aglaonemas

From: Alektra at aol.com on 2001.10.23 at 04:41:15(7653) Hello, I'm new to this list, so I don't know the people and interests on it. My fascination is with aglaonemas... Is there anyone else out there who loves them? I hope you will let me know who you are! Best wishes, Laura

From: plantnut plantnut at macconnect.com> on 2001.10.23 at 15:20:49(7657) Laura, Dr. Frank Brown has just written a new book on Aglaonema. I'm sure he would be glad to sell you one if you wrote to him at 4263 Corey Rd., Valkaria, FL 32950 4306. About $25.00 Dewey +More >Hello, I'm new to this list, >so I don't know the people and interests on it. >My fascination is with aglaonemas... >Is there anyone else out there who loves them? >I hope you will let me know who you are! >Best wishes, >Laura Your source for Tropical Araceae http://members.macconnect.com/users/p/plantnut/

From: StellrJ at aol.com on 2001.10.23 at 18:53:08(7658) In a message dated Tue, 23 Oct 2001 12:43:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Alektra@aol.com writes: > Hello, I'm new to this list, > so I don't know the people and interests on it. > My fascination is with aglaonemas... > Is there anyone else out there who loves them? Aglaonemas...very much an overlooked genus in this group, with so many of us Amorpho-freaks, Anthurium fanciers, and one very vocal Spathi-phile. I love those aroids you don't see in every shopping mall lobby or doctor's waiting room (obviously, that lets out P. bipinnatifidum). Aglaonema is a genus I would love to see in its natural habitat, blooming, with a crowd of pollinators around. I find I grow fewer and fewer houseplants as the years go by, because plants inside a house, detached from their ecological niches, are of less and less interest to me. One day I shall find the wild Aglaonema.... Jason Hernandez +More Naturalist-at-Large

From: "Ron Iles" roniles at eircom.net> on 2001.10.23 at 18:55:52(7661) Hello Laura, As the News Editor of the IAS that although it is a very popular genus, Aglaonema has not been discussed a lot in aroid-L, the "public" arena of the I.A.S. A book "The Amazing Aglaonema" by one of our Members, Dr. Frank Brown has just been published & he gave a presentation on the subject at the annual Show in Miami this year. You can find out more about that & many aroids on the Public part of the International Aroid Society Web site. Aglaonemaabout our great Society. Please can we invite you to join us, there are great advantages of being within the Society, most of all the wonderful kindness & friendship of Members & the subsciption is very moderate. Articles on Aglaonema & so many other genera are expected in early issues of the IAS Members only Newsletter too. If you join in 2001 now your Subsciption carries over to December 2002 & there are exciting never before offers to Members in the next News. SHHHH. And to everybody on Aroid-L who is not a Member, there has never been a better time for you to join, please don't miss the boat, I will say no more..... Ron Iles. +More ----- Original Message ----- To: "Multiple recipients of list AROID-L" Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 5:43 AM Subject: aglaonemas Hello, I'm new to this list, so I don't know the people and interests on it. My fascination is with aglaonemas... Is there anyone else out there who loves them? I hope you will let me know who you are! Best wishes, Laura

From: "Ron Iles" roniles at eircom.net> on 2001.10.24 at 04:30:08(7666) Ms or Mr. Stella! If you please! Spathigarruliphile!. Sorry you don't like supernatural Peace Lilies in all the Shopping Malls you go to. And, isn't it good that they clean the air in all your Doctors Surgeries? Please tell us how you prefer Phalloids as House Plants? And - Sweetie pie, with all this stuff splurtng in all directions how about just a teeny weeny article for the next IAS News - about the nature bit? Yours graciously +More Ron - World Spathiphyllum Assemblage Laura - don't be put off by this naturist on the rampage. 99.9% of the Western & Eastern World love white perfumed Spathiphyllum & their near variegated leaved relatives, Aglaonemas. They are THE House plants of the future & you are in the forefront of those most discerning people who are now discovering them. I hope you will join the IAS. ----- Original Message ----- To: "Multiple recipients of list AROID-L" Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 7:53 PM Subject: Re: aglaonemas In a message dated Tue, 23 Oct 2001 12:43:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Alektra@aol.com writes: > Hello, I'm new to this list, > so I don't know the people and interests on it. > My fascination is with aglaonemas. > Is there anyone else out there who loves them? Aglaonemas...very much an overlooked genus in this group, with so many of us Amorpho-freaks, Anthurium fanciers, and one very vocal Spathi-phile. I love those aroids you don't see in every shopping mall lobby or doctor's waiting room (obviously, that lets out P. bipinnatifidum). Aglaonema is a genus I would love to see in its natural habitat, blooming, with a crowd of pollinators around. I find I grow fewer and fewer houseplants as the years go by, because plants inside a house, detached from their ecological niches, are of less and less interest to me. One day I shall find the wild Aglaonema.... Jason Hernandez Naturalist-at-Large

