Rumble Among the Jungle, Match 4.1

Since we're more than a month into the RATJ now, I'm going to just assume everybody has read the rules instead of copying and pasting them into the posts over and over.

Final numbers for matches 3.9 and 3.10:

In match 3.9, Spathiphyllum surprises me once again, by defeating a plant I see as obviously superior. This is apparently going to be a thing with me and Spathiphyllum. The margin of victory was slim: Spathiphyllum beat Aeschynanthus spp. by 62 to 54.

The first poll for match 3.10 was glitchy, for unknown reasons, so some people couldn't vote in it. I replaced it with a new poll that worked properly, but there were then two sets of votes to count. The glitchy poll gave Echeveria et al. 14 votes and Chlorophytum comosum 7; when added to the results of the more functional poll (43 and 49, respectively), we get Echeveria et al. winning over Chlorophytum comosum by 57 to 56. This is perhaps close enough to warrant a do-over, but that would screw up the posting schedule, so I'm not gonna.

As we are now in round 4, I'm slowing down the votes yet again and only posting one match per day. Partly, this is because it's more dramatic this way (after three rounds of selection, the plants that have gotten here ought to be pretty good fighters), but also I have to: now that we're down to a small fraction of the original field, the three-day wait for the final tallies means that about half of round 3 is still collecting votes while we begin round 4. (By round 6, the semifinals, I'll have to start skipping days between matches.)

Match 4.1
Clivia miniata cvv. vs. Saintpaulia cvv. (African violet)

Top: Clivia miniata. (Picture by Guérin Nicolas at Wikimedia Commons.) Bottom: NOID cv.

Saintpaulia cvv.
Top row, L-R: NOID, assorted NOIDs, NOID.
Middle row, L-R: NOID, NOID, NOID.
Bottom row, L-R: 'Harmony's Red Star,' 'Mellow Magic' close-up, NOID.

Rumble Among the Jungle, Matches 3.15 and 3.16

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.

Results of matches 3.7 and 3.8:

In match 3.7, Schlumbergera cvv. stomped Platycerium spp. pretty hard (73 to 32), which is more or less what I expected to happen.

Match 3.8 was surprising only in how close it was -- I wasn't sure which plant I expected people to prefer (and personally had a hard time choosing), but I figured most of the votes would come down on one side or the other. Though basically tied for the first couple days, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis pulled ahead in the last half of the competition, and defeated Cordyline fruticosa 56 to 49.

Today's matches:

Match 3.15
Aeonium spp. vs. Tillandsia spp. (air plants)

Clockwise from top: Aeonium 'Kiwi,' 'Irish Bouquet,' A. arboreum atropurpureum 'Zwartkop.'

Left side, top to bottom: Tillandsia xerographica, T. capitata 'Peach.'
Center, top to bottom: NOID, NOID, T. ionantha 'Druid.'
Right side, top to bottom: NOID, T. abdita Mexican form.





Match 3.16
Agave spp. vs. Calathea spp./cvv.

Clockwise from top left: Agave victoriae-reginae, A. americana medio-picta alba, NOID (maybe A. desmettiana?), A. marmorata.

Clockwise from top left: Calathea ornata, C. roseo-picta 'Medallion' (?), C. makoyana, C. insignis, C. zebrina.





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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?

Saturday morning Sheba and/or Nina picture

(New toy.)

Rumble Among the Jungle, Matches 3.13 and 3.14

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 of matches 3.5 and 3.6:

Never really thought that Araucaria heterophylla had a chance at taking down Phalaenopsis / Doritaenopsis cvv. in match 3.5, so its loss (40 to 73) wasn't much of a shock, though it's still sad. To me. (I'm a little sentimental about Araucaria because one of my oldest plants is one.)

Hoya carnosa cvv. beat Cereus peruvianus in match 3.6, which is likewise not much of a shock. The final score: 67 to 44.

Phalaenopsis and Hoya carnosa will compete against one another on 25 October in match 4.3.

And now, the matches du jour:

Match 3.13
Adenium obesum (desert rose) vs. Haworthia spp.

(Various unidentified Adenium obesum cvv.)

Top row, L-R: Haworthia tessellata (?), H. NOID.
Middle row, L-R: Haworthia limifolia var. ubomboensis, H. cymbiformis (?), assortment.
Bottom row, L-R: Haworthia attenuata, H. limifolia var. limifolia.





Match 3.14 (the Pi Match!)
Cycas revoluta (sago palm) vs. Self-heading Philodendrons ('Autumn,' 'Prince of Orange,' 'Moonlight')

(Top: older Cycas revoluta. Bottom: young C. revoluta.)

Clockwise from top left: Philodendron 'Prince of Orange,' 'Moonlight,' 'Autumn,' 'Prince of Orange,' 'Moonlight.'





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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?

Pretty picture: Paphiopedilum Hampshire White Light

Okay, well, the lead-ban post is going to be Sunday, I guess. I hope. However, this is a pretty awesome Paphiopedilum, I think:


It's a little strange that I think so, because this paph has most of the characteristics I find boring in Phalaenopsis (light color; rounded, flattish petals/sepals). But somehow what's tedious in a phal is awesome in a paph.

That would probably work the other way around, too. I'd love to see the Phalaenopsis version of this paph, for example. Or this one.

Ancestry: Paphiopedilum Hampshire White Light is the offspring of Paph. Shapelight x Paph. Skip Bartlett.

Rumble Among the Jungle, Matches 3.11 and 3.12

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.

