Introducing: The Rumble Among the Jungle

UPDATE: Nominations are now closed. I appreciate everybody's input.
The list of contestants will be revealed tomorrow afternoon; I expect voting to begin in the middle of next week but can't promise anything yet.

I had an idea a long, long time ago. The idea was that I wanted to pit houseplants against one another in a single-elimination tournament to determine which was the "best," with "best" being determined by reader votes. I was going to call it the "Rumble Among the Jungle."

And then I sat on that idea for a very long time, because the first step, obviously, would be to come up with a list of contestants, and I wasn't sure how to do that.

For some reason, the idea's come back to me in the last week or so, and I've decided to narrow it down to the most commonly sold plants, with a few other qualifiers.

1. They should be sold as potted plants, not as fruits, rhizomes, or whatever -- so pineapples and avocado trees are out.
2. They should be plants which one might reasonably be expected to grow indoors year round, if the situation demanded, which rules out forced bulbs like daffodils and hyacinths.
3. They should be plants which could be easily found and purchased by someone who was looking for them, within his/r local garden center / supermarket / home-improvement store "scene," within a year of beginning to look. (This is so that common but seasonal plants like Schlumbergera or poinsettias can be included.)

I'm also limiting the experiment to 128 slots, which is why this post. (128 seemed like as large of a power of 2 as I could manage without dragging it all out indefinitely. I figure voting 128 plants down to one big winner should take about 2 months: a little long, perhaps, but manageable.) Naturally, I wound up choosing a few too many, and lumping species and varieties together in ways which may or may not make sense, so the main purpose of this post is to show y'all the possible contestants and ask for feedback about who's been unfairly left off the list, who's nowhere near common enough where you live to be included on the list, and who should be lumped together into one slot or split up into several.

Also: I don't have usable photos for a few of the plants on the list; you'll know which ones when you get there. If you have a photo you'd let me use (ideally showing both foliage and flower, on a relatively plain background, but I'll settle), send it to me by e-mail, or point me to the web address, and I'll update the post.

PATSP's next new post will be Saturday's Sheba/Nina picture, so we have a few days to ponder and discuss all of this, start placing bets as to who will win, etc. Readers who are not nerdy enough to care about any of this are asked to be patient. It's only a few days.

The final list of contestants will be up to me, because it's my blog, but I wouldn't be asking for input if I didn't intend to weigh it in the decision.

Official actual voting will commence at some point next week, once I 1) have a final contestant list, 2) set up the brackets, and 3) start posting the polls. I intend to continue writing regular posts in the mornings, in addition to the RATJ posts in the afternoon.

So here are the possible contestants so far:

1. Acalypha reptans (chenille plant)
2 people have recommended removing this plant from the list.


2. Adenium obesum cvv. (desert rose; shown: NOID)


3. Adiantum spp. (maidenhair ferns; shown: A. capillus-veneris)


4. Aechmea fasciata (silver vase plant)


5. Aeonium spp. (shown: A. arboreum atropurpureum 'Zwartkopf')


6. Aeschynanthus spp. (lipstick plant, goldfish plant; shown: A. lobbianus)


7. Agave spp. (shown: A. victoriae-reginae)


8. Aglaonema cvv. (chinese evergreen; shown: A. 'Maria')


9. Alocasia amazonica 'Polly' (african mask plant)


10. Aloe vera (medicinal aloe, burn plant)


11. Alpinia zerumbet, variegated (variegated shell ginger)
3 people have recommended removing this plant from the list.
1 person has recommended not removing this plant from the list.


12. Anthurium cvv. (flamingo flower; shown: A. 'Pandola.' Excludes foliage Anthuriums.)


13. Aphelandra squarrosa (zebra plant)


14. Araucaria heterophylla (Norfolk Island pine)


15. Ardisia crenata (coral berry)
3 people have recommended removing this plant from the list.
1 person has recommended not removing this plant from the list.


16. Ardisia elliptica (shoebutton tree)
5 people have recommended removing this plant from the list.


17. Asparagus spp. (asparagus fern; shown: A. setaceus)
1 person has recommended not removing this plant from the list.


18. Asplenium spp. (bird's-nest ferns; shown, L-R: A. nidus, A. antiquum)

19. Austrocylindropuntia subulata monstrose (Eve's needle)
Photo credit: ArséniureDeGallium, at Wikimedia Commons.
2 people have recommended removing this plant from the list.
1 person has recommended not removing this plant from the list.


