Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Random plant event: special Dieffenbachia flowering

I've posted pictures of Dieffenbachia flowers before, but nothing quite like these. Previously, for whatever reason, the flowers never actually fully developed. This might have been because the conditions weren't right for it, or it could have been because the plants in question never intended for them to develop all the way in the first place. Really don't know.

So when one of mine at home, a NOID that I've had for about three and a half years now, started to produce flowers a while ago, I wasn't really all that interested. Been there, done that.

Then the plant started doing something brand-new, that I've never seen a Dieffenbachia do before: it looked like it was putting two flowers together, one on top of the other, with a narrower "waist" in between. I pinched the bottom one a few times, just to try to figure out what was going on in there, and it was actually mostly hollow, just a stem inside a big balloon of a spathe.

And but then it got weirder, because the top section worked itself free, and then lower "flower" opened up:


And I was like, ooooooh. I've heard about this.

'Cause you see, when you look up Dieffenbachia or Philodendron or whatever -- aroids -- there will usually be something in there about how the flower spike usually contains both male and female flowers, which are separated spatially. Male on top, female on bottom, with a zone of sterile flowers in between. Previously, I'd always seen inflorescences like the one below (taken from a previous post):



and I'd assumed that when I looked at the white part at the top, I was in fact looking both the male and female flowers, with a zone between the two of sterile flowers, and it just happened that male, female, and sterile all looked identical. And whatever the hell the yellowy stuff below that was, it wasn't really relevant: some kind of misdeveloped flowers, perhaps.

But no. It turns out that two things were happening. One, I was oblivious to anything that was going on inside the spathe, and two, I never happened to be paying attention when the action was happening.

Oh yes. There is action.

Here is the part I'd always assumed was the whole "flower," the male part. It had, at this point, just emerged from the spathe:


And the following day, it was doing this:


That lasted no more than a day, after which the spathe popped back up around the spadix and sealed it back in again.

Meanwhile, the female part, which you can just barely see in that first picture, was doing stuff as well. It's much harder to photograph, because I have to hold the spathe open with one hand while I take the picture with the other, and so the quality is kind of crappy here, but you get the gist. The basic structure is clearly visible in the first picture:


And then the coloring is more true to life in the second:


This is also a very quick process. The next day, the colors and textures had changed:


And then it sealed itself back up again as well.

In nature, my understanding is that beetles pollinate these flowers. The plant attracts the beetles, the beetles crawl into the chamber around the female flowers (hence the need for a lot of space around them: the plant's making room for the beetles), and then . . . magic happens?, and the flower is pollinated. No account of the process I've read so far explains how or why the beetles pick up the pollen from the male flowers in the first place (they're not self-fertile, so it'd have to be coming from another flower), or how the beetles get back out after the deed is done (the seal on the spathe is tight, actually: I found it difficult to open up to try to look at the male flowers again), or what they do while they're in there. But at least the male-female-sterile part makes more sense now. I'm a little bit amazed that I hadn't run into pictures of this stuff before, and I'm a lot amazed that my plant decided to do this while growing inside: clearly it's adequate, but I would never have thought this was the ideal environment for growing and flowering.


49 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great post. Thanks for taking so many pictures. Steve Lucas (http://exoticrainforest.com) has a lot of information on Aroid inflorescences and how they work... You should check it out.

Nancy in Sun Lakes AZ said...

Absolutely fantastic post. I learn so much from reading your blog! I am so happy I discovered it recently.

Anonymous said...

I just do like your blog so very much! It is part of my daily routine to chek what is new on your site. Thanks. R

Aiyana said...

Great info. Fascinating process, and you are right. Rare sight. I've never seen this documented before.
Aiyana

Anonymous said...

Finally!

I was searching all over the net about dieffenbachia flowering, and it seems that only yours had sufficient info AND good pictures to support. Im soo happy I stumbled upon this. =)

I was wondering whether you know a thing or two about the flowering process. I just got my first, the flower bloomed (it was so beautiful) only for a night (in the middle of the night) and by the next morning, it closed up until now. Quite disappointing actually.

Could be the spathe covering the spadix? Can I do anything to make it open up again?

And Im also quite confused so to ask, is it possible for the plant to have more than one flower? Cause, I see another similar looking spathe, a bit smaller than the former and it isnt hollow. And both of them, havent reach any consensus on opening up, I mean like, what's up with them? Lol.

