Random plant event: Ficus elastica roots

Not feeling well for the last day or so; between the heat (in the greenhouse), physical labor (lots of lifting and bending and walking), and mental stress (of trying to keep things under control at work despite not really knowing what I'm doing), I seem to have maybe gotten sick: I was at work for about an hour yesterday and then started having dizzy / nauseous spells. I don't know what this signifies, but I'm hoping that I'm going to be throwing up or something soonish, because if I'm not really sick then that means I was just exhausted, and everybody assures me that we haven't gotten to the exhausting part of the year yet.

So everybody keep your fingers crossed that I vomit.

Last fall, I had an off-site job pruning back a Ficus elastica plant in a lawyer's office here in town: the plant didn't really need it, but the stems were bending under their own weight, and for whatever reason mere staking wasn't considered adequate. So I cut back all the stems, and then wasn't sure what to do with the stuff I'd cut off, so I wound up bringing the tips home and planting five of them. Just a growing tip with one leaf, in the mini-greenhouse, and then I waited. And waited. And waited. More than once I've considered throwing them out: what do I want with another Ficus elastica anyway? But I didn't, and they've all held onto their leaves, and now the first one has grown a new leaf:



Which I guess means I have to keep it for a while. I suppose if the other four also sprout, I might have a reasonable multi-stem plant by the end of the summer.

In other news, I've joined the group at blotanical.com, which I'm sure has a number of other plant-and-garden-related blogs worth checking out, if you're interested. I find the way the place is laid out kind of frustrating and awkward, but friends of PATSP Water When Dry and Wicked Gardener are there, and I expect to be adding more links to the sidebar if and when I have time to check some of the other blogs out.

Lastly, a completely gratuitous flower picture:

Osteospermum hybrid; I'm not sure about the cultivar name but I want to say 'Orange Symphony?'

Also-Ran (Synadenium grantii)

You know how there are certain plants you see everywhere? I'm talking about the plants that you know are going to be anywhere you go that sells plants, be it a garden center, a big box store, your local supermarket, the neighborhood florist's shop, or wherever. Now, I suppose that the precise list might vary a little, depending on where you are, but around here, it looks something like this:

Philodendron hederaceum
Epipremnum aureum
Dracaena marginata
Spathiphyllum spp.
Syngonium podophyllum

Synadenium grantii¹ is not one of those plants. In fact, it's not even easy to find if you're actively looking for it, at least not around here. What those five have in common is that 1) they're easily to produce, 2) they sell well, and 3) they can tolerate less than ideal care for a reasonably long time without falling to pieces. They're not necessarily the cheapest, or the prettiest, or the most durable: there's some tradeoff involved, but the eventual calculation is that every business has to carry them, so they all do.

There's also a longer list of plants which aren't everywhere, but they're still pretty common. Codiaeum variegatum is easy to produce, and easy to sell, though it kind of falls apart indoors in inexperienced hands. Plectranthus verticillatus is amazingly cheap, and can take a lot of abuse, but it's hard to get people interested in it. Zamioculcas zamiifolia is durable and a good seller, but requires a pretty big time investment to produce.

Synadenium grantii isn't on the longer list either, even though it seems like it would naturally fit in. It's a pretty durable plant, and it's extremely easy to produce – I've made two or three new plants from cuttings in a single year, and I wasn't even trying hard: I could have made more than that, if I had wanted. And it's not like my plant was old when I got it; it was just a six-inch cutting, barely even rooted.


I haven't been in a position to know whether it's a strong seller, because we've never offered it at work, and I've only seen it for sale anywhere two times in the last ten years, and in both cases I bought it myself on sight. I think we can all agree that I'm not a typical American tropical plant consumer, so the fact that I bought a couple doesn't necessarily mean anybody else would. But I would think so. They have a nice look to them. Fairly big, broad, yellowy-green leaves, with decorative specks of a contrasting color – easy to grow, easy to keep. So why are they not everywhere? Why are we not sick to death of seeing them?

