Rumble Among the Jungle, Matches 2.13-2.16

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.

The results for matches 1.61 to 1.64 were posted in this morning's post, if you haven't already seen that.

Today's matches:

Match 2.13
Platycerium spp. (staghorn fern) vs. Gynura aurantiaca (purple passion plant)

(Unidentified Platycerium spp.)

(All Gynura aurantiaca.)





Match 2.14
Aloe vera (medicinal aloe, burn plant) vs. Schlumbergera cvv. (holiday/Thanksgiving/Christmas cactus)

(Top: young Aloe vera. Bottom: mature A. vera.)

Center and top left: Schlumbergera 'Caribbean Dancer;' others are NOID.





Match 2.15
Pachira aquatica (money tree) vs. Cordyline fruticosa cvv. (ti plant)

(Pachira aquatica.)

Clockwise from top left: Cordyline fruticosa 'Florica,' species, NOID, NOID which might be 'Chocolate Queen,' 'Kiwi.'





Match 2.16
Mimosa pudica (sensitive plant) vs. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (tropical hibiscus)

Both Mimosa pudica. Left photo belongs to, and is used with permission from, Liza Wheeler at Good to Grow.

All unidentified cvv. except left center ('Mrs. Jimmy Spangler') and bottom right ('Sunny Wind').





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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?

Rumble Among the Jungle, Matches 1.25-1.28

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.

Match results, 1.9-1.12
In match 1.9, Dracaena reflexa cvv. walloped Hylocereus/Gymnocalycium grafts by the staggering margin of 80 to 24. This is not altogether surprising, though it does mean that RATJ voters are probably not a representative sample of the plant-buying public, since the public can't seem to get enough of them.
In the less-dramatic match 1.10, Asparagus spp. were victorious over Cissus rhombifolia cvv. by the respectable 62 to 34. I'd figured it would be closer than that.

Dracaena reflexa cvv. and Asparagus spp. will go up against one another on October 8, in match 2.5.

Match 1.11 had me mildly terrified before it went up, just because at that point many of my picks weren't doing well, and I very much did not want to see poinsettias beat Chinese evergreens. I needn't have worried, as it turned out -- Aglaonema cvv. delivered Euphorbia pulcherrima the Christmas present of a hard-core ass-kicking, with a score of 82 to 21. That's the most one-sided any match has been so far, though match 1.18 (Monstera deliciosa vs. Musa/Ensete cvv.) is running 85%-15% in favor of Monstera as I write this, and I'll be surprised if today's match 1.28, down the page here, doesn't wind up being even more lopsided than that.
In match 1.12, Oxalis triangularis cvv. narrowly edged out Jasminum spp., 57 to 45. I voted for Oxalis, but figured I'd be the only one to do so, and am completely at a loss to explain what the hell happened there. I thought everybody loved jasmine.

So, Aglaonema cvv. opposes Oxalis triangularis cvv. next, in match 2.6.

Now for today's matches:

Match 1.25
Stromanthe sanguinea cvv. vs. Platycerium spp. (staghorn fern)

Upper left and lower right: Stromanthe sanguinea 'Magicstar.'
Lower left and upper right: Stromanthe sanguinea 'Triostar.'

(Unidentified Platycerium spp.)





Match 1.26
Hypoestes phyllostachya cvv. (polka-dot plant) vs. Gynura aurantiaca (purple passion plant)

(Various unidentified Hypoestes phyllostachya cultivars.)

(All Gynura aurantiaca.)





Match 1.27
Aloe vera (medicinal aloe, burn plant) vs. Gymnocalycium spp.

(Top: young Aloe vera. Bottom: mature A. vera.)

(Top: Gymnocalycium NOID. Bottom: G. baldianum.)





Match 1.28
Dracaena surculosa (gold-dust dracaena) vs. Schlumbergera cvv. (holiday/Thanksgiving/Christmas cactus)

(Dracaena surculosa cv.)

Center and top left: Schlumbergera 'Caribbean Dancer;' others are NOID.





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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?

List: Houseplants Which Have Yellow Flowers

With most of these I don't have pictures of whole plants in bloom, and in some cases, cultivars with yellow flowers are rare and hard to find, so the inclusion of a plant in the list doesn't mean that it's usually found with yellow flowers, only that yellow is a color which is known to be possible. For the pictured plants, I have gone with plants which usually or always bloom yellow, for whatever that might be worth to you.

Aloe vera. (A couple flower pictures available at the link.)

Aphelandra squarrosa.

Astrophytum myriostigma.