Btw, love the pixxx you put up there, at least, it reminds me of mine when it bloomed.

Keep up the good job! -Ola

mr_subjunctive said...

I don't think there's anything that can be done to make the flower re-open once it's closed again; the ones at work seem to stay open longer than the one I had at home, if I recall correctly, so it's possible that light/heat/humidity might keep things going, but I won't promise anything.

I think it is normal to have more than one flower; most of the flowers I've seen have appeared in pairs, though it seems like they're never open at the same time; one leads the other by a few days.

Anonymous said...

My Dieffenbachia is flowering, so I Googled the plant, and came across this blog.

I took pictures...they look just like yours!

helen said...

Amazing blog!Congratulations!
I was searching for details about Dieffenbachia flowering and I came across your post.

I have a Dieffenbachia which is flowering right now, it hasn't opened up yet, but I'm very astonished it's flowering at all, it's only 7 months old!!!!?!?

I was also wondering what to do after flowering. Should I cut it off?

Your pictures are great!

mr_subjunctive said...

Yeah, just cut it off. In fact, it's probably technically better to cut it off before it opens, so the plant doesn't waste energy trying to build it, but I've never done that for my Dieffenbachias.

helen said...

Thanks for your answer.

Also, I've heard that the plant just goes downhill after flowering and that got me really worried.

Were your Dieffenbachias ok?

Anonymous said...

Just discovered today that our Dieffenbachia has 2 flowers on it! We have had Dieffenbachias in our house for many years and had never had one that flowered. This plant was bought at a nursery when we moved to a new house about 1 1/2years ago. Going to be interesting to see what it does next!

queenbu said...

I've had this dieffenbachia for 18 years!Well,actually I have offsprings of it now.Everytime a leaf is accidentally cut off, I just replant and hey presto! I have since moved house and everytime this marvellous plant, or shd I say, about four of them, adapt very well!Two weeks ago,for the first time in 18 yrs, I noticed a flower and then two...I, too, took loads of photos. After two weeks the flowers are still there.I really wouldn't dream of cutting them off!

Lys said...

Queenbu - you said that whenever a leaf got accidentaly cut off you'd plant it and Hey Presto!! I thought that diffenbachia only propogated via segments of the stalk... Will it root from a leaf? Do you put them directly in dirt or water? Do you use rooting hormone?

Anonymous said...

I just noticed my plant begin to flower and came across your blog as I decided to research it. It answered a lot of my questions, thank you! There are a total of three flowers that appeared just days ago.

Anonymous said...

My plant is 5years old and it just began to flower. The flowers are exactly like your pictures. Now if I can just get my Hoya plants to flower again I be happy.

Anonymous said...

Great post, thanks! My plant is flowering now and the information on this post was very helpful. This is the first time my plant has flowered. Believe it or not, I've had this plant for 36 years.

Unknown said...

Congrats! Everybody is learning with your posts! Me too! I've had this plant for plant for 8 years too!

Fantastic post! :)

danilb said...

Like everyone else, we are thrilled with your post. We had flowers show up recently, and none of the houseplant books ever mention the dieffs can flower! Any chance they can be pollinated with say, a Qtip? Thanks again!

mr_subjunctive said...

danilb:

Possibly, if you have more than one flowering at a time, or if you can save the pollen. (I don't know about Dieffenbachia pollen specifically, but Anthurium pollen is supposed to keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for a while -- I don't know off the top of my head how long -- and it's in the same family.) The problem, of course, is that the pollen happens after the female flowers are receptive, so you'd need another bloom right away, before the pollen from the first one dies.

Matthew Baldwin said...

I have allot starting up on mine.

Anonymous said...

I have two dieffembachias in my living room. They each are next to a window that faces east. I water them once a week. Both of them have flowered the last two years, maybe three.

Unknown said...

I just witnessed this very thing!However mine is doing all of this at a very young stage... I hear you guys saying you've have it for years

jennybunny said...

So glad to have discovered this blog,mine has just had a flower,i had no idea it could!!!sat and looked in amazement for ages,will there be more now????

mr_subjunctive said...

jennybunny:

Probably not immediately, no. I think that a dieff can produce more than one bloom in a season (at least some of their relatives, like Aglaonema, can produce up to five inflorescences, one after another, on the same stem), but I wouldn't swear that they can.