It turns out that there are other considerations. Like, some plants get very big very quickly. My most recent Synadenium, which I bought last March, tripled its height by May and needed to be cut back. The plant then grew a bit more slowly before an abrupt halt in the winter, but it has put on about six inches in the last month and now needs to be cut back again. This is - don't get me wrong - awesome, but also a bit of a problem: most people don't want to buy a tabletop plant and have it turn into a ceiling-height tree in two years. (A few of us do want that, but we're in the minority.) Outdoors, a plant can supposedly grow 6 or 7 feet in a single growing season, at least in zone 9.

How big can they get? Hard to say. The tallest claim I found was 15-20 feet, but there's disagreement on the maximum height. (The University of Florida, for example, doesn't think they get above 8 feet. This is almost certainly wrong.) It's naturally found in east central Africa, and is apparently a regular tree there, though, so it will outgrow your home, if you let it, and it's not going to take that long to do so. Unless you have very high ceilings, or a machete. So that's one reason.

But there's a much bigger reason than that, which is: it's mean. Like its relatives the Euphorbias, which we've talked about some in the post for Euphorbia trigona, its sap is irritating, can cause temporary blindness and all that good stuff, except more so. We're talking redness, we're talking blisters, we're talking swelling and pain and possibly a little weeping and cursing. And it gets better still, because the reaction isn't necessarily immediate: you may not notice any problems until four or more hours after contact with the sap.

Also like with E. trigona, I've never experienced this problem personally, but then, I take precautions: I try to be near a sink or shower if I'm going to be cutting on the plant,² I wash my hands and arms when I'm done, and if I see sap on myself before I finish, I stop what I'm doing and wash it off before I go on. This would, admittedly, be impractical if one is cutting a 15-foot tree outside: in that case you probably want to put on some actual covering: long sleeve shirt, long pants, closed-toed shoes, possibly a hat and goggles. This is, I know, a pain, but it's more convenient than temporary blindness and blistering, and you will, almost certainly, get dripped on, if it's a big enough tree.

Supposedly the sap is a Masai home remedy for East Coast fever, which illness sounds like somebody who just can't get enough crabcakes, but is actually a pretty unpleasant-sounding tick-borne disease which primarily affects cattle but can also kill (or at least seriously inconvenience) people. Synadenium grantii sap is said to be applied to the swollen lymph nodes, causing blisters on purpose. The protozoans who cause the disease eventually move into the lymph nodes, so I suppose if enough of the nasty compounds from the Synadenium sap cross the skin and get taken up by the lymph nodes, it sort of makes sense. Still pretty hardcore for a home remedy, or for any remedy.


Also relating to cattle, the same site as above reports that Synadenium grantii has been used in cow sabotage before, which, if you're city folk, stop and ponder the concept of "cow sabotage" for a second:

Thorold (1953) described the sudden development in 33 steers of large oedematous swellings between the brisket and near fore leg. Some also showed lesions between the hind limbs. No animal showed a lesion on the offside. Eight steers died. He believed that the lesions may have been caused maliciously using the latex of Synadenium grantii, a plant common in the nearby countryside.

Indoors, though, not such a big deal. Some paper towels, some soap, a sink nearby, goggles or glasses, and you should be more or less set.³ When propagating, use a clean knife to make the cuts, and let the cuts callus for a day or so before planting cuttings. I have found rooting cuttings to be kind of ridiculously easy: I just treat them like plants that have already rooted, and then suddenly they are already rooted.

But nevertheless. You can see how a plant that has the potential to blind people and sabotage their cows isn't likely to wind up in the grocery store, especially not if it might also grow a foot and a half while it waited to sell. That said, I am an unapologetic fan of this plant, and think more people should be growing it.