From: Paul Tyerman ptyerman at ozemail.com.au> on 2001.10.24 at 15:03:41(7668) >Laura - don't be put off by this naturist on the rampage. 99.9% of the >Western & Eastern World love white perfumed Spathiphyllum & their near >variegated leaved >relatives, Aglaonemas. They are THE House plants of the future & you are in >the forefront of those most discerning >people who are now discovering them. I hope you will join the IAS. > Ron, How are they as house plants? I had never even heard of them until Laura raised them (Thanks Laura) and I have just been looking them up in a book to find out what they are. Are they something that is available, or just rarely in collections (and how do they go in Australia if anyone is growing them here)? Nice leaves!! Cheers. Paul Tyerman +More Canberra, Australia Who has TWO Spathiphyllums here in my office with me cleaning out my air, plus a Philodendron 'Xanadu'. Unfortunately this is probably just the start of the Aroid collection taking over the house......... which includes seedling Amorphophallus, plus Arisaemas and Pinellias for a little bit longer to make sure the frosts are past. They're starting to encroach..........

From: StellrJ at aol.com on 2001.10.24 at 19:36:54(7671) In a message dated Wed, 24 Oct 2001 12:30:29 AM Eastern Daylight Time, "Ron Iles" writes: > stuff splurtng in all directions how about just a teeny weeny > article for the next IAS News - about the nature bit? > Actually, I did submit a manuscript, not to the Newsletter, but to Aroideana. But never fear -- if I ever have something worthwhile to say in the newsletter, I will send it.

From: StellrJ at aol.com on 2001.10.24 at 19:37:56(7672) In a message dated Wed, 24 Oct 2001 11:04:10 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Paul Tyerman writes: > How are they as house plants? I had never even heard of them until Laura > raised them (Thanks Laura) and I have just been looking them up in a book > to find out what they are. Are they something that is available, or just > rarely in collections? Aglaonema is rather common, often going by the name "Chinese evergreen."

From: Betsy Feuerstein ecuador at midsouth.rr.com> on 2001.10.24 at 19:38:50(7673) Hate to bust your bubble, they are the houseplants of the past and the present. Future, most likely, more Aglaonemas. Certainly, those of us who have worked in and done the interior scaping world have used these two genus as slowing growing, light tolerant, reliables. Perhaps the tolerance to mealy bugs and spider mites while a savior, is less than attractive in the scope of things. Betsy +More Ron Iles wrote: > Ms or Mr. Stella! > > If you please! Spathigarruliphile!. Sorry you don't like supernatural Peace > Lilies in all the Shopping Malls you go to. And, isn't it good that they > clean the air in all your Doctors Surgeries? Please tell us how you prefer > Phalloids as House Plants? And - Sweetie pie, with all this > stuff splurtng in all directions how about just a teeny weeny > article for the next IAS News - about the nature bit? > > Yours graciously > > Ron - World Spathiphyllum Assemblage > > Laura - don't be put off by this naturist on the rampage. 99.9% of the > Western & Eastern World love white perfumed Spathiphyllum & their near > variegated leaved > relatives, Aglaonemas. They are THE House plants of the future & you are in > the forefront of those most discerning > people who are now discovering them. I hope you will join the IAS. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: > To: "Multiple recipients of list AROID-L" > Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 7:53 PM > Subject: Re: aglaonemas > > In a message dated Tue, 23 Oct 2001 12:43:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time, > Alektra@aol.com writes: > > > Hello, I'm new to this list, > > so I don't know the people and interests on it. > > My fascination is with aglaonemas. > > Is there anyone else out there who loves them? > > Aglaonemas...very much an overlooked genus in this group, with so many of us > Amorpho-freaks, Anthurium fanciers, and one very vocal Spathi-phile. I love > those aroids you don't see in every shopping mall lobby or doctor's waiting > room (obviously, that lets out P. bipinnatifidum). Aglaonema is a genus I > would love to see in its natural habitat, blooming, with a crowd of > pollinators around. I find I grow fewer and fewer houseplants as the years > go by, because plants inside a house, detached from their ecological niches, > are of less and less interest to me. One day I shall find the wild > Aglaonema.... > > Jason Hernandez > Naturalist-at-Large

