[Exceptionally] Pretty pictures: transmitted light -- Part X

The first weekend of May here was sunny and warm and all-around ideal for gardening, damn it all to hell. So there were customers everywhere, all weekend. Now I am exhausted, and I did something horrible to my back on Saturday that it is still angry about, and I'm not in such a great mood myself, as far as that goes. Fortunately, I have the transmitted light posts reserved for just such situations. So.

Ladies and gentlemen: transmitted light photography.

(The previous transmitted light posts can be found here.)

Cestrum nocturnum. We got some of these by mistake last winter (?), and although they did beautifully for quite a while, eventually they got spider mites and had to be cut way back. And then we sort of forgot about them, because spring started happening and nobody had time for them. In early May, as I write this, I believe they're probably still technically alive, though we don't know whether to put them out or not because we don't know whether they're done with the mites or not.

Pandanus utilis veitchii. This particular leaf has apparently been deprived of nitrogen or magnesium or something important: I thought for a while that the new leaves were coming in yellow because that's just how the plant grew (true to an extent), but then they didn't turn green upon getting older. Makes for a better picture (the greener, older leaves are pretty beat-up, and also more opaque), though I doubt the plant is happy about that.

Philodendron 'Prince of Orange.' This can be a really pretty plant when it's happy. I mean, Philodendrons in general, I suppose, but 'Prince of Orange' kind of in particular.

Cordyline fruticosa 'Florica.' Not my best photo, I know. But hey: color.

Tradescantia pallida. Also not my best photo. You have no idea how many times I tried on this one, though, before deciding that this was as good as it was going to get.

Pilea 'Moon Valley.' Again, not my best photo, but this one has the added distinction of being the most impossible-to-get picture from the series so far; something about the bumpy leaves makes it impossible for my camera to focus on them, plus they're so small that it's hard to be back far enough to get focus and simultaneously keep light from whatever light source I'm using from getting in the shot and making everything look all blue and faded. Also, of course, the light has to be coming from exactly overhead, or else the little bumps all reveal shadows, which could be an interesting effect but which is not at all the effect I was going for.

Stromanthe sanguinea 'Magicstar.' This one, on the other hand, is probably my favorite from this batch. My Stromanthes are doing better since I up-potted them, but for a while there they were just drying out too fast to keep up with. It's sort of one of the rules of living here: you have to be okay with occasionally having to wait a lot longer for water than you're accustomed to. This is kind of a disaster for Saintpaulia, Stromanthe, Hypoestes phyllostachya, Homalomena, and like-minded plants that prefer consistent moisture.

Dieffenbachia NOID. This is a cool but kind of understated Dieffenbachia that we haven't had very long at work, and it's quickly becoming one of my favorites, just because it looks like it has the potential to become a big huge one, like D. 'Tropic Rain.' I haven't seen anything like it on-line, so I have no idea what it's called.

Maranta leuconeura kerchoviana, variegated. Another picture that worked out kind of especially well. The plants aren't bad, either, actually.

Codiaeum variegatum NOID. This particular variety is not one I've seen very often, nor have I found a potential ID for it. It's kind of cool, just by virtue of being uncommon, I guess.