20. Beaucarnea recurvata (ponytail palm)


21. Begonia cvv. (rhizomatous begonias; shown: NOID)


22. Begonia rex-cultorum cvv. (rex begonia; shown: B. rex-cultorum 'Harmony's Red Robin')


23. Calathea cvv. (various names; shown: C. roseopicta 'Medallion')


24. Carnegiea gigantea (saguaro)
1 person has recommended removing this plant from the list.


25. Cattleya alliance orchids (shown: Sophrolaeliocattleya Hazel Boyd 'Debbie')


26. Cereus tetragonus (fairy castle cactus)


27. Chamaedorea elegans (parlor palm)


28. Chlorophytum comosum cvv. (spider plant; shown: NOID)


29. Cissus rhombifolia cvv. (oakleaf ivy, grape ivy; shown: Cissus rhombifolia)
1 person has recommended removing this plant from the list.
3 people have recommended not removing this plant from the list.


30. Codiaeum variegatum cvv. (croton; shown: C. variegatum 'Petra?')


31. Coffea arabica (coffee plant)
3 people have recommended removing this plant from the list.
3 people have recommended not removing this plant from the list.


32. Cordyline fruticosa cvv. (ti plant; shown: C. fruticosa 'Florica')
1 person has recommended not removing this plant from the list.


33. Cordyline glauca
5 people have recommended removing this plant from the list.
1 person has recommended not removing this plant from the list.


34. Crassula ovata and similar species (jade plant; shown: C. ovata)


35. Cryptanthus cvv. (earth star; shown: 'Elaine?')


36. Cycas revoluta (sago palm)


37. Cyclamen persicum cvv. (florist's cyclamen; shown: NOID)


38. Davallia spp. and other furry-rhizomed ferns like Polypodium/Phlebodium (rabbit's-foot fern, hare's-foot fern, bear's-paw fern, kangaroo fern; shown: Davallia fejeensis 'Major')


39. Dieffenbachia cvv. (dumb cane; shown: 'Camille?')


40. Dionaea muscipula (venus flytrap)


41. Dischidia ruscifolia (million hearts)
1 person has recommended removing this plant from the list.


42. Dracaena deremensis cvv. incl. 'Janet Craig,' 'Warneckei,' etc.(shown: D. deremensis 'Lemon-Lime')


43. Dracaena fragrans 'Massangeana' (corn plant)


44. Dracaena marginata cvv. (Madagascar dragon tree)


45. Dracaena reflexa cvv. incl. 'Riki,' 'Song of Jamaica,' etc. (shown: D. reflexa 'Song of India')


46. Dracaena sanderiana (lucky bamboo, ribbon plant)


47. Dracaena surculosa cvv. (gold-dust dracaena; shown: NOID)


48. Echeveria cvv. and intergenerics like Sedeveria, Pachyveria, etc. (shown: Echeveria 'Perle von Nurnberg')


49. Echinocactus grusonii (golden barrel cactus)


50. Echinopsis spp. (shown: NOID)


51. Epiphyllum / Selenicereus spp. (ric-rac cactus, orchid cactus; shown: E. oxypetalum)


52. Epipremnum aureum cvv. (pothos; shown: E. aureum 'Marble Queen')


53. Episcia cvv. (flame violet; shown: assortment)


54. Espostoa lanata, Oreocereus trollii, & Cephalocereus senilis (old man cacti; shown: E. lanata)


55. Columnar Euphorbia spp. like ammak, ingens, trigona, etc. (shown: E. ingens?)


56. Euphorbia lactea cvv. (hatrack cactus, dragon bones; includes crested forms and crested grafts)


57. Euphorbia milii (crown of thorns; shown: NOID)


58. Euphorbia pulcherrima (poinsettia, the devil in plant form; shown: NOID)


59. Fatshedera lizei (tree ivy, aralia ivy; shown: variegated cultivar)
5 people have recommended removing this plant from the list.


60. Ficus benjamina cvv. (weeping fig; shown: F. benjamina 'Midnight')


61. Ficus elastica cvv. (rubber plant, rubber tree; shown: F. elastica 'Tineke' or 'Sylvie')


62. Ficus lyrata (fiddle-leaf fig)
2 people have recommended removing this plant from the list.
3 people have recommended not removing this plant from the list.