Columnea orientandina. (The cuttings I mentioned recently are still alive so far, by the way.)

Faucaria spp. (I know at least some have yellow flowers; I doubt all of them do but didn't bother to look it up.)

Gynura aurantiaca. (Photo of flowers here.) You wouldn't actually want the plant to flower -- the blooms smell unpleasant -- but it still meets the criterion to be included in the list, so it's in the list.

Hamatocactus setispinus.

Hatiora salicornioides. Pictures of single flowers here, though there are much more impressive multi-flower photos elsewhere on-line. My plant wasn't, let's say, fully committed to blooming. Though considering the circumstances, I'm pretty tickled that it bloomed at all.

Justicia brandegeana.

Leuchtenbergia principis. Photos of a flower here.
For the recommends and anti-recommends, I'm sort of at a loss, because I haven't grown several of these (Aphelandra, Faucaria, Hamatocactus, Justicia) and have only begun to grow (Columnea) or have had mixed luck growing (Astrophytum, Aloe, Gynura) the others. But if I must . . .

I'm very happy with my Leuchtenbergias, and they seem happy with me too, so I'd recommend them to other people. Likewise, I've rarely had problems with Hatiora salicornioides, and think it's a very nice plant. For the third recommend, I'll go with Astrophytum myriostigma, because although we've had problems, I think the problems were almost entirely my fault -- it was top-heavy, and I kept knocking it out of the pot, and then I also was watering it too much in the winter, while the plant was cold, so I was basically begging for it to rot out. Which it did.

Speaking of rot -- my anti-recommend would be Faucaria. I haven't had much direct experience with them, but my understanding is that they're inclined to rot out at the drop of a . . . drop of water, much like Lithops cvv. I don't think it's that they're particularly difficult plants; it's more that beginners tend to show their enthusiasm by overcaring, so plants that just want to be left alone aren't going to be a good match. Plus, I suspect Faucarias also want an unreasonable amount of light, though again, I don't have much direct experience.

Not pictured:

• Abutilon cvv. (a few cvv.)
• a few Adenium cvv. are yellow, though reds and pinks are a lot more common (reader suggestion)
  
• Allamanda cathartica
• the occasional very rare Anthurium cvv.
• Astrophytum ornatum
• some Begonia cvv.
• Bougainvillea cvv.
• some Brugmansia/Datura cvv. (reader suggestion)
  
• some orchids in the Cattleya alliance (C., Blc., Lc., Slc., Pot., etc.)
• some Chirita cvv. (reader suggestion)
  
• a few Clivia cvv.
• a few Columnea cvv.
• some Dendrobium cvv. (tend to be greenish-yellow, though, at least the ones I remember)
• Echinocactus grusonii
• a few Epiphyllum cvv.
• some Episcia cvv.
  
• Euphorbia grandicornis, and other succulent Euphorbias like E. obesa and E. flanaganii, usually have small yellow or yellow-green flowers; the true flowers of most/all Euphorbia species are yellow, though in a lot of cases (E. pulcherrima, E. milii) the bracts overwhelm the true flowers
  
• some Euphorbia milii cvv., bracts included, though those I've seen have been more of a pastel yellow
  
• some or all Fenestraria spp.
  
• Fittonia cvv. true flowers are yellow-white
  
• some Guzmania cvv. have yellow bracts; I'm not sure what color the true flowers usually are, but yellow is a possibility there as well
  
• some Heliconia cvv. have yellow bracts and/or true flowers
  
• some Hibiscus rosa-sinensis cvv.
• some Kalanchoe blossfeldiana cvv.
• some Lithops spp. (I think they're all either yellow or white)
  
• Ludisia discolor (partly; most of the flower is white)
• some Mammillaria spp.
• I've seen a yellow Miltoniopsis orchid picture on-line, though never in person
  
• a few Nematanthus cvv.?
• some Oncidium alliance orchids (Colm., Alcra., Alxra., Bak., Colm., Gdlra., etc.)
  
• some Opuntia spp.
• a few Oxalis spp. and cvv., particularly O. hedysariodes and cultivars derived from it. You may also be growing O. stricta without meaning to, as it's a common nursery container weed. (reader suggestion)
  
• some Pachypodium spp. (though not necessarily the ones in the profile) (reader suggestion)
  
• Passiflora citrina; maybe other Passifloras?
  
