Rumble Among the Jungle, Matches 2.17-2.20

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 for matches 2.1 to 2.4:

Not as many votes for this set as there were for most of the round one matches; I'm not sure if this means y'all are finding it harder to choose or getting bored with it or what.

In match 2.1, Clivia miniata cvv. take out small hybrid Vriesea cvv. 59 to 36.
Cryptanthus cvv. shut down Tradescantia pallida in match 2.2, 56-34.

Clivia miniata cvv. faces Cryptanthus cvv. in match 3.1, which will be on 15 October.

Saintpaulia cvv. destroyed Echinopsis spp. in round 2.3 by a better than 75%/25% margin (actual score 71 to 21), which makes two in a row. Saintpaulia cvv. is definitely one to keep an eye on as we head to the later rounds.
Round 2.4 had Epipremnum aureum cvv. barely edging out Crassula ovata / argentea / arborescens, 51 to 42.

Match 3.2 is going to be very interesting (and maybe a little nerve-racking) to watch, I think: Saintpaulia cvv. vs. Epipremnum aureum cvv. Voting will open 15 October.

I predict most of you will find today's votes a bit easier to cast than a lot of the previous round two matches have been.

Match 2.17
Dionaea muscipula (venus flytrap) vs. Aeschynanthus spp. (lipstick plant, goldfish plant)

(Both Dionaea muscipula.)

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





Match 2.18
Aechmea fasciata (silver vase plant) vs. Spathiphyllum cvv. (peace lily)

Top left: Aechmea fasciata emerging inflorescence. Others: non-blooming plants.

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 2.19
Pilea involucrata 'Norfolk' vs. Chlorophytum comosum cvv. (spider plant)

(Both Pilea involucrata 'Norfolk.')

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





Match 2.20
Kalanchoe luciae / thyrsiflora (flapjack plant) vs. Echeveria cvv. and related plants (Sedeveria, Graptoveria, Pachyveria, etc.)

Left: Kalanchoe thyrsiflora flowers. Right top and bottom: probably K. luciae.

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.'





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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 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: First Round Results

I was going to do this the way I've been, putting the results in before the new polls for the day, but I yammered so much that I figured it would be better to make this its own post.

So here we are, the very last set of results for the first round. *sniffle*

Results for matches 1.61 to 1.64:

Round 1.61 was a little wobbly at first, but after about 12 hours of votes, Hippeastrum cvv. took a slim lead over Vriesea splendens and held on to it. Hippeastrum wins, 55 to 40.
Round 1.62, on the other hand, swung back and forth repeatedly between Agave spp. and Cattleya alliance orchids. Both had impressively dedicated fans, though only the Agave fans threatened violence. (The Cattleya fans only threatened the opposition's plants.) Which may be why in the end, Agave spp. narrowly defeated the Cattleya group, 50 to 46.

Hippeastrum and Agave will compete in match 2.31, on 14 October, for the right to advance to the third round.

In match 1.63, Opuntia spp. basically dropped an anvil on Codiaeum variegatum cvv., which surprised me. (I thought of the match as a referendum on glochids and spider mites, personally, and wound up choosing the glochids / Opuntia on the grounds that glochids are an intermittent problem, but spider mites are continuous. Though I could just as easily have gone the other way, on the grounds that spider mites aren't physically uncomfortable and glochids are. There was really no good way to vote in that match, for me.) The score was 51 to 40 in favor of Opuntia.
Finally, round one ends on a laugh (if you don't like Radermachera sinica), with Calathea spp. absolutely annihilating Radermachera in match 1.64, by a score of 77 to 10. The margin of victory by votes wasn't the highest, but it was the most one-sided by percentage, with Calathea receiving a full 88.5% of the votes cast.

Opuntia and Calathea compete on 14 October as well, in match 2.32.

Now some analysis of round 1:

The most one-sided in terms of the percentage of votes received was, as I just mentioned, round 1.64.

The most even match was 1.42, where Beaucarnea recurvata defeated Sedum morganianum / burrito with a mere 50.45% of the vote.

Match 1.18 (Monstera deliciosa vs. Musa / Ensete spp.) had the largest vote gap; Monstera received a full 69 more votes than Musa / Ensete.