Results from matches 3.3 and 3.4:

Breathing a sigh of relief over match 3.3. It's not that I thought Dracaena reflexa cvv. would defeat Aglaonema cvv., but y'all sometimes do things I don't expect, so I've learned to worry anyway. Aglaonema advances to the fourth round by a vote of 64 to 37.

I liked both plants in match 3.4 and really wanted to see them both do well, so it was difficult to decide, but in the end I went along with most of the rest of you and chose Philodendron hederaceum cvv. over Strelitzia nicolai / reginae. The final score was 63 to 42.

Aglaonema cvv. and Philodendron hederaceum cvv. vie for a fifth-round spot on 24 October, in match 4.2. And if I thought I was anxious about 3.3 and 3.4, I'm going to be nearly catatonic with worry over 4.2.

Today's matches:

Match 3.11
Beaucarnea recurvata (ponytail palm) vs. Oncidium alliance orchids (dancing ladies)

(Bottom left: Beaucarnea recurvata variegata. Others: B. recurvata.)

Left side, top to bottom: Beallara Marfitch 'Howard's Dream,' Oncidium Tsiku Marguerite 'NN #1.'
Center, top to bottom: Vuylstekeara Aloha Sparks 'Ruby Eyes,' Odontocidium Tiger Crow 'Golden Girl,' Wilsonara Lisa Devos.
Right side, top to bottom: Oncidium Saint Dawn Gold, Bakerara Truth 'Silver Chalice.'





Match 3.12
Dracaena deremensis cvv. vs. Sansevieria trifasciata cvv. (snake plant)

Clockwise from top left: Dracaena deremensis ''Lemon-Lime,' 'Warneckei' or similar, 'Dorado,' 'Malaika,' 'Janet Craig Compacta.'

Top row, L-R: Sansevieria trifasciata 'Black Coral,' 'Laurentii,' 'Bantel's Sensation.'
Center row, L-R: S. trifasciata NOID, 'Hahnii,' 'Hahnii Pearl Young.'
Bottom row, L-R: S. trifasciata 'Moonglow,' 'Black Gold.'





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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?

Picture: Bryophyllum x houghtonii

My intended post on the possible ban on lead in ammunition and other hunting and fishing equipment, which I mentioned in passing on Monday, is turning out to require a lot more investigation than I had originally intended, partly because I really know very little about lead, ammunition, hunting and fishing. (I'm having a good time trying to learn stuff really fast, though.)

I'm still going to try to post it on Friday, and if not Friday then Sunday at the latest (for reasons which will be revealed in the post, I will be very disppointed if I can't post it by Sunday).


Meanwhile, here is a picture of Bryophyllum x houghtonii I took a couple weeks ago at the ex-job. (Originally identified as B. daigremontianum, but Lee, in comments, said the leaves were too narrow to be daigremontianum. I'm keeping the link to the B. daigremontianum profile, because it's still half correct -- houghtonii is B. daigremontianum x B. delagoense -- and the care is presumably interchangeable. It's quite possible that the plants I was talking about in the profile were also B. x houghtonii, since the ones at work all kinda looked like this, but we didn't see mature plants that often because we tried to pull them up, so the ID was sort of always shaky.)

Rumble Among the Jungle, Matches 3.9 and 3.10

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.

Results of matches 3.1 and 3.2:

Greensparrow, paivi, and Paul are going to be upset by 3.1: Clivia beat Cryptanthus, 65 to 50.

I found 3.2 really interesting to watch, because close votes usually swing back and forth between competitors, with one plant in the lead, then the other plant, then the first one again. Saintpaulia cvv. and Epipremnum aureum were frequently tied, but Saintpaulia grabbed a one- or two-vote lead after the first day, and remained either tied or with a tiny lead thereafter. Epipremnum remained close enough that it could have caught up at any moment, but it didn't: by the end, Saintpaulia had built a seven-vote lead, winning 63 to 56.

Clivia miniata cvv. and Saintpaulia cvv. will come together on 23 October, in match 4.1. Until then, we have more round 3 matches:

Match 3.9
Aeschynanthus spp. (lipstick plant, goldfish plant) vs. Spathiphyllum cvv. (peace lily)

Clockwise from top: Aeschynanthus lobbianus or A. radicans, A. longicaulis, A. speciosus.

Center and left top: Spathiphyllum NOID, possibly 'Golden Glow.' Bottom left: NOID, possibly 'Domino.' Top right: NOID, possibly 'Sensation' or 'Mauna Loa.' Bottom right: NOID.





Match 3.10
Chlorophytum comosum cvv. (spider plant) vs. Echeveria cvv. and related plants (Sedeveria, Graptoveria, Pachyveria, etc.)

Clockwise from left: Chlorophytum comosum 'Vittatum,' C. comosum 'Vittatum,' NOID.

Top row, L-R: Echeveria 'Perle von Nurnberg,' E. 'Topsy Turvy,' E. setosa.
Middle row, L-R: Graptosedum 'Alpenglow - Vera Higgins,' Echeveria coccinea flowers, Echeveria 'The Rose.'
Bottom row, L-R: Echeveria nodulosa, Pachyveria x glauca, Echeveria x shaviana 'Pinky.'

DO NOT RE-VOTE IN THIS VERSION OF 3.10 IF YOU WERE PREVIOUSLY ABLE TO GET THROUGH ON THE FIRST VERSION; THOSE VOTES WILL BE COUNTED.




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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?