• some Phalaenopsis and Doritaenopsis cvv.
• some Plumeria cvv., though it's debatable whether Plumeria is really a houseplant or not
  
• a very few Saintpaulia cvv.
• some Schlumbergera cvv.
• a few Streptocarpus cvv.; the first one to come up in a Google image search is S. 'Seren' (reader suggestion)
  
• some Thunbergia alata cvv.
• some Tropaeolum majus cvv.
• Uncarina spp. are usually yellow, though there are some pink ones out there as well (reader suggestion)
  
• some Vriesea cvv. have yellow bracts and/or yellow true flowers
  
• the true flowers of Vriesea splendens are yellow, though the longer-lived, more dramatic bracts are red
  
• some Zantedeschia cvv.
• some Zingiber spp. (reader suggestion)
  

I'm sure I've forgotten all kinds of things, so if you can think of others, say something in the comments.

List: Houseplants Which Trail But (Mostly) Don't Climb

The line here is a bit arbitrary, but sometimes you want a plant that's going to just lay there, and sometimes you want a plant that's going to climb up things. This list is for the plants that are just going to lay there. A lot of these are used as hanging-basket plants.

A few of these plants will climb to some degree if they're being grown outside (some, like Ficus pumila, are downright obnoxious about it), but indoors, you generally have to provide them something to climb and then anchor the stems with some kind of plant tie at regular intervals, or make them some kind of constantly-moist support, or some other impractical thing like that. Most of the plants in this list won't climb particularly well even with assistance, and can be relied on not to get any crazy ideas about running themselves up your curtains. Your mileage may vary, of course.

This is an even less comprehensive list than usual, because the number of plants with this basic growth habit is practically never-ending. I'll add suggestions as people are moved to leave them in comments.

Note: this list was done by request for Joseph Tychonievitch of Greensparrow Gardens, who asked. I don't promise to take all list requests (some lists just can't be done as easily as others), and anybody who wants one is going to have to take a number and wait anyway, because Joseph asked for FOUR of them, but I'm more or less open to doing posts by request, in theory. Just so you're aware.

Aechynanthus speciosus, (goldfish plant) and other Aeschynanthus spp. (lipstick plant)

Cyanotis kewensis (teddy bear vine)

Dischidia ruscifolia (million hearts)

Epipremnum aureum 'Neon,' and other Epipremnum aureum cvv. (pothos)

Gynura aurantiaca (purple passion plant, purple passion vine)

Hedera canariensis 'Gloire de Marengo' (Algerian ivy)

Maranta leuconeura 'Marisela,' and other Maranta leuconeura cvv. (prayer plant)

Pellionia pulchra

Pilea depressa (baby toes)

Senecio rowleyanus (string of beads, string of pearls)
EDIT: Whoops. I published this without adding any commentary on the pictured plants.

I guess my three favorites from the above list are probably Aeschynanthus spp., Gynura aurantiaca, and Pellionia pulchra, with Cyanotis kewensis serving as first alternate.

This is partially process of elimination, because I've had moderately bad experiences with a lot of the other plants on the list, either from bugs (Maranta, Hedera), rot (Epipremnum), or decline from unknown causes (Pilea, Senecio). And I've never actually owned a Dischidia.

Not pictured:

Callisia fragrans (basket plant)
Ceropegia woodii (string of hearts)
Chlorophytum comosum (spider plant, airplane plant, mala madre)
Cissus rhombifolia (grape ivy; oakleaf ivy) (will climb a little)
Cissus rotundifolia (Peruvian grape ivy) (will climb a little)
Codonanthe spp.
Columnea cvv.
Crassula muscosa (= C. lycopodioides) (watch-chain crassula)
Davallia spp. (rabbit's-foot ferns)
Dischidia nummularia ("button orchid," says davesgarden.com, though it's not an orchid)
Episcia cvv. (flame violet)
Ficus pumila (climbing fig) (will climb a little)
Fittonia albivenis (nerve plant)
Hedera helix (English ivy) (will climb a little)
Hoya carnosa (will climb a little)
Hoya lacunosa (will climb a little)
Hoya kentiana (will climb a little)
Hoya kerrii (sweetheart hoya) (will climb a little)
Hoya pubicalyx (will climb a little)
Ludisia discolor (jewel orchid) (Also other "jewel orchids" like Goodyera, Anoectochilus, Macodes, etc., though those are a lot harder to find.)
Monstera adansonii (swiss cheese philodendron) (will climb a little)
Monstera deliciosa (split-leaf philodendron, swiss cheese philodendron) (will climb a little)
Nematanthus gregarius (guppy plant)
Neoregelia 'Fireball'
Philodendron gloriosum
Philodendron bipennifolium (horse-head philodendron) (will climb a little)
Philodendron erubescens 'Red Emerald' (will climb a little)
Philodendron hastatum (will climb a little)
Philodendron hederaceum (heart-leaf philodendron) (will climb a little)
Phlebodium aureum 'Mandianum' (bear's paw fern)
Pilea nummulariifolia (creeping charlie)
Plectranthus ciliatus
Plectranthus verticillatus (Swedish ivy)
Plectranthus oertendahlii
Polypodium formosanum 'Cristatum' (E.T. fern)
Pseudorhipsalis ramulosa
Rhipsalis spp. (mistletoe cactus)
Saxifraga stolonifera (strawberry begonia)
Schlumbergera truncata cvv. (holiday cactus, Thanksgiving cactus, Christmas cactus)
Scindapsus pictus (satin pothos) (will climb a little)
Scyphularia pycnocarpa (possum tail fern)
Sedum burrito (burro's tail)
Sedum morganianum (also burro's tail)
Senecio jacobsenii (trailing jade)
Senecio radicans (string of bananas)
Soleirolia soleirolii (baby tears)
A few cvv. of Solenostemon scutellarioides (coleus)
Stapelia spp. (carrion flower)
Stephanotis floribunda (Madagascar jasmine) (will climb a little)
Streptocarpus saxorum cvv. (streptocarpella)
Syngonium podophyllum (arrowhead vine) (will climb a little)
Syngonium wendlandii
Tolmiea menziesii (piggyback plant)
Tradescantia fluminensis
Tradescantia pallida (purple heart, purple queen)
Tradescantia sillamontana (kitten ears)
Tradescantia zebrina (wandering Jew)

Random plant event: Gynura aurantiaca flower buds

This is hardly news; it's been happening forever. Though it's kind of news that it's been happening forever: I didn't expect the Gynuras to keep trying to bloom like this.


In any case: it's a good idea to try to keep up with the plants, pulling buds off as you see them. I wouldn't ordinarily bother with pinching them off: even when I know that it's not good for the plants in the long run, I'm reluctant to mess with them doing what they're naturally inclined to do. But these flowers stink. It's not terrible if there's just a couple of them, but if a bunch of flowers are open at once, you wind up with a strong body odor / vomit / feet / rancid butter kind of smell. (Picture of fully-opened flowers at this post.)

So I pinch. I figured this picture was kind of interestingly dramatic, or maybe I'm just overly impressed when the pictures are in focus, so I thought I'd post it.

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)

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

Unlike most of the transmitted light posts recently, this one isn't because I ran out of time to write anything else and had to use one of the transmitted light stockpile. Having pre-loaded photos was still a factor, though, since I have to spend a lot of the next couple weeks packing, watering, working, and relocating, and so I'm trying to pre-write the blog, which means that even though I haven't actually run out of time and had to scramble for something to post, it still feels like I have.

On the plus side, this batch contains what is possibly my all-time favorite transmitted light photo to date. It's at least in the top ten.

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

Brassolaeliocattleya 'Helene Brown.' Sort of a cat's-eye effect, almost.

Guzmania lingulata NOID. Boring, but at least it's in focus.

Variegated Tradescantia pallida. This one didn't really work any better than the nonvariegated Tradescantia pallida photo, but it's a little more interesting to look at.

Philodendron hastatum. Much more impressive in person; I'm not sure if this is just a bad picture or if no pictures of P. hastatum by transmitted light turn out well. It seemed like a better picture when I took it originally. Maybe I screwed it up in the cropping somehow.

Dracaena fragrans 'Massangeana.' More or less what you'd expect it to look like, not that there's anything wrong with that.

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis NOID. Who knew?

Gynura aurantiaca. Better if opened in a separate window: the hairs show up well enough that you can tell which direction they're pointing.

Plumeria NOID. Nicely dramatic. This is another one that's better in a separate window.

Acer platanoides 'Crimson Sentry.' An actual tree for once. Not a particularly interesting leaf, but the color is pleasant.

Solenostemon scutellarioides 'Tilt a Whirl.' Very likely my favorite transmitted light picture to date. I had plans at one point to do an all-Solenostemon transmitted light post, but after spending hours rearranging all the pictures, I realized that if I took out all the Solenostemons and gave them their own separate post, then I wound up with one kick-ass, super-spectacular post and seven or eight really dull ones. So I won't be doing that, but instead you'll be seeing Solenostemon pictures scattered over the next seven or eight transmitted light posts. Though this has got to be the best, or maybe second-best (the 'Gays Delight' picture rocks pretty hard), of all of them.