The narrowest margin of victory is a tie; the winners took both match 1.29 (Pachira aquatica vs. Pilosocereus pachycladus) and match 1.42 (Beaucarnea recurvata vs. Sedum morganianum / burrito) by a single vote.

I'd tried to predict the outcome of each match before the voting started, just to see how I'd do; I wound up getting 42 matches right and 22 matches wrong (65.6% correct), which is better than chance, but not nearly as accurate as I thought I would be.

As far as the plant families go,¹ the big losers were the Acanthaceae, which put up four fighters (Hemigraphis exotica, Fittonia albivenis cvv., Aphelandra squarrosa, and Hypoestes phyllostachya cvv.) and lost all four times.

We also lost all competitors from: the Aizoaceae (Lithops), Arecaceae (Chamaedorea, Ravenea, Rhapis), Aspleniaceae (Asplenium), Bignoniaceae (Radermachera), Davalliaceae (Davallia, Nephrolepis), Musaceae (Musa / Ensete), Oleaceae (Jasminum), Piperaceae (Peperomia), Portulacaceae (Portulacaria), Primulaceae (Ardisia, Cyclamen), Rubiaceae (Coffea, Gardenia), Saxifragaceae (Saxifraga), and Vitaceae (Cissus).

I had been sort of worried, going in, that there might just be a large group of people who really liked a specific type of plant (gesneriads, orchids, succulents, cacti, whatever) who would throw the results off by voting as a large bloc, making the results predictable and boring. So far, there's no indication that that's happening, though.

The big winners among the families were the Asparagaceae, which won 13 matches out of its original 16, the Araceae (kept 8/13), and the Bromeliaceae (kept 5/7). (The plant I would most like to see win the overall competition -- which also has a realistic chance of doing so -- is in one of these families.)

The following families lost no members in round one: Amaryllidaceae (Clivia, Hippeastrum), Araucariaceae (Araucaria), Cycadaceae (Cycas), Droseraceae (Dionaea), Leguminosae (Mimosa), Malvaceae (Hibiscus, Pachira), Oxalidaceae (Oxalis), and Strelitziaceae (Strelitzia).

Fourteen other families remain in contention: Apocynaceae, Araliaceae, Begoniaceae, Cactaceae, Commelinaceae, Compositae, Crassulaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Gesneriaceae, Marantaceae, Moraceae, Orchidaceae, Polypodiaceae, Urticaceae. (My two best guesses for which plant will win the competition overall are from this group.)

Here is the list of matches for round 2, some of which are already underway, just in case anybody wants to try to predict the results, or needs extra time to make his/r decision, or whatever:

2.1 Clivia cvv. vs. small Vriesea hybrids
2.2 Cryptanthus cvv. vs. Tradescantia pallida
2.3 Saintpaulia cvv. vs. Echinopsis spp.
2.4 Epipremnum aureum cvv. vs. Crassula ovata / argentea / arborescens cvv.

2.5 Dracaena reflexa cvv. vs. Asparagus spp.
2.6 Aglaonema cvv. vs. Oxalis triangularis cvv.
2.7 Ficus maclellandii vs. Strelitzia nicolai / reginae
2.8 Philodendron hederaceum cvv. vs. Dracaena fragrans cvv.

2.9 Phalaenopsis cvv. vs. Monstera deliciosa
2.10 Sansevieria cylindrica vs. Araucaria heterophylla
2.11 Dracaena marginata cvv. vs. Cereus peruvianus
2.12 Hoya carnosa cvv. vs. Maranta leuconeura cvv.

2.13 Platycerium spp. vs. Gynura aurantiaca
2.14 Aloe vera vs. Schlumbergera cvv.
2.15 Pachira aquatica vs. Cordyline fruticosa cvv.
2.16 Mimosa pudica vs. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis cvv.

2.17 Dionaea muscipula vs. Aeschynanthus cvv.
2.18 Aechmea fasciata vs. Spathiphyllum cvv.
2.19 Pilea involucrata 'Norfolk' vs. Chlorophytum comosum
2.20 Kalanchoe luciae / thyrsiflora vs. Echeveria cvv. and related

2.21 Dendrobium cvv. vs. Beaucarnea recurvata
2.22 Oncidium alliance hybrids vs. Polyscias fruticosa
2.23 Dracaena deremensis cvv. vs. Schefflera actinophylla / arboricola
2.24 Rhizomatous Begonia cvv. vs. Sansevieria trifasciata cvv.