I only have two Dieffenbachias now, one of which has never bloomed for me; the other blooms occasionally, maybe once a year, but not necessarily in the same season.

So yeah, you'll probably see another one sooner or later; you just won't be able to predict it in advance.

Angela said...

Just like everyone else, I just noticed mine flowering!!! What excites me the most is this plant and subsequent plants are offsprings of my Dad's plant. He passed away 24 years ago. My Mom took over its care beautifully. I took over the care after she died 3 years ago. It has been rooted and rerooted probably over 25 times. Nature is a wonderful miracle! Thanks for your posts!

Marisa said...

I just bought my dieffenbachia a few months ago and it currently has two flowers. It's here in my office at work - I didn't come to work last Thursday and Friday and when I came in on Monday some of the leaves had yellowed. Is this related to the flowering? Anything I can/should do about it?

mr_subjunctive said...

Marisa:

Most likely not related. Birds gotta fly, fish gotta swim, dieffs gotta drop leaves as they age.

But it depends on how many leaves. If it was a substantial percentage of the leaves going all at once, say 25% or so, that could mean that it got too dry or too wet recently. (If too dry, the plant would also likely be wilting a little by the time you saw it Monday; several leaves going bright yellow at once is more indicative of overwatering.)

Unknown said...

My dieffenbachia was planted outside by the birds or something! I was so amazed when it come up last yr I discovered three blooms on it.I live in Missouri with crazy winters. I mulched it.

MyPlantLeon said...

Thank you for this awesome post along with pictures!! :) I've had my dieffenbachia plant "Leon" for 12 years now and never had a flower before. Its so amazing to see a flower growing out instead of a leaf! I'm looking forward to seeing the transformation as you have described. I've had multiple healthy offsprings throughout the years.

Unknown said...

My plant flowered with two, one open for one day and closed back up the second never open, they are still there and remain clse. Is this situation normal or is there something that can be done?

Thank you for your imput.

mr_subjunctive said...

Unknown:

These things happen. I don't know if it's "normal" in the sense of being something that the plant would typically do in its natural environment, but it's normal in the sense that it's something one sees from time to time with plants that are grown indoors. I have occasionally tried to peel spathes open (mostly with Aglaonema, not Dieffenbachia) and as far as I can remember, it never worked.

I have no idea why it happens, but if I were forced to guess something, I would guess that it happens because the air is too dry. (Though again, just to underline: that's only a guess, and you should have exactly zero confidence in it as an explanation.)

Anonymous said...

thank you so much for your explanations on flowering and the great pictures!! I was shocked when my 12 year old plant had this strange new leaf? then when it didn't open like a leaf, I started my search, thank you, thank for all the info,i can relax now and enjoy this process. susan

jewelia said...

Thank you. Did not know these were flowers. I now have had three flowers recently on my plant.

Anonymous said...

We have had our Dieffenbachia "Victor" for about 4 years. He has survived in spite of my lack of gardening ability. He is one stalk, very tall. Today I noticed a "flower" for lack of a better word. I am amazed. So I decided to find out if that's what it is and found this blog. Thank you. Great pictures. When we came home from vacation at the end of last year we had "Victoria" growing. Don't know how that happened. I would like to grow others. Do I just put a leaf into the dirt? I tried putting it into water and that didn't work. Here comes the real question. Can I cut his stak and plant it into dirt or will I kill him? He is nearly 7 feet and will hit the ceiling shortly. HELP!

mr_subjunctive said...

Anonymous:

Dieffenbachia won't root from a single leaf, no. I think I remember successfully propagating plants from cuttings in water and cuttings directly stuck into soil before, but my overall success rate with either technique was pretty low, and it was somewhat dependent on the variety: some cultivars were more willing to root than others.

I think I maybe also successfully propagated Dieffenbachia by laying a section of the stem on wet soil and keeping it covered for a while until new growth appeared at the nodes, though the same issues apply -- overall success rate isn't very good, and some varieties are more cooperative than others. (I find the very large varieties like 'Tropic Snow' and 'Tropic Rain' a lot easier to deal with in every respect than smaller ones like 'Camille' or 'Compacta.')