The plant comes in two color varieties that I'm aware of, the one I have, which is the appley-green with reddish spots, and the reverse of that, reddish-purple with green spots. I'm not sure if the red version is actually a cultivar, properly speaking, but people name it like one (variously as 'Rubrum,' 'Ruby,' rubrovariegata, or "var. rubrum"). The various names all do seem to refer to the same plant. I've seen the various "rub-" names being applied to the green plant with red spots, too, so make sure you see the plant (or a picture) before you buy, but the care for each is identical.

I used to have the reddish-purple variety, several years ago: I got what was probably a six-inch pot with three plants in it from Wal-Mart, and kept it for a while, but the stems got really tall really quickly, and I wasn't aware that I could cut it back, so when it outgrew the space I had for it, I threw it out. I am, of course, kicking myself for this now, but at the time, there weren't a lot of options. If and when I see another of the red-purple ones, I'll buy it.


Care is relatively simple:

Pests: I haven't had pest problems with mine, though I wouldn't be surprised at all if mealybugs and whiteflies couldn't cause problems, as both pests are common on Synadenium's relatives.
Temperature: Opinions vary on outdoor hardiness, but there seems to be general agreement that this plant is tough enough to take the occasional light freeze without long-term damage (they will drop most or all of their leaves after a light freeze, though, and there may be some damage to stems: it's not really something you want to encourage), so I would be surprised if temperature is ever an issue indoors.
Grooming: Not a huge issue. Plants will drop lots of leaves following a freeze, overwatering, or prolonged underwatering, but this isn't usually going to make such a mess that it's going to take you all day to clean it up. Pruning is useful if you want a plant to branch (supposedly they'll do this on their own, but I haven't seen it), or if you need to keep it underneath the ceiling, but where and how much is kind of up to you.
Feeding: As for any other houseplant.
Light: At least some sun; ideally a lot of sun. This is pretty much non-negotiable.
Water: Plants should get close to completely dry between waterings, especially in the winter. The plant reacts to too much water and not enough water in the same way (the lowest leaves yellow, crinkle up, and drop), so there's a bit of a learning curve at first, though once you've got the hang of it, it's no big deal.
Propagation: Described above.
Humidity: Not really an issue for this plant.

Supposedly, if you want a smaller plant, you can just keep it in a smaller container: if the roots are constricted, the plant will stay a more manageable size. So far, I haven't wanted a manageable plant, so I haven't tried this personally.

I have doubts that this is ever going to be a mainstay of the tropical foliage industry, and probably that's how it should be: it really is potentially a huge, dangerous monster. But, you know, an appealing, vigorous monster, too. Like tribbles. It certainly doesn't make sense that they should be so hard to find.

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Photo credits: all me.

¹ There are some on-line who say that this plant has been reclassified as a Euphorbia species, E. pseudograntii. This wasn't reported commonly enough that I necessarily believe it just yet, without some confirming evidence, but I wouldn't necessarily be surprised, either, as Synadenium grantii has a lot of Euphorbia-like qualities, and was already classed in the family Euphorbiaceae. Moving the relationship one step closer, and placing it in the Euphorbia genus, isn't really that big of a stretch. A few sources also identify this plant as Synadenium compactum, but it seems to be so well-known as grantii that I don't think I have to take compactum seriously.
² Cold water seems to slow bleeding more quickly than just letting a cutting sit. Powdered charcoal is supposed to be even better, but it's a lot easier for me to get cold water than it is to get powdered charcoal.
³ (Also clothing. I don't advise taking cuttings of any plant while nude, but it's especially not a good idea with this one.)

Plant 911: Murraya paniculata

Two new additions to the family, though they've looked better. These two Murraya paniculata trees used to live at the husband's old workplace, where they did well up against a wall that was basically all glass, eastern exposure, until the husband left the job in December. Since then, apparently, nobody had bothered to water them, for two or three months, and the plants reacted, predictably, by dropping all their leaves, flowers, buds and branches. And then, long story short, some people talked to some other people, and then yesterday both plants came to live with us, on the off chance that they might not be completely dead.