2.25 Adenium obesum vs. Zamioculcas zamiifolia
2.26 Ficus benjamina cvv. vs. Haworthia spp.
2.27 Cycas revoluta vs. Tradescantia zebrina cvv.
2.28 Tillandsia cyanea vs. self-heading Philodendron cvv. ('Autumn,' 'Prince of Orange,' 'Moonlight')

2.29 Aeonium spp. vs. Euphorbia milii cvv.
2.30 Tillandsia cvv. (air plants) vs. Dieffenbachia cvv.
2.31 Hippeastrum cvv. vs. Agave spp.
2.32 Opuntia spp. vs. Calathea spp.

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¹ I'm going with Plant List's assignments for the families; several of our competitors' family affiliations are given differently by different sources, so this may not match up with what you've learned previously.

Rumble Among the Jungle, Matches 2.9-2.12

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.

Winners and losers for matches 1.57 to 1.60:

In match 1.57, Aeonium spp. defeated Aphelandra squarrosa, 71 to 28. I wasn't surprised by the winner, but I was surprised that it wasn't even close.
Tradescantia spathacea initially led match 1.58, but Euphorbia milii came from behind to win the battle, 67 to 33.

Aeonium spp. will face Euphorbia milii in match 2.29, on 14 October.

Match 1.59 was a real nail-biter, with each contender leading more than once, but Tillandsia spp. (air plants) was ahead when it counted, beating Philodendron bipinnatifidum and P. xanadu 52 to 46.
Dieffenbachia cvv. blew past Pilea cadierei to win match 1.60 by a score of 66 to 28.

Tillandsia spp. (air plants) and Dieffenbachia will battle to reach the third round on 14 October, in match 2.30.

Today's bouts:

Match 2.9
Phalaenopsis and Doritaenopsis cvv. (moth orchid) vs. Monstera deliciosa (swiss cheese philodendron)

(All unidentified Phalaenopsis cvv.)

Clockwise from top left: close-up of Monstera deliciosa leaf, M. deliciosa 'Cheesecake,' mature plant at the Quad City Botanical Gardens, M. deliciosa 'Cheesecake.'





Match 2.10
Sansevieria cylindrica (wisdom horns) vs. Araucaria heterophylla (norfolk island pine)

Clockwise from top: Sansevieria cylindrica, S. cylindrica flowers, cutesy braided S. cylindrica.

Top: young Araucaria heterophylla. Bottom: mature A. heterophylla.




Match 2.11
Dracaena marginata cvv. (madagascar dragon tree) vs. Cereus peruvianus (peruvian apple cactus)

(L-R:) Dracaena marginata, D. marginata 'Colorama,' D. marginata 'Bicolor.'

L-R: Cereus peruvianus monstrose, C. peruvianus, C. peruvianus 'Spiralis.'





Match 2.12
Hoya carnosa cvv. (wax plant) vs. Maranta leuconeura cvv. (prayer plant)

Clockwise from top left: Hoya carnosa 'Krimson Princess,' 'Chelsea,' all-green revert of 'Krimson Princess,' 'Krimson Queen.'

Top: Maranta leuconeura 'Marisela.' Bottom: M. leuconeura var. kerchoveana.





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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 pictures: Chrysanthemum (?) cvv.

Some of the plants that were previously Chrysanthemum spp. have been shuffled into other genera, and then according to Wikipedia, several of those got shuffled right back in again, so I'm not even going to try to guess what these are. None of them had genus names, only variety names, so for the sake of my sanity and spare time, I'm just going to call them all Chrysanthemums and hope that that's correct. And if it's not, almost nobody will care. So.

'Fire Island.'

'Red Auburn.'

'Dragon Time.'

Rumble Among the Jungle, Matches 2.5-2.8

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 for matches 1.53 to 1.56:

In match 1.53, Cycas revoluta pretty much destroyed the old-man cacti (Espostoa lanata, Oreocereus trollii, and Cephalocereus senilis), 88-23.
Match 1.54 saw Tradescantia zebrina wandering all over Portulcaria afras face, winning the match by 63 to 42.

Cycas revoluta and Tradescantia zebrina will tangle -- probably literally, knowing Tradescantia -- on 13 October, in match 2.27.

