Here is the view from the front
Philodendron ID required please
And here is the view from the back. The pot is about 6 inches (150 mm) in diameter at the rim.
Heya, Kaelkitty. Looks like one I've got that was ID'd a while back as 'Emerald Queen'. The backs of the leaves will be reddish colored - or, I forget, is it "coloured" in AU? :) If you let it attach and climb something, the leaves will get a little bit larger, tops will be a darker or dark medium green color, and will develop back lobes (juvenile foliage often doesn't have the back lobes). I was told that 'EQ' was a popular philo in the florist's trade back in the 80's (which, mine originated from a florist's shop in 1986). Even if it's not 'Emerald Queen', it's like a related hybrid of P. erubescens (which, I think is what 'EQ' is a hybrid of).
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/131392/
My take on your plant, Kaelkitty, is that it is one of the many unnamed McColley Philo hybrids. When I worked at McColley's nursery, Bamboo Nursery, outside of Orlando, Florida, they had a great many similar Philos that they sold without patenting. I had a few myself and they looked similar to yours. I still have some of them. I bought my first one, very much like yours, in the early 1970s in Gainesville, Florida.
Here's a link that shows some of the Philos. The bottom pictures on the page are examples.
http://www.apopkafoliage.com/Plants/Philodendron.htm
This message was edited Oct 26, 2007 8:29 PM
Hi Guys,
Thanks for the suggestions. I think you're all correct in different ways. I was originally leaning towards Emerald Queen a bit myself, or possibly Royal Queen or Red Emerald; and it certainly wouldn't surprise me if it had P. erubescens breeding with that colouring; the trouble is that I don't know enough different species and cultivars to know how many similar ones are floating about. I got this at a Car Boot Sale without a label a couple of years ago, so it is likely to be something locally common enough to have been vegetatively propagated by a regular gardener, as opposed to a specialist grower or a commercial nursery.
For a while this plant was one of those annoying ones that did nothing much - it would grow one new leaf and lose the bottom leaf, thus not making much progress. Lately however it seems to have picked up the pace a bit, and I am now fairly sure it is going to want to climb. On the second photo you can see the nubs of a couple of aerial roots starting up at the stem joint. I am considering giving it a bigger pot and a climbing pole, what do you think? It is currently located under the Melaleuca tree in about half shade, which seems to suit it for the present but I'll certainly take cultivation advice, especially as it will soon be very hot and dry here and now that it is finally growing I don't want to see it get set back.
As for the McColley Hybrids, I can certainly see the similarities, but it would depend on whether or not they have ever been distributed in Australia, mind you the pictures make me a bit jealous - especially that one with the notched leaves. Do these guys climb when they get bigger, Lari Ann?
If anyone wants a look at the rest of my Aroid colllection, here is a link to that part of my plant journal http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/vbc/Kaelkitty/53998/begindate/ with the plants arranged in the order I acquired them. I don't have photos for everything yet, but I'll be posting more when the summer growing plants get going - especially my three new acquisitions down the bottom of the list. TTFN, KK.
Kaelkitty,
Yes, some of them climb, and some of the just sort of creep or sprawl, and a few are nearly self-heading. There are many more than are pictured there.
Now, to really ramp up your jealousy, I have to share that while I was at Bamboo Nursery, I was able to obtain a few plants that never made it to market. One was a notched one like in the picture, but far more red/purple. I've had this plant for nearly 30 years. It is quite spectacular; I will see if I can take a picture today and post it for you.
I saw in your journal that you have Cunjevoi; have you seen my hybrids involving that plant?
Here a link to one of them:
http://www.aroidiaresearch.org/brisbwav.htm
Here's another:
http://www.aroidia.com/abristig.htm
Here's my Cunjevoi:
http://www.aroidia.com/abrisban.htm
Hi Lari Ann,
Plant envy, well yeah, you had me at "..world's biggest Alocasia robusta.." a while back! Great photos in those links. The Cunjevoi name is an unconfirmed guess, but I suspect it's likely to be a correct one give that it's our native species. I have flowered it once, unfortunately back in my pre digital camera days and your photos agree with my somewhat rusty memory.
I am at a bit of a dilemma about those guys in the photo. Last year, when I was moving house things got a bit hectic, and those guys got ripped up out of the garden border and chucked into the 6 inch pots with about three teaspoons each of garden soil, stuck in a plastic box to keep them damp and ignored completely. When I got around to thinking about them I got a bit of a shock - each pot has about 6 feet of roots coming out of the drainage holes and wandering about in the water - that's why they are sharing with my aquatic plants for the moment. Now I have to decide whether to chop the roots off, plant them in the garden pots and all, or try to cut the pots off, which will probably damage the roots anyway! The actual plants are pretty small at the moment, though I don't think mine have ever been as large as your lovely specimen in the photo - maybe two-thirds that size.
They grow well here in Adelaide, though obviously not quite as they would do in Queensland. Mostly they stay smaller because we don't have the summer humidity to support the bigger leaves. Also it is just cold enough to send them dormant each winter which certainly slows them down. Oh well, I guess I should be grateful that I don't have to dig them up and keep them in a basement every winter, like some of you guys have to do! I should really get off line for a while and get some sleep now, it's gone 5 am and I've been awake since 2 am - I'll check in later, TTFN, KK.
LariAnn I would love to see you 30yo notched leaf Philo! Please do try to post a pic
Diane
Ok, the "notched Philo', pic #1: The old one is on the bench, a baby is on the ground in the Air-pot.
And here is pic #2, from a different angle:
Ahhh...drooling going on inTX Has kind of the look of the Black CArdinal to it...Which I never could grow But better with those leaves.
That is absolutely beautiful! I just love Philos...
Oooooh, Wow! That one, they SHOULD have named!
LariAnn, that one is amazing!
I haven't made much effort to propagate this Philo, but if there is interest, I may go ahead and do some so they can be available for the Big Ear Fest in Spring 2008. Let me know by d-mail if you want on the list.