also is a green and white variegated EE plant.
I have never seen the leaves on MM's deformed like yours are Rylaff.....mine also look like Raydio's, with the cupped tip and little string tip...and that's all.
They "should" resemble a MM head...so I'm not sure that yours don't have something that needs to be treated systemically....
I think the guy that owns the nursery just got hold of some really weird mutation. He had about thirty containers of them and they all had the same mutation. Furthermore, every single leaf comes out with the same mutation. The part of the the leaf with the mutation is very think, almost like a keloid scar that humans get. It is not a disease but a bizarre mutation. I assume it is a mickey mouse since it does have the cup at the end, but the mutation is an interesting twist. It does make for interesting conversation. I kind of like it and am tempting to go back and get more.
Rylaff, that's the most deformed one I've ever seen! Now I can see why they are called MM ears. Mine have the typical variegation and show the pouch and stringy tail. I did see a huge clump growing in New Orleans some years ago that are the tallest I've ever seen - almost 6' growing in full sun! They were huge and really pretty. Wish I'd gotten it. They're really easy from root cuttings.
Rosemary
I love the way there are layers of color on a MM.
Robert.
I notice in spring , when they first start to come up, there is more deformity than when it gets warmer. But they grow out of it and they are not as deformed as yours.
I very much love the sage green in any variegation, expecially with the cream. I am always hoping to find that lovely Ligularia (or whatever the bot heads call it now) that has the same colors as the plant we are talking about now, but I haven't seen it in years. I saw it N of New Orleans, in Folsom, and have never seen it again in spite of being a really pitiful plant pig. I keep thinking that it may be a tropical Ligularia of some sort? Farfugia, that's it. I mean its current botanical name.
But with the same colors as the Ligularia, the Xanthosoma is for my money a lot more interesting sucker to have in the garden. Of course, because of the cresting but also the height of the leaves.
I agree w/ CJ, mine start deformed but shape up as summer progresses. I must say, though, that this year they all started smooth.
This bit of "scar tissue" just appeared. Really has dimension to it.
This is exactly the way mine are, but to the extreme. And the newer leaves are just as deformed at the older.
Not mine, wish it was. This is in our Botanical Garden, about 3 ft
Here is a picture of mine taken on 7/15
This one taken 8/2 and I am noticing some deforming on mine, I will take a close up in a minute when I take the dogs outside.
Here is one leaf
Another view
View of the whole plant
This is the largest Xanthosoma atroverins albo marginata I had ever seen. Grown by my wonderful friend Enid from natural selections. It had a leaf around 2 feet or more across maybe closer to 3 foot from tip to tip.
This message was edited Aug 7, 2006 10:51 AM
I've seen this type of mutation in bananas when they have been over-tissue cultured. I believe the cultures should only be seperated a dozen times before you start again from fresh material.
Mine looked normal until the heat of summer, I hope they return to normal in the fall with its cooler weather.
Yes come to think about it mine didn't have it either until the temp. has been in the triple digits here lately. So maybe once it starts to cool down the leaves will go back to being normal. The way our weatherman talks I will have a wild to wait. Triple digits all this week. EEK
Here is a odd sport off of this Xanthosoma called paradox. Its a hard plant to photograph due to it having almost 3D like leaves.
I think the deformity makes it unique and cool looking. I will have to see if anyone around here has one like that.
I got a nice pocketed on on a visit to Logees a few months ago.. I loved it so... and have kept it inside to protect it... but between spider mites... [ taken care of with Forbid ] and poor inside life..and the 100+ temps...it's languishing..
I think we've had summer now... it feels so cold lately.. I'd like to put it outside for the last of summer.. and the fall.. set it up with some cow manure and give it some outdoor time..to bring it back.. any idea as to the light level it would do best in
Rose Mary... perhaps full sun here in NYC might be doable for it.. if it can take full sun in NewOrleans.. thanks... Gordon
Since it has started to cool down some I mean out of the triple digits and into the 90's and very few days in the 80's my Mickey Mouse has started putting on leaves without being deformed. The heat may be the problem. Just guessing of course.
I've been following this thread and have a question.
I had assumed that the "deformities" of MM were supposed to be there and now I'm getting the idea that that is just a tendency that certain clones have, possibly due to those from TC.
I got mine from a friend and had never seen one nor heard of it, so when I saw hers, I thought they were "supposed to be that way".
Is this the bottom line then: the scar-tissue aberations are not really what MM is about?
Robert.
I have had mine for around 6 or so years...can't remember exactly when I got them. This is their second year in my new, improved landscaping. They are in full sun. Last year I didn't notice much deformity, a little here, a little there. This year they started out in the springtime deformed - big time, then seemed to grow out of it. Now there are a lot of really deformed leaves - that keloid scar that someone referred to. Is it normal? It appears to be so. Would I toss them because of it? Not on a bet. I LOVE those things!!!
I would have to agree ceejay... I would certainly keep them if I had them. I think the deformed ones are pretty in themselves.
I wouldn't get rid of them either. Just like my friends, their scars are part of who they are and I love them, scars and all.
Robert.
