Thursday, October 13, 2011

Rumble Among the Jungle, Matches 2.25-2.28

Rules and Stuff
1) It's probably possible to vote more than once per poll, but please don't. If I believe that someone is voting repeatedly, I will throw out those results, repost the poll, and seriously question that person's priorities.
2) If you want to link to a poll on Twitter / Facebook / your blog / whatever and encourage your friends to come and pump up the support for your favorite plants, you are encouraged to do so.
3) You are also encouraged to leave comments on Rumble posts, if so moved.
4) All photos will enlarge if opened in a separate window/tab.
5) You can choose which plant is "best" according to whatever criteria you decide for yourself. My personal process is a bit convoluted.1
6) All polls will be open for three days.


Results for matches 2.9 to 2.12:

Not just one close match in this set, but three close matches.

In 2.9, Phalaenopsis/Doritaenopsis cvv. jockeyed for the lead against Monstera deliciosa. I lost track of how many times they switched places, but each was in the lead at least three times. By the beginning of the third day of voting, Monstera had managed a lead of about four votes, which would ordinarily mean that it was very likely to win (the votes usually slow down a lot after the first 24 hours of voting), but then reader/commenter Paul posted this at OrchidBoard.com,2 and soon Phalaenopsis were up by three votes. I was personally kind of rooting for Monstera, but this sort of advocacy is explicitly permitted and encouraged by the rules I set up (see #2 at the top of the page), so oh well. Phalaenopsis wins, 67 to 62.
Match 2.10 wasn't as dramatic, just surprisingly close: Araucaria heterophylla and Sansevieria cylindrica were stem and stem until the very end, when Araucaria gained and held a narrow lead, winning 60 to 53.

So, Phalaenopsis/Doritaenopsis will be competing with Araucaria heterophylla in match 3.5, voting for which begins on 17 October.

Match 2.11 was another extremely tight race: in the end, Cereus peruvianus barely won, 59 to 54, defeating Dracaena marginata cvv.
The only battle where the victor was pretty obvious early on was in match 2.12: Hoya carnosa cvv. defeated Maranta leuconeura cvv. by 73 to 46. This would please me regardless, because I've had better experiences with Hoya, but I take particular satisfaction in this case because Maranta was the plant that knocked Anthurium out of the contest.

Cereus peruvianus and Hoya carnosa cvv. next appear in match 3.6, which also begins on 17 October.

And now, today's voting:

Match 2.25
Adenium obesum (desert rose) vs. Zamioculcas zamiifolia (zz plant)

(Various unidentified Adenium obesum cvv.)


L-R: Zamioculcas zamiifolia, Z. zamiifolia NOID (possibly 'Zamicro'), Z. zamiifolia.






Match 2.26
Ficus benjamina (weeping fig) vs. Haworthia spp.

Clockwise from top left: Ficus benjamina NOID variegated cv., 'Margarita,' 'Black Diamond,' 'Midnight.'


Top row, L-R: Haworthia tessellata (?), H. NOID.
Middle row, L-R: Haworthia limifolia var. ubomboensis, H. cymbiformis (?), assortment.
Bottom row, L-R: Haworthia attenuata, H. limifolia var. limifolia.






Match 2.27
Cycas revoluta (sago palm) vs. Tradescantia zebrina (wandering jew)

(Top: older Cycas revoluta. Bottom: young C. revoluta.)


(All are unidentified cvv. of Tradescantia zebrina.)






Match 2.28
Tillandsia cyanea (pink quill) vs. Self-heading Philodendrons ('Autumn,' 'Prince of Orange,' 'Moonlight')

(Tillandsia cyanea.)


Clockwise from top left: Philodendron 'Prince of Orange,' 'Moonlight,' 'Autumn,' 'Prince of Orange,' 'Moonlight.'






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1 I'm deciding according to a hypothetical situation in which all of my houseplants are gone, as are all the other houseplants of the world, except for one producer/supplier/retailer. Said person is offering to restock me with one or the other of the plants in question but refuses to give me both. Which one would I choose?
2 If you are not already a member of OrchidBoard, you may be taken to a page telling you this, but you can still see the message as a guest if you go to the main forum page (link should be near the top of the "you're-not-a-member" message), then to "Off Topic - Totally" (the very last subcategory in the forums, then to the "Orchids are in need of votes folks!" message.


3 comments:

archnemesis_goldenhair said...

As the second voter, I found it interesting that while the first voter and I clashed on almost everything, We saw eye to eye on Haworthia.

Long Haired Lady Rider said...

I'm still upset that Adenium obesum made it this far. grrrrr

Long Haired Lady Rider said...

Not that I don't love Adenium obesum, but I am still upset that it made it this far. Just sayin'