I think there's a chance, but it's also a pretty extreme case, obviously. I figure if nothing else, we got a couple really big pots out of the deal, and I figure the plants will still try to live if it's even remotely possible that they can do so. It doesn't hurt that Murraya paniculata is not a common plant around here, and that it's a plant I really like: if I can get more, larger than what I had already, for free, then that would be pretty awesome. The husband watered them yesterday when he got them home, and although we didn't have any very good places to put something this big, he did the best he could (I might try to rearrange stuff when I have a day off, but obviously if I'd thought we had room for two big honking trees, I would already have bought the two big honking trees: space fills up fast around here. On the other hand, I was already thinking that I needed to rearrange the south window, so maybe that's a project.), and now it's pretty much up to the plants.

So we'll see.

Random plant event: Beallara 'Tahoma Glacier' flowers

Now that I think about it, it's maybe a little weird and noteworthy that orchids are so easy to hybridize with one another like this. I mean, if the Araceae worked like the Orchidaceae did, we'd have Aglaobachias and Anthuriodendrons and Caladiospathidapsus (which would be fun to say). Maybe some day, all those combinations will be possible, but for right now, only the orchids seem to think we're worth their time. So yay for the orchids, I guess.



This is a Beallara flower, which is Brassia x Cochlioda x Miltonia x Odontoglossum. I especially like the band of light yellow at the bottom of the lower petals; I don't know why.

Random plant event: Epilaeliocattleya Don Herman 'Gold Rush' flowers

Fourth verse, same as the third. I have to say I'm coming to like orchids better, if for no other reason than they make for relatively quick blog posts.

I finally found a source for converting the abbreviations to full genus-level names: Orchid Genus Names. (.pdf file) So the "Bak." 'Silver Chalice' I had trouble with in a previous post turns out to be Bakerara, which is, amazingly, a four-genus cross: Brassia x Miltonia x Odontoglossum x Oncidium. The flower in today's post is a three-genus cross: Cattleya x Epidendrum x Laelia.

Not that that's a huge thing, knowing the general size and shape of the ancestry here, but it makes me feel better. The plant becomes more comprehensible, somehow.



This particular one manages to look a lot better in the picture than it does in real life, somehow. It stands out on the table because it's the only bright yellow flower on the table at the moment, but next to the others, this one kind of looks plain: it's not delicately shaded like the Phalaenopsis, boldly striped like the Bakerara, or all frilly like the Beallara (picture pending); it's just a little yellow flower with a bit of contrasting color near the throat. But if you can't compare to the other ones directly, our Epilaeliocattleya here is ennobled.

And yes, in case you were wondering: we probably are going to be seeing at least a couple more orchid pictures here fairly soon, since work is very busy and I'm having a lot of trouble finding time and energy to write posts once I get home at night. I have at least three more orchid pictures to go. Maybe more. I swear this isn't going to turn into an orchid blog, though: we're just having, like, an Orchid Festival, or something.

Question for the hive mind: Peperomia argyreia

I have a guess, but I wanted to throw this out there for input. I have a Peperomia argyreia that I started from a leaf, which has been doing well enough for a while, but now that it's finally getting in new leaves which are big enough to show the patterning, they're coming in split and browning on the edges.



I took these pictures yesterday while watering, and the plant in question had gotten very dry (accidentally), so that could be it. The spot it's in is also probably warmer than most of the apartment, and the humidity isn't amazingly high, but it should be higher than most of the apartment. There is zero chance that the plant's getting damaged mechanically (from people brushing against it or whatever).



Whatever it is, the plants at work have done it too, on occasion, though never quite this bad. What does everybody think?

Random plant event: Phalaenopsis NOID flowers

Not to turn this into an Orchid a Day blog or anything, but here's one more picture, this time of a Phalaenopsis. I like the pattern.



It's better if you click on the picture and see the big version.