From: "Ron Iles" roniles at eircom.net> on 2001.10.25 at 05:14:38(7676) Paul Tyerman Canberra, Australia wrote "Who has TWO Spathiphyllums here in my office with me cleaning out my air" +More >>>>>>>>>>>>>Ah, Yes! What would indoors be like without Spaths even in Oz Spath Attendant

From: "Ron Iles" roniles at eircom.net> on 2001.10.25 at 05:14:59(7677) Betsy Thank you but my optimism is intact: Are not Aglaonema & Spathiphyllum BOTH beautiful in different ways.& like other groups of plants. Do not different plants appeal in different ways to different people. Long may it be so. But it is interesting to consider how these things may be. I have not had the pleasure of reading Dr. Frank Browns authoritative manual on Aglaonema so I do not know the number of species now known in that genus. It seems that the common few species are all well known. I suggest that the the popularity of these plants is due to their hybrids & selected cultivars with more & more attractively variegated foliage.. I suggest that their flowers are not as simply elegant & graceful as Peace Lilies. Spathiphyllum were, & are exceptionally popular & I submit will surely continue to appeal for the following reasons. Needing no variegation, they are simply graceful in a "Zen" way, with their dark green leaves contrasting with their classic white often subtly exquisitely perfumed flowers. Their "past & present" has been maybe mostly based on hybrids which apart from size often look very similar because their parents are of a tragically restricted range of wild mostly rheophytic species. Most of the so far known 43 wild species are extremely rare, inaccessible or unknown in horticulture or most Botanic Gardens. The "missing ones" are often very distinct, "different" & very beautiful. They have never been available for cultivation, close study & hybridising as with maybe most Aglaonema species & other plants for indoor use. The REAL future & biodiversity of Aroid House Plants including Spathiphyllum can surely only truly manifest when far more or all of the known & still to be discovered wild species are available to simple specialists such as myself & others who struggle against the odds & care & love enough to grow & study them for further dissemination & maybe evangelisation. +More You wrote: the "two genus as slow(ing) growing, light tolerant, reliables". Here in the closed environment in heated beds at 27C under low intensity but long day lighting, Spathiphyllum grow superbly, very fast & flower well. Seemingly, light intensity above 10-15% of daylight is unfavourable & the plants lose their chlorophyll intensity. Spathiphyllum is surely extremely rare in that it can produce beautiful flowers & otherwise thrive in light regimen of 8% & less, & which will survive at intensities less than 1% of sunlight "Perhaps the tolerance to mealy bugs and spider mites while a savior, is less than attractive in the scope of things" I agree, under optimum conditions including low light intensity, Spathiphyllum & maybe Aglaonema do not significantly host these genera unless conditions are unfavourable when Cylindrocladium & other problems may arise. . Substantial freedom from such plagues is just another wonderful bonus for the ordinary plant lover of the simple classic beauty of these two genera. Anyway - Please would it be possible for you to write an Article for the first IAS News in 2002 on the aroids you found best for indoor landscaping? Graciously Ron : ----- Original Message ----- To: "Multiple recipients of list AROID-L" Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2001 8:39 PM Subject: Re: aglaonemas Hate to bust your bubble, they are the houseplants of the past and the present. Future, most likely, more Aglaonemas. Certainly, those of us who have worked in and done the interior scaping world have used these two genus as slowing growing, light tolerant, reliables. Perhaps the tolerance to mealy bugs and spider mites while a savior, is less than attractive in the scope of things. Betsy Ron Iles wrote: > Ms or Mr. Stella! > > If you please! Spathigarruliphile!. Sorry you don't like supernatural Peace > Lilies in all the Shopping Malls you go to. And, isn't it good that they > clean the air in all your Doctors Surgeries? Please tell us how you prefer > Phalloids as House Plants? And - Sweetie pie, with all this > stuff splurtng in all directions how about just a teeny weeny > article for the next IAS News - about the nature bit? > > Yours graciously > > Ron - World Spathiphyllum Assemblage > > Laura - don't be put off by this naturist on the rampage. 99.9% of the > Western & Eastern World love white perfumed Spathiphyllum & their near > variegated leaved > relatives, Aglaonemas. They are THE House plants of the future & you are in > the forefront of those most discerning > people who are now discovering them. I hope you will join the IAS. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: > To: "Multiple recipients of list AROID-L" > Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 7:53 PM > Subject: Re: aglaonemas > > In a message dated Tue, 23 Oct 2001 12:43:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time, > Alektra@aol.com writes: > > > Hello, I'm new to this list, > > so I don't know the people and interests on it. > > My fascination is with aglaonemas. > > Is there anyone else out there who loves them? > > Aglaonemas...very much an overlooked genus in this group, with so many of us > Amorpho-freaks, Anthurium fanciers, and one very vocal Spathi-phile. I love > those aroids you don't see in every shopping mall lobby or doctor's waiting > room (obviously, that lets out P. bipinnatifidum). Aglaonema is a genus I > would love to see in its natural habitat, blooming, with a crowd of > pollinators around. I find I grow fewer and fewer houseplants as the years > go by, because plants inside a house, detached from their ecological niches, > are of less and less interest to me. One day I shall find the wild > Aglaonema.... > > Jason Hernandez > Naturalist-at-Large