63. Ficus maclellandii (long-leaf fig)
1 person has recommended removing this plant from the list.
3 people have recommended not removing this plant from the list.


64. Ficus pumila (creeping fig; shown: F. pumila 'Snowflake')
1 person has recommended removing this plant from the list.
2 people have recommended not removing this plant from the list.


65. Fittonia albivenis cvv. (nerve plant; shown: NOID)


66. Gardenia jasminoides (gardenia)


67. Guzmania cvv. (shown: NOID)


68. Haworthia spp. (shown: NOID)


69. Hedera helix cvv. (English ivy; shown: assortment)


70. Hemigraphis exotica (purple waffle plant)


71. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (tropical hibiscus; shown: NOID)


72. Hippeastrum cvv. (amaryllis)
Photo credit: Arpingstone at Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.


73. Hoya carnosa cvv. (wax plant; shown: H. carnosa 'Krimson Queen')


74. Hylocereus/Gymnocalycium grafts (moon cactus; shown: assortment)


75. Hypoestes phyllostachya cvv. (polka-dot plant; shown: assortment)


76. Jasminum spp. (jasmine; shown: J. sambac?)
1 person has recommended removing this plant from the list.
[I'm not counting Ivynettle's vote to remove because the category includes all Jasminum spp., not just sambac]


77. Kalanchoe blossfeldiana (flaming katy, kalanchoe; shown: NOID)
1 person has recommended removing this plant from the list.
3 people have recommended not removing this plant from the list.


78. Kalanchoe luciae / thyrsiflora (flapjack plant; shown: K. luciae?)


79. Kalanchoe tomentosa cvv. (panda plant)


80. Mammillaria cvv./spp. (shown: NOID)


81. Maranta leuconeura cvv. (prayer plant; shown: M. leuconeura var. kerchoveana)


82. Mimosa pudica (sensitive plant)
Photo credit: Liza Wheeler. Used by permission.
2 people have recommended removing this plant from the list.
3 people have recommended not removing this plant from the list.


83. Monstera deliciosa cvv. (swiss cheese philodendron; shown: M. deliciosa 'Cheesecake')


84. Musa & Ensete spp./cvv. (ornamental banana; shown: NOID)


85. Nematanthus cvv. (guppy plant; shown: NOID)


86. Nephrolepis exaltata cvv. (Boston fern; shown: N. exaltata var. bostoniensis)
Photo credit: anonymous donor. Used by permission.


87. Oncidium alliance orchids (shown: Oncidium Tsiku Marguerite NN #1)


88. Opuntia spp./cvv. (prickly pear cactus, paddle cactus, bunny ears cactus; shown: O. microdasys?)


89. Oxalis spp. ("Shamrocks," except they're not really shamrocks. They're like, sham shamrocks. Shown: O. triangularis cv.)


90. Pachira aquatica (money tree)


91. Pachypodium spp. (Madagascar palm; shown: P. lamerei)
1 person has recommended removing this plant from the list.
3 people have recommended not removing this plant from the list.


92. Paphiopedilum cvv. (lady-slipper orchid)


93. Pelargonium x hortorum (geranium; shown: P. 'Mrs. Pollock')
Photo credit: Han Keat Lim. Used by permission.


94. Peperomia argyreia (watermelon peperomia)


95. Peperomia caperata cvv. (shown: NOID)


96. Peperomia clusiifolia cvv. (shown: P. clusiifolia 'Rainbow?')


97. Peperomia obtusifolia (baby rubber plant; shown: P. obtusifolia 'Golden Gate')


98. Phalaenopsis/Doritaenopsis cvv. (moth orchid; shown: NOID)


99. Self-heading Philodendrons like 'Autumn,' 'Prince of Orange,' 'Moonlight' (shown: P. 'Prince of Orange')


100. Philodendron erubescens cvv. incl. 'Red Emerald,' 'Golden Emerald' (shown: P. erubescens 'Red Emerald')
1 person has recommended removing this plant from the list.
1 person has recommended not removing this plant from the list.


101. Philodendron hederaceum cvv. (heart-leaf philodendron; shown: P. hederaceum micans)


102. Philodendron 'Xanadu' / 'Hope' / bipinnatifidum / 'Spicy Dog' (tree philodendron, xanadu philodendron; shown: P. bipinnatifidum 'Hope?')