Kalanchoe blossfeldiana fell to Tillandsia cyanea in match 1.55, by a score of 37 to 69.
Finally, the furry-rhizomed ferns (Davallia, Phlebodium, etc.) were knocked out of the competition in match 1.56, losing to the self-heading Philodendrons ('Autumn' / 'Prince of Orange' / 'Moonlight') 36 to 68.

Tillandsia cyanea faces the self-heading Philodendrons in match 2.28, which begins 13 October.

And now, for your voting pleasure, today's matches:

Match 2.5
Dracaena reflexa cvv. vs. Asparagus spp. (asparagus fern)

Clockwise from top left: D. reflexa 'Riki,' 'Anita,' 'Song of India,' 'Song of Jamaica.'

Clockwise from top: Asparagus setaceus, A. densiflorus 'Myersii,' A. macowanii.





Match 2.6
Aglaonema cvv. (Chinese evergreen) vs. Oxalis triangularis cvv. (shamrock)

Clockwise from top left: Aglaonema 'Emerald Bay,' 'Brilliant,' 'Mystic Marble,' 'Sparkling Sarah.'

(All Oxalis triangularis NOIDs.)





Match 2.7
Ficus maclellandii (long leaf fig, alii fig) vs. Strelitzia nicolai/reginae (white/orange bird of paradise)

(Ficus maclellandii.)

Clockwise from left: Strelitzia nicolai, S. reginae flower, S. reginae.





Match 2.8
Philodendron hederaceum cvv. (heart-leaf philodendron) vs. Dracaena fragrans cvv. (corn plant)

Clockwise from top left: Philodendron hederaceum 'Brasil,' P. hederaceum micans, NOID, P. hederaceum 'Aureum' or something similar, species, P. hederaceum 'Frilly Philly.'

Clockwise from top left: Dracaena fragrans 'Massangeana,' 'Sol,' 'Massangeana,' 'Sol,' 'Massangeana.'





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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

I lean pretty hard on variations of this shot -- back yard, tennis ball, Sheba lying down -- but in my defense, that's pretty much the only time when she's sitting still and willing to point her head in more or less the direction of the camera. This one turned out better than most.

Rumble Among the Jungle, Matches 2.1-2.4

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 for matches 1.49-1.52:

In match 1.49, you bastards chose Adenium obesum over Episcia cvv., by a margin of 73 to 44, in what I am forced to conclude was a horribly misguided attempt to upset me. WELL IT DIDN'T WORK! I'M FINE! NOT UPSET AT ALL!²
Match 1.50 was quite close, a lot closer than I expected it would be, but in the end, Zamioculcas zamiifolia scraped together a victory over Alocasia amazonica 'Polly.' The score was 63 to 49.

Adenium and Zamioculcas will throw down in match 2.25, on 13 October.

Ficus benjamina cvv. defeated Begonia rex-cultorum in match 1.51, by a score of 70 to 44.
Finally, match 1.52 looked for a while like it was going to be a blowout -- Haworthia cvv. was at one point getting nearly 81% of the vote against Asplenium nidus / A. antiquum -- but some Asplenium supporters showed up at the last minute and reduced Haworthia's lead. Haworthia still wins, though, 80 to 39.
Ficus benjamina cvv. and Haworthia cvv. go up against one another on 13 October as well, in match 2.26.

And now, we begin round two.

Match 2.1
Clivia miniata cvv. vs. small hybrid Vriesea cvv.

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

(All unidentified Vriesea hybrids.)





Match 2.2
Cryptanthus cvv. (earth star) vs. Tradescantia pallida (purple heart)

Clockwise from top left: C. 'Elaine,' C. 'Black Mystic,' NOID, NOID, NOID.

(Both T. pallida.)





Match 2.3
Saintpaulia cvv. (African violet) vs. Echinopsis spp.

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.

Unidentified Echinopsis sp. Probably.





Match 2.4
Epipremnum aureum cvv. (pothos) vs. Crassula ovata/argentea/arborescens (jade plants)

Clockwise from top left: Epipremnum aureum 'Neon,' 'Marble Queen,' 'N'Joy,' trained on a totem.

Clockwise from top left: variegated Crassula ovata, C. ovata 'Gollum,' C. arborescens var. undulatifolia, C. ovata.





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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?
² (*sob*)