From: "Clarence Hammer" chammer at cfl.rr.com> on 2001.10.25 at 13:48:28(7680) Paul-- Good ole Aglaonemas used to be THE houseplant way back when, and they went out of vogue for years. They're now making a strong commercial comeback in the form of hybrids created by Dr. Frank Brown of Valkaria Fla. But even the 'old' ones make wonderful houseplants, and in my opinion are well worth the space in an Aroid collectors greenhouse. Interest has seriously waned for this and other genera among Aroiders, in favor of the tuberous Amorpho's and company. I've been looking for years for many of the old ones, such as 'Francher', 'Malay Beauty', 'Pewter', 'Belvedere', the many forms of costatum, 'Mutton-fat Jade', 'San Remo', the many forms of crispum, 'Nocturne', etc, etc, etc. +More 'Treubii' is only occasionally seen here in stores among displays of 'Silver Queen' and Brown's hybrids, along with an 'Elegans' very rarely. I'm sure many of these antiques exist in small numbers in various collections. An excellent old softback book for newby's wanting to learn about Ag's and their history is the 'Aglaonema Grower's Notebook' by Roy N. Jervis, 1978, 80. It's magazine size, and only black and white, but is a wealth of information on this genus about which little has been written. It's probably difficult to find. Most interesting is the natural 'hybrid swarm' found by chance on Luzon, Philippines in1980, and Dr Brown was guided to this find shortly afterwards. These were not just a few plants from a chance cross, but hundreds of plants in a ''giant 'hybrid swarm' of more complex parentage and background''. Russ. ----- >

From: "Ron Iles" roniles at eircom.net> on 2001.10.27 at 19:26:46(7684) Folks! The "old" forms including you A. treubii are apparently still grown by my old friends in Southern India inc. "A. treubii" still maybe as well as many brilliant modern cultivars. If I can help? Cheers Ron +More ----- Original Message ----- To: "Multiple recipients of list AROID-L" Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2001 2:49 PM Subject: Re: aglaonemas Paul-- Good ole Aglaonemas used to be THE houseplant way back when, and they went out of vogue for years. They're now making a strong commercial comeback in the form of hybrids created by Dr. Frank Brown of Valkaria Fla. But even the 'old' ones make wonderful houseplants, and in my opinion are well worth the space in an Aroid collectors greenhouse. Interest has seriously waned for this and other genera among Aroiders, in favor of the tuberous Amorpho's and company. I've been looking for years for many of the old ones, such as 'Francher', 'Malay Beauty', 'Pewter', 'Belvedere', the many forms of costatum, 'Mutton-fat Jade', 'San Remo', the many forms of crispum, 'Nocturne', etc, etc, etc. 'Treubii' is only occasionally seen here in stores among displays of 'Silver Queen' and Brown's hybrids, along with an 'Elegans' very rarely. I'm sure many of these antiques exist in small numbers in various collections. An excellent old softback book for newby's wanting to learn about Ag's and their history is the 'Aglaonema Grower's Notebook' by Roy N. Jervis, 1978, 80. It's magazine size, and only black and white, but is a wealth of information on this genus about which little has been written. It's probably difficult to find. Most interesting is the natural 'hybrid swarm' found by chance on Luzon, Philippines in1980, and Dr Brown was guided to this find shortly afterwards. These were not just a few plants from a chance cross, but hundreds of plants in a ''giant 'hybrid swarm' of more complex parentage and background''. Russ. ----- >