103. Pilea cadierei (aluminum plant)


104. Pilea involucrata 'Norfolk' (friendship plant)


105. Pilea mollis 'Moon Valley.'


106. Pilosocereus pachycladus


107. Platycerium spp. (staghorn fern; shown: NOID)


108. Podocarpus macrophyllus (buddhist pine)
5 people have recommended removing this plant from the list.


109. Polyscias balfouriana (balfour aralia; shown: variegated variety)
1 person has recommended removing this plant from the list.
1 person has recommended not removing this plant from the list.
1 person has recommended combining this plant with Polyscias fruticosa.


110. Polyscias fruticosa (ming aralia)
1 person has recommended removing this plant from the list.
1 person has recommended not removing this plant from the list.
1 person has recommended combining this plant with Polyscias balfouriana.


111. Portulacaria afra cvv. (baby jade plant, elephant bush; shown: P. afra)
1 person has recommended removing this plant from the list.
2 people have recommended not removing this plant from the list.


112. Radermachera sinica (china doll)
1 person has recommended removing this plant from the list.
2 people have recommended not removing this plant from the list.


113. Ravenea rivularis (majesty palm)
2 people have recommended removing this plant from the list.
2 people have recommended not removing this plant from the list.


114. Rhapis excelsa cvv. (lady palm; shown: species)


115. Saintpaulia cvv. (African violet; shown: NOID)


116. Sansevieria cylindrica (wisdom horns)


117. Sansevieria trifasciata cvv. (snake plant, mother-in-law's tongue; shown: S. trifasciata 'Laurentii')


118. Saxifraga stolonifera (strawberry begonia)


119. Schefflera actinophylla cvv. (umbrella plant, umbrella tree, octopus tree; shown: species)
2 people have recommended combining this plant with Schefflera arboricola.


120. Schefflera arboricola cvv. (umbrella plant, umbrella tree; shown: species)
2 people have recommended combining this plant with Schefflera actinophylla.


121. Schefflera elegantissima cvv. (false aralia, Dizygotheca elegantissima; shown: species)


122. Schlumbergera cvv. (holiday/Thanksgiving/Christmas cactus; shown: NOID)


123. Scindapsus pictus (satin pothos)


124. Sedum burrito and S. morganianum (burro's tail; shown: S. burrito)


125. Soleirolia soleirolii cvv. (baby tears; shown: NOID)


126. Spathiphyllum cvv. (peace lily; shown: NOID)


127. Stenocereus pruinosus


128. Strelitzia nicolai and S. reginae (white bird of paradise, orange bird of paradise; shown: S. nicolai)
1 person has recommended removing this plant from the list.
1 person has recommended not removing this plant from the list.


129. Stromanthe sanguinea cvv. (shown: S. sanguinea 'Triostar')


130. Syngonium podophyllum cvv. (arrowhead vine; shown: S. podophyllum 'White Butterfly?')


131. Tillandsia cyanea (pink quill)


132. Tillandsia spp. (air plants; shown: T. capitata 'Peach')


133. Tradescantia pallida (purple heart)


134. Tradescantia spathacea cvv. (moses-in-the-cradle, oyster plant; shown: variegated variety)


135. Tradescantia zebrina cvv. (wandering jew; shown: NOID)


136. Small hybrid Vriesea cvv. (shown: NOID)


137. Vriesea splendens (flaming sword)


138. Yucca guatemalensis cvv. (spineless yucca; shown: species)
2 people have recommended removing this plant from the list.
2 people have recommended not removing this plant from the list.


139. Zamioculcas zamiifolia (zz plant, eternity plant)


Plants I thought of too late, after everything was already numbered and formatted and stuff:

140. Cereus peruvianus (Peruvian apple cactus)
1 person has recommended removing this plant from the list.

141. Lithops cvv. (living stones; shown: NOID)

Reader-suggested additions:

142. Senecio rowleyanus and S. radicans (string of pearls / string of bananas; shown: S. rowleyanus)
2 people have recommended adding this plant to the list.

143. Gynura aurantiaca (purple passion plant)
1 person has recommended adding this plant to the list.

144. Clivia cvv.
Photo credit: Guérin Nicolas at Wikimedia Commons.
2 people have recommended adding this plant to the list.

