Plants I have been looking for and cannot find.

I have been looking for some plants and I figure maybe some of you guys have seen them around. I have been collecting for years and many of these plants have been on a personal wish list of mine for many many years. Most I have taken photos of at botanical gardens and other places. I have not searched as hard lately for these plants as I once did but I am always on the look for them when I am out.

Here is the first one. This is not my photos but a friends photo of a odd dutchmans pipe called Aristolochia gorgon

This is one if not the only photo I have seen of this plant. Now I cannot find its name maybe one you can help I know it starts with a W. LOL

It is a epiphytic cactus and looks like its alive. It shingles to the trees and lives in a swampy area if it fall out of the tree its a goner. Man I had this ones name I will try to look it up if no one knows.

This is a odd in a small group called Rapateaceae it grows very flat and is a hard group to find not just species but the whole family is hard to find anything on. Here is a large healthy plant growing at ABG.

Here is another group that just is not around much. Most people mistake them for palm trees. Some look identical to palms while others grow up trees like a philodendron. They look almost like a cross between a Aroid and a Palm.

Cyclanthus family
This whole family if very beautiful and odd. Only a few species are easy to find the rest are very never in collections or being grown?

The group is very cool it is one of the few plant families that shingles much like some aroids do. This group is called Marcgraviaceae I have one species at least but I am sure their are others just no one grows them. Usually very flat growing once young turning into a hanging bush like when mature.

This plant should be easy to find yet I have never found a source. It is a weed in Hawaii and it is hard to ship it anywhere due to it being such a pest. But here in Ky it could not be a weed though I wish it was.

Miconia velvet tree

Huge velvet leaves maroon on the underside some coloration on the veins. Beautful plant.

I have seen that cacti in Mexico. It was in the 80's driving with the family between Villahermosa and Veracruz. We stopped at a gas station and I was thrilled to find such an unusual cacti that shaped itself to the branches and trunk. I grabbed a few pieces, threw them into the car and went inside to get some soda. My father yelped as he sat on the pieces. I never heard the end of it. It's been so long that I can't remember the exact location but it wasn't a dry area - more humid. The plant snakes its way up the trunk quite flat. I never found the name and the pieces were discarded. I can always ask my Mexican friends from that area if they've seen it and know where it's native to.

Brian, pic #2 is Strophocactus Wittii. Originated in Brazil. Very rare in the wild (Brazil) has been transplanted throughout the tropics.Minimum temp is 70F so its definately tropical in habit.A friend of mine found a huge clump on the ground in Manus after a terrible thunderstorm.The guide in the area said it was a rare sight.The plant died shortly after.They don't root well outside of tropical conditions. My friends pieces died quickly even under greenhouse care. Blooms at night in summer. Needs good organic potting soil and a tree / post to climb.Partial to full shade.
Kyle

I wonder what I saw then. It looked and grew identical - segments flat/curved to the trunk. Neat pics.

Could be this plant, people transplant tropicals all over the world anymore.

Brian...knock knock! Let me know about how many miconia you want and I will find out prices from my nursery friend.....

Carol

Brian, I have seen a form of Marcgraviaceae growing in a greenhouse and I am pretty sure it was at Selby Gardens in Sarasota. If you contact them they may able to get you a piece, it grows all over the walls. Merry Xmas to all and to all good night...

Brian, did you ask Mauro about the aristolochia he has seed of A. gorgona hybrid (Aristolochia hyb. (gorgona x grandiflora) x self) and may know of a source for the one you want.
We get a lot of seed from him and a friend send me some of her seeds from his preservation group. http://mpeixoto.sites.uol.com.br/Seeds.html

Brian, as begoniacrazii notes, Mauro Peixoto would be a good person to check with on the A. gorgona. Another person might be Mario Blanco who, I believe, discovered it. I don't have contact information for him, but he is well known in Aristolochia circles. He is also a really nice guy.

Good luck getting your "wish list" plants. You have certainly expanded the wish lists of many of us on this site over the past months!

Erick


This message was edited Dec 21, 2006 9:49 PM

Thanks for all the links a help. I am sure the list will now get a bit smaller. I should add that Worsleya is one other plant on the list that is hard to find I have not looked for it for some years maybe it is a bit easier to get now??

Many of these plants are very hard to grow and is most likely the reason no one really has them to offer. The one group I think that is very badly over looked is the cyclanthus they are not that difficult yet few ever see the market or collections? I know palm tree collectors and aroid collectors are on opposite ends of the spectrum but this group seems to bring them together more related to pandana than anything else they now believe. Some amazing plants in that group so few even know about.

Kyle this plant may just be out of reach for anyone to really grow it. This plant was being grown in the back section at Shelby botanical gardens and I was told the only plant around. It looked amazing and just from growing others similar to it you would think easy but they also told me it was a pain to grow. For them if its a pain than for most it is impossible. I did see a article years ago about the plant growing on tree standing in water and the plants were growing on the tree trunks. Very cool to have a cactus in a swampy situation.

Brian, I was thinking about where I had seen the Marcgraviaceae and I was wrong about it being at Selby. I saw it in a greenhouse at Fairchild when I was there in Sept. I was so tempted to peel a piece off the wall, but, I know nothing about taking cuttings from that plant, so I resisted. I will be going down that way next week on a buying trip--so how do you take a successful cutting...??

This is Viscaya, just a few miles from Fairchild.

Brian, a seller on eBay has had Worsleya. They have it on their site. I bet you could trade for one. I have wanted one for a long time but I would kill it.

http://rareplants.eleonorengland.com/

This message was edited Dec 22, 2006 1:37 PM

Kell,

You might be surprised at how well Worsleya would do for you. If you are in Sunset zones 17-15 it should do well. Worsleya grows on cliff sides in mid-elevations of maritime SAmerican climates. Very similar conditions to NorCal. You can check or send a request to Brazilplants.com and ask Mauro to notifiy you when the seed is available. I have done business with him and he is very reliable.

This message was edited Jan 1, 2007 9:54 PM

This message was edited Jan 1, 2007 9:55 PM