Well, I know YOU guys will appreciate my good fortune today... told my mom and she all but yawned! Anyway, I had the pleasure and honor of meeting Dr. Tatyana Livshultz today. She's the Dischidia expert I referred to in another post about a questionable ID on a nummularia. She's a professor of biology at our local college (University of Nebraska Omaha) and the campus is just 5 minutes from my home. We met up at the UNO greenhouse where I got to lust over her private collection of Dischidias. I had seen them early in the spring when my cactus & succulent club had their meeting over there, but it was on a Sunday and I didn't get to meet her at that time. And she had apparently been here a short time and the collection was much smaller (perhaps she hadn't had a chance to bring them all here from back east at that point...) She said she'd had a lot of plant loss due to our intensely hot and "dry" (dry? - I think it's yucky-humid!!) weather here, but her plants had me all but drooling. She was generous enough to give me a couple of lovely cuttings - D. formosana and D. ramosii. I can see why someone could get nummularia and formosana mixed up - to a trained eye, the difference is probably obvious, but it's very subtle to me. And the ramosii is gorgeous!! The cutting has buds forming and I'm hoping they will still open - they're purple!
Anyway, I'll get a pic of the two in the next couple of days and post them. BTW, I asked Tanya if she had written a book about Dischidias and she said she'd written papers (see the link to her web page below...), and yes, she is working on a book. I CAN'T WAIT!!
Lucky me!!... Denise in Omaha
http://www.unomaha.edu/biology/livshultz.html
An exciting day!
Denise..you are a lucky Duck!! What a rare opportunity to meet Dr.Livshultz and to see her collection WITH her. Looking forward to scouring her website....
Yes...your public begs photos!!!
Carol
Denise - how very cool! You're so right, too, about people here being excited to share plant news - it's so fun to talk and play plants with others who enjoy it as much!! Yes - pictures please! Karen
First, here's the formosana - notice how similar the leaves are to nummularia, but they're very faintly heart shaped and the backs of the leaves are the same color and texture as the front (whereas nummularia has a pale look and seem waxy...)
... And here is ramosii, which I just love. Large leaves for a Dischidia (about 2" long). Notice the tiny buds in the leaf axils. They'll probably drop since it was removed from the mother plant, but I can hope!
I also meant to mention that Dr. Livschulz told me that D. gaudichaudii is a synonym of nummularia. I've gotten cuttings of this twice, and it's so delicate I find it hard to root. (I still have the second one, though it's still not rooted...) It seems very different than nummularia to me, just because it's so tiny and delicate, but I guess it's just another variable form of nummularia. Just thought those of you who grow it would want to know that...
Denise in Omaha
Denise...thanks so for the pictures...perhaps that D. ramosii is one I have gobs of with no ID. Have to wait for flowers!!!
D. gaudichaundry syn. for nummularia? amazing!
How exciting for you.
How wonderful for you, Denise. It is not easy to find a Dischidia pro. I have a Dischida that has leaves like D. ruscifolia, however, they are one quarter of the size. I sent cuttings to Harry Whitmore, who has more Dischida than anyone I know. He said he had never seen it before. Has anyone else run across this species?
Mel
Denise and other dischidia experts!,
i recently got a wee cutting of dischidia nummularia (i am pretty sure it was nummularia - EA cutting)......i got it rooted and it was even blooming and had new growth..then all of a sudden, it just dried up and died on me.....what is the secret for watering this little beast?....i didnt think i kept it too wet or too dry either....
Sandy
Sandy,
I wish I could give you some good advice... I've killed more of these than I care to admit. I've bought two huge EA variegated nummularias, and I'm on my third regular. I lost both of the variegate ones (have a few, VERY few cuttings left from it!) and I still have my third regular, and it SEEMS to be doing ok at this point. I have a feeling there is such a fine line between over- and under-watering that those of us NOT in the tropics are probably at a HUGE disadvantage... Each time I kill one, I feel like I'm learning... I have a feeling that they do best in a shallow pot (so as not to keep a lot of soil wet...) or on a moss shingle or totem. I lost my moss totem one this summer, but when I asked Dr. L. how often to water these, she said twice a day during warm weather. I wasn't that meticulous, so that's probably why...
So far, nummularia is the hardest Dischidia for me to grow.
Denise in Omaha
HI Denise,
Thanks for your insight.....i think i am destined to adore them on here in pics.! ....the funny thing is, when i had seen them at the local Rona store (Canada's version of Home Depot version), they looked horrible within a very short amount of time....you rarely see EA plants sold here, where i am anyway....you think they would sell something thats easier to grow.....
your meeting with such an expert to ask her questions and see her private collection must of been quite a thrill.....sounds better than Christmas!
Sandy
Lucky, you, indeed!
It has been very difficult to find much information on Dischidias, and I'm so pleased that the good Dr. is sharing hers! And that you're sharing yours!
Please keep us posted on if/when the book hits the press.....Dischidias are among my favorite plants, and I want to be one of the first in line.
Thanks so much for the link to the website, too!
Oh, yes, you can definitely see the 'heart shape' of those formosana leaves....almost like a very mini H. kerrii!
I totally agree on the 'shallow pot' for the nummularias.....my small variegated one is growing in a tiny basket with no soil....just coir....it goes bone dry before I soak it, and I only mist it occasionally.
As for the EA 'variable form' of nummularia....I left that in it's original soil and basket....it also goes completely dry....and I only water it from the bottom (place the pot in a saucer of water and let it soak it up) because like many of the hoyas with simlar 'small leaves' and similar growth habits....it seems that this plant literally dries up/dies (some, but not all stems) within days of top watering.