145. Dendrobium cvv. (shown: D. 'Karen')
1 person has recommended adding this plant to the list.

146. Sarracenia spp./cvv. (pitcher plant)
1 person has recommended adding this plant to the list.

147. Drosera spp./cvv. (sundew)
1 person has recommended adding this plant to the list.

148. Aporocactus flagelliformis (rat-tail cactus)
1 person has recommended adding this plant to the list.

149. Rhipsalis spp.
1 person has recommended adding this plant to the list.

150. Gymnocalycium spp. (shown: NOID)
1 person has recommended adding this plant to the list.

151. Gasteria spp.
1 person has recommended adding this plant to the list.

152. Citrus / Fortunella spp./cvv. (citrus trees, kumquats, lemons, etc.)
1 person has recommended adding this plant to the list.

Pretty picture: Phragmipedium Hanne Popow

I just really like lady-slipper orchids, I guess. Or at least this year I do. If only I could, you know, grow them.



Hanne Popow is a cross of Phrag. besseae and Phrag. schlimii, and is apparently a really popular phrag, because Google finds people talking about it all over the place.

As frustrating as my experiences with Paphiopedilum have been, it sounds like Phragmipediums are even worse; the people on this orchid-growing forum are unanimously agreed that phrags like to drop perfectly good flowers for no particular reason. (Not, technically, no reason -- the explanation given at the link is that plants have an upper limit on how many blooms they're willing/able to maintain at once, so once that number is reached, the plant starts to drop the oldest flowers, even if they're still otherwise functional.) I can only imagine how frustrating that must be.

Random plant event: Aeschynanthus radicans

It takes a while, granted, but one can propagate Aeschynanthus from individual leaves. My A. speciosus was originally from individual leaves we propagated long ago at work, and I have at least one A. radicans leaf that's rooted and producing new growth now too, so I'm thinking maybe it's a general characteristic of the genus. This particular leaf didn't even take that long (about 3 1/2 months), though as you can see, the others in this pot are taking longer, and there's another pot of leaves where nothing's happened yet, so it's just one leaf out of I think eight. But still.

If you go looking for information about how to propagate Aeschynanthus, almost nobody says anything about this: virtually everyone says stem tip cuttings, and nothing more. (A few sites also suggest seeds or layering.) While it's probably true that stem cuttings will start faster and produce a fuller looking plant sooner than leaves, it's still neat that leaves are an option.

I ran into the website of the North Star African Violet Council Twin Cities (surely "Twin Cities' African Violet Council" wasn't taken already?) while looking around the internet for more on this, and they say that Streptocarpus, Chirita, Saintpaulia, and Petrocosmeas are typically propagated from single leaves. Nautilocalyx are also supposed to be easy to root from leaves, which I'll have to try at some point with my N. forgetii.

Nautilocalyx forgetii.
The genera of gesneriads that don't propagate well from leaves include Episcia (though I've done it, last summer), Columnea, Nematanthus, some Sinningias, and Codonanthe, according to Jon Dixon, the source being quoted by the NSAVCTC. (I'm condensing the list, so if you're interested, head over to the site and read their post.)

Weirdly, I've had better luck at home with Aeschynanthus and Episcia leaf propagation than I've had with Saintpaulia, even though African violets are supposed to be much easier. I don't have any trouble getting African violet leaves to root, but they stop there -- they don't go on to grow new leaves. When we tried doing this at the ex-job, on the other hand, they propagated fine. Sometimes they even propagated when we didn't intend them to. So obviously I'm missing something.

This leaf, for example, fell under a table and rooted in the soil all on its own.
But anyway. There isn't necessarily a lot of practical application for this method, but now you know it can happen.

Saturday morning Sheba and/or Nina picture

Had a minor Nina-related scare on Monday morning: I'd collected some crickets for Nina while outside with Sheba, because they're all just hanging around out there in the back yard and why not,¹ but then when I went to dump them into her terrarium, Nina was nowhere to be found. Which is unusual, early in the day -- she's almost always out in the open, "sunning" herself.

