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Tuesday, November 17, 2009

List: Houseplants With Fuzzy or Hairy Leaves

This is the first of the list posts, as described last week. I'm not sure how useful or interesting this will be to anybody, but I do get hits from time to time from people who are wanting plants with specific characteristics (plants from Southeast Asia, plants with pink leaves, plants that stay tall and narrow), so I thought I could do some posts on those kinds of topics every once in a while. The reason I didn't start doing this immediately upon having the idea was that I figured at the bare minimum I should have pictures of the plants in question. So I've spent a long time taking pictures. Not finished with that, but finished enough to be able to do this set, so there you go.

I don't intend to make any of these lists exhaustive: all I promise is ten per category. However, I'll add to the text at the end if anybody wants to suggest additional plants in the comments. Also if anybody has any suggestions for ways to make these more useful or interesting that don't involve a lot of additional work, that would be welcome too.

Abutilon x 'Bella Pink.' (flowering maple)


Echeveria pulvinata 'Frosty.'


Gynura aurantiaca. (purple passion plant)


Kalanchoe tomentosa. (panda plant)


Plectranthus oertendahlii.


Saintpaulia ionantha cvv. (African violet)


Saxifraga stolonifera. (strawberry begonia)


Streptocarpus 'Tanager.' (cape primrose)


Tradescantia sillamontana. (kitten ears)


Tolmiea menziesii. (piggyback plant)


My favorite of these plants is easily Saxifraga stolonifera, with Plectranthus oertendahlii and Gynura aurantiaca coming in second and third. All three are pretty easy to grow and propagate (though watering can be a little tricky with Gynura).

Not pictured:
Begonia rex-cultorum (some cvv.)
Cyanotis kewensis (teddy bear plant)
Cyanotis somaliensis (=Tradescantia somaliensis) (also "kitten ears")
Datura metel (angel's trumpet, devil's trumpet, downy thorn apple)
Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender'
Plectranthus amboinicus (Cuban oregano)
Sinningia cvv. (florist's gloxinia)
Tetrastigma voinierianum (chestnut vine)
Tradescantia pallida (purple heart, purple queen)
at

13 comments:

  1. lynn'sgardenNovember 17, 2009 at 3:12 AM

    Congrats on the first 'list'...very professional-looking with the cloth draping and lighting.
    That pink abutilon is a wowzer! And the plectranthus has become one of my favs as it always look good and easy to care.

    This project is a big effort on your part so thank you, Mr_Subj!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Plowing Through Life (Martha)November 17, 2009 at 4:28 AM

    I think these lists are going to be interesting, so the effort you're putting into them is very appreciated.

    My favourite on the list is the Gynura aurantiaca; I really like that plant.

    ReplyDelete
  3. our friend BenNovember 17, 2009 at 6:13 AM

    Kudos, Mr. S.! Your photos make this more than a simple list, it's a multimedia experience!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousNovember 17, 2009 at 8:20 AM

    Thanks for the list posts - these look to be very useful to me, at least. :3

    OMG fuzzy plants. My grandmother had a Tradescantia sillamontana, and I always wanted to pet it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. DianeNovember 17, 2009 at 10:34 AM

    I have a Tradescantia somaliensis, which is also very furry. But now Dave's Garden is telling me it's really a Cyanotis. Gah.

    Great list and great photos! Can't wait to see more!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Kenneth MooreNovember 17, 2009 at 12:04 PM

    There is definite value in these lists! I am always incredibly excited when I find a plant supplier with an online catalogue that lists plants on the basis of bloom colour to help determine layout for a plot, so this is even better!

    I'd like to add Datura to your list--mine has ubersoft and fuzzy leaves, although I don't know if that's particularly common. Maybe mine are just happy. :-D (I love the poisonous ones, y'know...)

    ReplyDelete
  7. TigerdawnNovember 17, 2009 at 4:12 PM

    I'm really excited about these lists. I bet they'll be really popular. The only thing I'd add is maybe a difficulty rating so someone could easily pick which plants they wanted to find more info on.

    ReplyDelete
  8. mr_subjunctiveNovember 17, 2009 at 6:14 PM

    tigerdawn:

    I'd thought of that, but since the difficulty numbers will all be changing slightly in the near future, I didn't want to include them now. The paragraph at the end about the three I like best is the best compromise I could think of.

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousNovember 18, 2009 at 12:43 PM

    i would like to throw in Plectranthus amboinicus aka Cuban oregano. it is really fuzzy, with strong smelling leaves ( kinda like dried oregano smell) and its really easy to grow. plus (although i never have) its a herb that you can cook with. its the house plant i give to all my friends that cant keep plants alive.

    ReplyDelete
  10. G. J.July 10, 2014 at 12:31 AM

    Hi, I've a inherited a houseplant here in China which has small fuzzy leaves (if you look really closely). It's dying and I'm trying to revive it. Do you happen to know what it might be?

    ReplyDelete
  11. mr_subjunctiveJuly 10, 2014 at 6:36 AM

    G. J.:

    That could be a lot of things; I'd need a photo to even have a shot at identifying it.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Beth BudwigJune 6, 2015 at 1:19 PM

    Cool list! Any idea what this fuzzy plant is?

    [my shared google pics]

    ReplyDelete
  13. mr_subjunctiveJune 6, 2015 at 4:14 PM

    Beth Budwig:

    Pilea involucrata.

    ReplyDelete