I found this really nice Dischidia at HD today for only $9.00. It has 3 big fat pouches on it.
Blessings,
Awanda
Hoya cousin
GREAT find. Looks like D. vidalii....should bloom a lot (red flowers)...you already have seed pods!!
Carol
WOW, sistah A!!! GREAT FIND!!!!
Awanda...grow it VERY dry. I killed the first one I had because of too much water...very dry and really really lose soil.
Wow what a great find Awanda. Congratulations!
Patti
Holy Cow, what a find girl, and ya can't beat that price. I was HD this morning and found only H. kerrii, H. picta, and a krimson queen. Didn't see any beauties like yours :(
Thanks all, it only took stopping by 3HD to find it. I looked for more, but this was the only one I found.
Blessings,
Awanda
Hey ... I'm going to every HD in town tomorrow! $9.00 ??? .... maybe I should make a trip to the HD in AZ!! I don't think I will find anything for $9.00 here in Florida! Oh, that is so beautiful .... I WANT ONE! AND, Red Flowers?!!?? I didn't even know any Hoya had red flowers! Now, I REALLY want one! Oh, wait .... it isn't a Hoya, you said it's Dichidia? I've never heard of that. Are they related to Hoya? I still want one! LOL.
It's Beautiful! Please post photo's if you get blooms!
Great Plant Awanda ..... Great Deal!
LIn
Lin...the flowers on that Dischidia are tiny and bright red....the red of Hoya flowers tends to be rusty or burgundyish...but there are some brights!!!
Aloha Hoya .... Thank you! When you say the flowers on that Dischidia are tiny, do you mean really tiny .... like hard to see? Do they have any scent like some Hoya's? Are there any red flowered hoya's with nice fragrance?
Lin
Dischidia flowers are very much like H. heuschkeliana but half the size (usually). Hmmmm, gotta think about the red hoyas with fragrance.... - H. sp. DS-70 is one.
Edited to say that under various environments with different nutrition given, hoya flowers can take on different intensities of colors and different colors sometimes...pinks can become whiter or redder, whites can become pinker or creamer or......
Isn't this fun?
This message was edited Dec 16, 2006 7:53 PM
Very pretty!
Are the pouches the seed pods? I have seen photos around the internet and loved the growth on this one. I think the pouches give it such character. If they are seed pods do they stay on the plant for a long time? Anyone know??
Bea
No, the pouches aren't the seed pods...those are the long narrow things that don't look anything like the leaves!!! The pouches just happen...on that D. and on D. major and on a few others, I believe.
I've counted about 5 seed pods, now I just need to get them to root, which I've had pretty good luck with.
Blessings,
Awanda
I thought I read somewhere that Dischidias have a co-relationship with ants and that quite often they form those pouches for ants to reside in. I might not have that quite right, as anyone else heard a similiar thing?
Roy
Roy I've heard the same thing:-).
Blessings,
Awanda
This Dischidia and a couple others have "domatia" for ants and are involved in a symbiotic relationship. Plants that employ these tactics are referred to as "myrmecophytes" or "ant-lovers." The ants use the inflated pouches (actually leaves) as chambers in a nest and, in return, they protect the plant from predators. Many plants have evolved this type of relationship with ants (Acacia, a few members of the coffee family, and several ochids). If you cut open one of the pouches, you will see that there are roots in there to pick up nitrogen (usually limiting in epiphytes) from ant frass (poo) and carcasses. The symbiotic plants are a really cool topic, I collect several (without the ants) and Dischidia vidalli is one of the most attractive. Congrats on the find, they arent cheap plants around here, I have paid >30$ for one about that size! Sorry to just chime in, I am an ecologist and this is one of my favorite topics.
This is slightly off the subject, but when I saw the word "myrmecophytes" I immediately thought of Hoya myrmecopa, I wonder does this Hoya attract ants? Nice to have an ecologist to consult mtntrtl.
Roy
I know that the H. imbricata grows as a shingle upon the bark of the tree...and ants live under the protection of the disc like leaves....
D. vidalli is also self pollinating...and constantly puts out seedpods. I have grown some out....easy.
Thanks Carol... I see the seed pods now. It is a very cool plant. H. imbricata is another of my fav's.
mtntrtl........ glad you chimed in it is great to have all the input possible. That is how we all learn about our obcessions:) What are the other myrmecophytes that you are growing or know of? This does sound like an interesting topic.
Bea
Hi Bea,
I am growing a couple orchids from the genus Schumburgkia and Myrmecophyla (among my 100+ other orchids, these genera have ant-associations), I have been looking for some more of the myrmecophytic Asclepiads (will trade! but I dont have the best collection to trade from). I also have Hydnophytum formicarum, a really cool plant inthe coffee family (Rubiaceae) that forms a spongy caudex (swollen trunk). Check out http://home.nc.rr.com/myrmecophyte.intro.html, not my site, but gives a great overview. I justify my plant addictions by only collecting things I can bring in to a classroom to tell a cool evolutionary story and people love the convergent evolution stories in the succulent ascleps and deceptive pollination in some of the Stapelia relatives. I just find the evolutionary stories almost more beautiful than the flowers...... Also if you look up coevolution and Passiflora, you will find a ton of really cool stories about the passionflowers.
As for Dishidia, arent self-pollinating flowers the biggest difference between Dischidia and Hoya? I am under the impression that all Dischidia are cleistogamous (flowers that never open and only self pollinate).
One thing about those 'pouches'....they not only will house 'ants' (none of mine ever have, indoors) but they'll also house MEALYBUGS if your plant should develop them - so just watch out for that, everyone!
Awanda....It's Fabulous.....love it!! (Dischidias are among my favorite plants!)
I've never seen a Dischidia flower that has fully opened, and I do believe that is 'their nature'.
This is such a great group! Awanda thanks for sharing your photo and great find.
Thanks everyone else for all the super info I have learned a lot.
Bea