So I rattled the plants around a bit, hoping to see or hear her, but I didn't, and that went on long enough that I had actually convinced myself that she was probably dead, so I started cutting back the Pellionia to find the body. (I was less sad about this than you might think: I figure she's almost certainly outlived her natural life expectancy, and has had a relatively cushy, if spatially constricted, life for the last two and a half years, so even if it hasn't been everything she might have dreamed, I think I've still done right by Nina. At bare minimum, it has to beat death by pesticide or death by freezing, which were her two options if I hadn't brought her home.)


That went on for a really long time, but eventually I pulled back a branch and she bolted for the opposite side of the tank. So she's still alive. And now I have a bunch of Pellionia cuttings and have no idea what to do with them.

-

¹ I acknowledge that there are some reasons why using free-range crickets might be a bad idea (parasites, e.g.), but have decided those are risks I'm willing to take.

Random plant event: Cordyline fruticosa

My huge green Cordyline fruticosa should have died this summer. I got fed up with it last winter -- no matter how far from all the other plants, no matter how careful I am to wash down the leaves when watering, no matter how cool and moist the environment, it still always gets spider mites, every winter, and I've gotten sick of dealing with them. So this spring, I put it outside.

The goal wasn't necessarily to kill it. I just wanted to get it away from the other plants, so the mites wouldn't spread. It had spent a summer outside before, so I figured it could handle it. On the other hand, there was something a little passive-aggressive about my method: I didn't try to gradually acclimate it to the new conditions. I just shoved it out there and let it fend for itself. Then I "forgot" to water it, even though we weren't getting very much rain. It responded the way you'd expect: first it sunburned, then it (partly) defoliated, and by mid-August I was ready to throw it out.

So we moved it to the back yard (there's a pile where we're dumping plant-related waste, soil, lawn clippings, etc. It's not quite a compost pile, because we're not trying to manage it like a compost pile, but we do expect it to break down into soil eventually.), but then for whatever reason it didn't get dumped. And since it was closer to the garden hose, it got watered when I thought of it.

(27 August 2011) Sorry about the shadows. I didn't realize the photo would turn out quite this crappily.
And then the damn plant started to grow new shoots from its base. Apparently it had been living off the stored water and starch in the swollen rhizome at its base all summer because I wasn't watering it properly. Then we got some rain besides, so suddenly it's ready to grow again.

(5 September 2011)
And I guess it'll get the chance. I get frustrated with C. fruticosa because of the spider mites (I gave up on the other Cordylines at the end of June), but I really like it otherwise, and if it's just the one plant, and it's growing lots of new stems at once . . . well, I'm not made of stone. I've cut back the old stems, and the Cordyline can stay for another year, as long as it behaves itself. No doubt I'll regret this decision next February, but it's not like I have to kill it now or I forever lose the chance, right?

Next Time You Buy Madonna Flowers, Remember This

Actually somewhat less diva-ish than I would have expected from Madonna. Maybe she's mellowing. (Plus I think she's also turning into Romy, from Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion -- check out the way she pronounces "loathe.")

(Via)

Question for the Hive Mind: Clivia miniata

So I've had this Clivia miniata 'Aztec Gold' for a long time now (since August 2008), and I like it. It's never flowered, but that's okay: I like it well enough as a foliage plant. I mean, I'm a little disappointed, sure, because it had flowers when I bought it, and they lasted about five minutes once I got it home so I never had a chance to get a halfway decent photograph of them and now I've been waiting for over three years to see flowers again but No! It is fine! I like it as a foliage plant! I swear!

But it's also been very strange a few times. There was one spell a couple summers ago when I noticed black gunk on the leaves, so I went to wipe it off with a wet paper towel, and it turned the towel the most brilliant shade of yellow. And the black gunk was -- when I checked the plant more closely -- down in the spaces between leaves, making it more or less impossible to clean up. I never found out what was happening, but it's happened again at least once and doesn't appear to be harming the plant, so I've accepted it as part of the cost of growing a Clivia, or at least this particular Clivia, and I don't worry about it anymore.


But now we have a new thing. Gone is the mysterious black/yellow substance, and instead I saw a strange new dead thing in the middle of the plant, at the end of July. It's since dried up, and once dry it pulled out easily enough, but I don't know what it was. It was too short and too thick to be a leaf, plus it was dying as soon as it appeared: could it have been a flower that aborted development? And if so, why'd it stop? If not, what was it, then? And as long as I'm asking questions: what was the black/yellow stuff?