Spathiphyllum varieties? How many?

Betty's recent thread on Spathiphyllum's made a question I've had come to mind. How many varieties are there of this plant?

I have about 10 spath's between work and home. And some are clearly the same variety, but I have two that are definitely not the regular type.

Most are the type you see in stores, at the airport, etc. They are small potted plants that send up relatively small white flowers year round. The leaves are usually never more than a few inches long. The stems holding the leaves are also usually just a few inches long and grow out of little clumps. There are dozens and dozens of leaves per plant.

Another I have, which I now think is "Sensation" has extremely large leaves that grow on tall stems. This plant is 3 or 4 feet tall and has large white flowers that sometimes turn green. Like my smaller varieties, there are dozens of leaves. Similar photo:
http://pics.davesgarden.com/pics/BUFFY690_1064623775_64.jpg

The other odd spath I own, which I have always assumed was "Supreme" has leaves so large it makes even the "Sensation" look like a baby. The key difference, other than size, is that is has FAR fewer leaves... maybe 20 leaves in all. It's not as tall as Sensation, but it's leaves are droopy and are giant. The flower is also huge and white. Similar photo:
http://pics.davesgarden.com/pics/pheitmeyer_1156353654_257.jpg

So how many varieties are there? And how can I figure out what my smallest plants are? Could they be Spathiphyllum wallisii?

keonikale,

Try this site for the most common commercial spathe's. http://www.agristarts.com/spath_main.htm

Now that my camera has been 'fixed' I will give you, keonikale, a little better pic....

Thanks Betty. You said you got it from Lowes? I am pretty positive we saw one there yesterday for like $39... it is a huge sucker. I was wrong about the leaves too... they are about the same as Supreme, but the Sensation is FAR taller. Incredible plant.

Thanks also for the link Dale.

-John

This message was edited Feb 25, 2007 2:04 PM

I hate to admit that I paid 39.00, but i did at Lowes

there are spaths with pink or red flowers. here's one wallesii from plant files. there are a lot of the colored ones around at Valentine's Day

http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/136874/

I thought those were Anthurium's?

Look like Anthuriums to me too. Wish I could see a pic of the leaf. I'm googling Wallisii and let me tell you, I don't see any pink blooms. The spathes don't look like peace lillies. The spadix of anthuriums are smooth, as photographed in rainbow man's pic of Wallisii, whereas the spadix of PLs are rough, ridged.

This message was edited Feb 25, 2007 10:55 PM

could be an incorrect post..I tend to believe everything I see in PlantFiles

you guys certainly are more knowledgeable than I am. I have one run-of-the-mill peace lily from the super market

No worries grampapa, I find all sorts of interesting things in the plant files from time to time. Admittedly, it's very hard to tell with some plants. I am still not sure what one of my Elephant Ears is, even after several months here.