I watched this plant languishing at Lowe's since early spring before buying it. I figured it must be tough to last so long with no care! Is it some type of ficus? It was labeled "Tropical Foliage Plant", with no details. It's about 5' tall, trained as a standard. Sure looks like some type of ficus, but I can't find a photo of it anywhere on Plant Files or in my houseplant books. Thanks to anyone who can help me find out its care.
Gosh, I know what that plant is as sure as I'm sitting here but I'm drawing a blank! I just saw it in our Wal-Mart Garden center a few days ago!
If it comes to me I will pop back in with the name but hopefully someone will beat me to it.
I really thought someone would have come along and ID'd your plant by now. If you post your photo over on the Plant Identification Forum: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/plantid/all/ I'm sure you will get some hits.
I'm thinking your plant may be Medinilla. I have a small potted M. magnifica but my leaves are smaller than what your pic shows so yours is probably a different cultivar, if it is indeed a Medinilla.
Here's the link to Plant Files for Medinilla: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=medinilla&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search Just scroll down and click on some of the photo's to compare to your plant.
Thanks, plantladylin! I wasn't aware that there was a Plant ID Forum! I will do that for sure. I'll also check the Plant Files for Medinilla.
I doubt you'd find a Medinilla at a Lowes!
I don't think it's a Medinilla anyway.
It looks like it could be a Canela (Cinnamomum kotoense) and I've heard they've been selling these at Lowe's and HD recently.
I found some pictures of cinnamomum kotoense here: http://www.toptropicals.com/cgi-bin/garden_catalog/cat.cgi?number=5&find=Lauraceae&imagesonly=1 Scroll about 3/4 of the way down the page and see if this looks like your plant.
Hey Ya Nan! How are you? I have a small Medinilla at Wal-Mart garden center of all places! You just never know what's gonna turn up at the garden centers sometimes. First time I've seen one at Wal-Mart.
Here's my Medinilla ... not looking so hot after getting sunburned and having cement stuff splashed on it by the crew who were refinishing our pool!
No kidding, Lin?!! LOL!! (Ü)
Sorry about that - I guess the FL box stores are way ahead of the rest of them - of course you Floridians can plant things outdoors that the rest of us never could!
I had one and had to search for years to get it - it's one of the many plants lost when my son was ill.
Nice score, you lucky duck! Which one is it?
Yeah Nan ... I guess so many of these plants are grown down here in Florida that even Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Lowes carries them sometimes.
Let me go get the label that was on mine, I think I saved it.
Yep, the label says Wal-Mart Gardens. I know they get a lot of plants from nurseries down in Miami where the bulk of the Tropical nurseries are located! Mine is Medinilla magnifica: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/62134/ I did not plant mine in the ground because it would be mush if we were to have frost or a hard freeze which we do occasionally! Mine is small but it does have a cluster of buds so I'm hoping to get to see some of those beautiful flowers! I cut a piece of the stem off and will see how easy it is to root! Will keep you posted!
I'm with Nan, I think it looks more like a Canela or something related to that vs a Medinilla (plus while I'm not surprised that Florida big box stores might carry Medinilla, it's much less likely in Indiana!)
Thanks to all for trying to narrow down the ID. I checked for any cinnamon fragrance to a crushed leaf, and there is none at all. The canela leaves look more elongated than my plant. I think it looks more like a type of medinilla (looking at the photos in Plant Files), but if it is, it's probably one of the more common types, not the ones with those great flower clusters.
There's not a lot of information out there on these Cinnamomum being sold recently.
From what I understand, it's the BARK that's to be aromatic and is the source for cinnamon. I don't think the leaves of all species are necessarily aromatic.
I have a small one that I just received about a week ago - I rubbed a leaf and it has no 'cinnamon-ish' smell , either.
Someone on another forum has this exact plant and it was ID'd as Cinnamomum verum.
Check out some of these photo's. Looks exactly like your plant. Click on the image to see the close up larger view. Foliage sure looks like your plant: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=images+of+cinnamomum+verum&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title
I have the same plant. It came labeled as Cinnamomum sp
any idea if a cutting would root well?
Yeah, I do think it's a Cinnamomum species now. Although there's no fragrance, the photos I compared it with do look the same. Thanks.
