Can Anyone ID this plant

Discussion in 'HortForum' started by StevenB, Feb 3, 2010.

  1. StevenB

    StevenB Member

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    I bought this tropical plant 25 years ago. It had no identification. This photo is of a new start. The plant has bloomed only once for me years ago. I've never seen another one anywhere since I bought this specimen.

    On the mature plants, the dark green leaves are about 12 to 13 inches long. It releases a sticky, clear substance at the juncture of the leaves and the stem (that ants are attracted to).

    Thanks!

    Steven
     

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  2. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    We need a bit more help.

    When a plant attracts ants it is known a a myrmecophyte which is a plant that normally lives associated with a colony of ants and possesses specialized organs to provide shelter and/or food for the ants.

    For that reason as well as the shape of your plant it may be an aroid but there are many genera and species. Your photo is not sharp enough to blow up but this may be an Anthurium species, if not possibly a Philodendron. Can you answer the following questions?

    1) Do you see a vein at the edge of the leaf which all the other main veins connect into?
    2) Just at the point where the leaf blade connects to the stalk (which is known as a petiole) can you feel a slight or major bump?
    3) When the plant flowered what did it look like? Was there a shield-like "flower" surrounding a fleshy stalk? If the answer is yes that would come close to locking it into one of the aroid groups.
    $) The top of the leaf appears glossy. Is that correct?
    4) Is the bottom of the leaf glossy or matte?
    5) Do you have any idea where the plant originated?

    If at all possible can you post more photos in a new post?

    I'd like to see two closeup photos of the leaf blade (one of the top and one of the bottom). Please be sure and show the petiole (stalk that supports the leaf) since there may be characteristics that will help to give you an ID.

    I would also like to see a closeup photo of the stem. The stem is the base of the plant where the plant is attached to the soil.

    If you can give us more information I'm sure someone can give you a good answer.
     
  3. Junglekeeper

    Junglekeeper Esteemed Contributor 10 Years

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    Photos of the mother plant would help.
     
  4. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    With the help of my friend Leland Miyano we believe your plant is almost certainly Philodendron campii Croat. (camp-E-eye) The species was discovered and identified by our good friend Dr. Tom Croat from the Missouri Botanical Garden. You can find some information on the International Aroid Society website since the species was published to science in the 2004 edition of the IAS journal Aroideana.
    www.Aroid.org

    It is often sold as Philodendron Lynette which is just a made-up name.

    The species does not grow much larger than the plant you have shown in the photo but rarely grows in soil in nature. Instead it is an epiphytic species which grows on the side or branch of a tree. As a result the soil should be very porous and not allowed to stay muddy.

    The inflorescence is not a flower but is like a "flower holder" composed of a spathe and spadix. The bottom which is known as the female floral chamber should be round (globe shaped) while the spathe blade is greenish with maroon and greenish white on the inside. The shield-like portion is known as a spathe and the fleshy spike at the center is a spadix. There are both very tiny female and male flowers found for about two days on that spadix when it is fertile.

    Philodendron campii is native to Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

    You will find more growing information on this page: http://www.exoticrainforest.com/Grow or Growing Philodendrons.html

    If you would like to see a photo of the way it grows in nature you can see one on the Missouri Botanical Garden website TROPICOS. http://www.tropicos.org/Name/2106550

    The photos are grainy but you can click on each one to enlarge it. One clearly shows how the plant grows in the wild, just use the wheel on your mouse to make it larger or smaller

    By the way, the nectar that attracts ants comes from "extra-floral" nectaries. The plant uses the juice to keep ants around in an effort to keep the leaves from being eaten. An extra-floral nectary produces a sweet smelling pheromone or perfume which is not used to attract a pollinator. Most of that is explained in my article in one of the links.
     
    Last edited: Feb 4, 2010
  5. StevenB

    StevenB Member

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    Thank you SO much! I have wanted to know for years what this plant is. I have cherished it because I've never seen another one. But it was refreshing to see other photos of other specimens online.

    One question though ... I bought this plant nearly 25 years ago, but you mentioned that it was "published to science" in 2004. What does published to science mean? Do you know when Dr. Croat brought this species to the States?

    Thanks again for your help!

    Steven
     
  6. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    That just means the plant was not described to science until 2004. Lots of plants circulate among plant collectors with a common name but not until a scientist actually finds it in the wild, verifies it has not been described in a scientific paper, and then publishes that paper does the plant become a part of botanical science.

    There are thousands of plants that people grow because someone brought a plant home from the tropics but those often just have a common name. Tom is a good friend and has collected more than 100,000 plants in the wild. He is the world's top aroid botanist specializing in Philodendron and Anthurium species and was honored last year when he brought his 100,000th plant collection out of the rain forest. That plant became the 6,000,000th plant to be stored as a dried specimen in the Missouri Botanical Garden herbarium collection and is being named Anthurium centimillesimum Croat The name "centimillesimum" means six millionth. Quite a feat!

    Tom finds around 25 unknown species every year but his work load at the garden prevents all of them from being published in a timely fashion. Every plant must be studied with careful comparision of the blade, vein structure, stem, petiole, cataphyll and other characteristics. One of the most important is to have an inflorescence (what most people call a "flower") since the sexual parts can be examined to exclude other known species. Aroids are highly variable and just because a leaf looks like something new does not mean it is a different species.

    If that subject interests you this link may help:

    http://www.exoticrainforest.com/Natural variation within aroid and plant species.html

    Nicely grown specimen by the way!!
     

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