I haven't tried it with Dieffenbachia specifically, but with the related genus Aglaonema, I have much better luck propagating from direct-sticking cuttings into soil if I keep the pots of cuttings in an enclosed container for a few months afterward, so the humidity stays high while roots are forming. This might also work with Dieffenbachia.

If the plant is otherwise happy, taking a cutting won't kill the plant: it will produce a new growing tip from the stump. Sometimes that's slow, it's not 100% dependable, and I think you need to leave a couple nodes on the stump above the soil surface for it to happen too, but in general they'll at least try.

Unknown said...

Maybe it's a coincidence, my plant is in the window that faces the East and she just produced three flowers. I've had my plant for about 4 months and lastly, water my plant once a week.

Unknown said...

This is the second time my diffenbacia has " flowered ". The first time it lasted for a day and then disappeared. This time it has been present for a week. I have a photo but not sure how to post it!!! Ty for all the info.

Doris Thompson said...

I just went into the room to water my Dieffenbachia and I have 2 blooms with 2 more coming on. I have had these for years but have not had one for the last 25 years. I have never had one bloom. I had it outside in partial shade most of the summer and brought it inside before it got very chilly out. I am almost in shock! Thanks for your post. Now I love this plant even more than before!

Unknown said...

When mine started to die I would pull them straight up. They come out easy if there ready... Mine flower but never open all the way.

Anonymous said...

I just noticed my dieffenbachia is flowering; I have had several over the years, but I have never had flowers before. There are two at different stages. On the one that is fully opened, the male is clearly distinct and separate from the female below it. So excited to see this and very glad I found your site. Thanks.

Unknown said...

I have propagated my plant by cutting a small niche in the trunk .I packed with some moss watered and covered with plastic wrap. i sprayed when needed and eventually had a growth with roots..this didn't seem to have much of an impact on the "mother" plant.

Unknown said...

Thank you for the initial blog! I don't know how, but I think I have some sort of dieffenbachia growing in an outdoor flower bed in SW Idaho. When the heat comes it disappears until the next spring. This year I happened to notice blooms! Wish I could attach the pics. I have yet to see the same foliage. The leaves have curly edges, are spotted, and have a thick rubbery fleshy feel.

mr_subjunctive said...

Unknown:

The Araceae (family to which Dieffenbachia belongs) is large (about 3750 species), and many species are cultivated to some degree or another. Most of them aren't winter-hardy in Idaho, but possibly Arum maculatum (lords and ladies) might fit? The only other aroids I could find that could occur in the western U.S. are jack in the pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum), which doesn't look much like what you describe, and skunk cabbage (Lysichiton americanus), and you'd have mentioned the smell if it was skunk cabbage: it's apparently hard to miss.

Whatever it is, it's definitely not a Dieffenbachia: they're strictly tropical.

Unknown said...

Mine is doing this right now I didnt have a clue these plants flower I've had them off and on for years and had no clue

Anonymous said...

My plant is blooming again. I've had this plant for over 20 years and it started blooming last year. I was surprised to see it blooming again.

Unknown said...

I got my Dieffenbachia (3 plants...2 medium sized and 1 small one)from my father's funeral, left it at the funeral home. My brother mailed it to me (from IL to OH)and I transplanted them into a slightly larger pot. It bloomed about 5 months later...3 flower pods. A year later (Nov. 2019) and after another transplant, I saw 6 blooms, and a couple of the flowers were opened at the same time. I let the flower pods dry and then opened one of them up and scattered the "seeds?" in the soil. I now have 4 new "shoots" coming up. The largest one is looking like a leaf getting ready to open up. I have not seen anything about whether the "seeds" can grow into a plant, so I am wondering if the "shoots" are coming up from the roots or if the "seeds"somehow got fertilized and are producing new plants.

MS g said...

Sae my flower yesterday, today it is closed.It is fascinating..what happens now, there is a smaller pod looking plant lower..do you just leave them alone? Will they disappear? What?

mr_subjunctive said...

MS g:

Nothing really happens. It opened, it closed, at some point it will die. It's not going to produce fruits or seeds or anything. If you feel like removing it now, go ahead. If you'd rather wait for it to dry up and die on its own before pulling it off, that's fine too.

MS g said...

Thanks, I live alone, it is like having another person in the house, I was shocked..zi started my plant from a cutting given to me it got to be 6 ft tall, have 6 plants from cutting that thick stem His name is Scott...loves Jazz and the afternoon east sun