From: George Yao gcyao at netasia.net> on 2001.10.27 at 21:03:30(7687) Hi Paul and everyone, Aglaonemas are the rave in Thailand nowadays, and although Philippine hybridizers had introduced several nice hybrids, the place to find the most sought after ones is Bangkok. A tidbit to whet your appetites, a couple of months back, three newly grown hybrid seedlings as a package went for one million baht (a little more than US$20,000) to a Malaysian enthusiast who reportedly gifted them to the Sultan of Brunei. Of the three, the most valuable was said to be the one with leaves as red as the red poinsettia. The other two are a pinkish-leaved one and a yellow-leaved one. George Yao +More Metro-Manila, Philippines At 11:04 PM 10/24/01, you wrote: > >Laura - don't be put off by this naturist on the rampage. 99.9% of the > >Western & Eastern World love white perfumed Spathiphyllum & their near > >variegated leaved > >relatives, Aglaonemas. They are THE House plants of the future & you are in > >the forefront of those most discerning > >people who are now discovering them. I hope you will join the IAS. > > > >Ron, > >How are they as house plants? I had never even heard of them until Laura >raised them (Thanks Laura) and I have just been looking them up in a book >to find out what they are. Are they something that is available, or just >rarely in collections (and how do they go in Australia if anyone is growing >them here)? Nice leaves!! > >Cheers. > >Paul Tyerman >Canberra, Australia

From: George Yao gcyao at netasia.net> on 2001.10.27 at 21:06:32(7689) Hi Russ, Can you tell me more about the discovery of this 'giant hybrid swarm'? I've never of this before and it sounds very interesting. George Yao +More Metro-Manila, Philippines At 09:49 PM 10/25/01, you wrote: >... Most interesting is the natural 'hybrid swarm' found by chance on >Luzon, Philippines in1980, and Dr Brown was guided to this find shortly >afterwards. These were not just a few plants from a chance cross, but >hundreds of plants in a ''giant 'hybrid swarm' of more complex parentage >and background''. > >Russ.

From: "Clarence Hammer" chammer at cfl.rr.com> on 2001.10.28 at 03:52:16(7695) Hello George and all, The 'hybrid swarm' I mentioned is documented in the 'Aglaonema Grower's Notebook' by Roy Jervis, originally published 1978, my copy is 1980. It concerns Aglaonema commutatum Schott. I will quote, but will have to do some mild editing of references to pictures and drawings. " Luzon's Aglaonema commutatum. Ever since Schott described Aglaonema commutatum, this variable plant has been a popular house plant, not the plant of the original description, but in many related variants. Variegations making this plant so appealing are numerous and have induced botanists to describe some of them as new species. So we had A. elegans of Engler, A. marantifolium var. maculatum of Hooker f., and A. 'Treubii' as examples of the Aglaonema from Luzon. Nicholson simplified the handling of the group by delineating Schotts' plant as A. commutatum var. commutatum, making the plant of Hooker into var. maculatum, and convincingly proving that A. cv. 'Treubii' could not possibly be the A. treubii that Engler described in 1898 and then emended (verbatim sp.) so that it cannot be identified." "Another confusing element is the solid green plant with absolutely no variegation that occasionally pops up as A. cuscuaria, which is a trade name also used for the original spotted A. commutatum.'' ''Often amid confusion, a chance happening can bring order out of chaos. This apparently happened in March, 1980, when (Dr.) Frank Brown was guided to a remote mountain side in Rizal province in the Philippines to see some Aglaonema that had been found by chance a short time earlier. While the results may not have eliminated the chaos, at least the chaos has an explanation. .....Some of the variants that were part of this stand of Aglaonemas came, not from a few plants, but each represents a pattern consistent to an individual plant -- dozens of new 'species for the naming'! One...duplicates the new cultivar 'Alumina'." "Many of these Rizal leaf-forms have appeared in cultivars, but this is the first instance I know of where they have been collected together in the wild. The isolated locale of this stand of Aglaonemas tends to rule out 'escape from cultivation' as an explanation for their occurrence. At least several hundred plants have been removed from this locale since Dr. Brown and his companions first visited the spot. Local nurserymen heard about the find and, until the rainy season stopped their visits, they collected large numbers for shipment to Bankok and Singapore. The plants appear to be a giant 'hybrid swarm', not just a few plants from a chance cross, but from a more complex parentage and background." "The species seems to be in the flux of development, probably from natural hybridization involving A. crispum (Pitcher & Manda) Nicholson, A. philippinense Engler, and A. simplex Blume. ...The more complicated +More genetics of introgressive hybridization over long periods of time in the wild environment ..(is) truly a taxonomic nightmare." "Some of the leaf variegations have already appeared in named cultivars, being distributed from Manila to Bangkok and Singapore, from Jack Craig of Cebu, Ely Bardinas in Los Banos, from the Glasshouse in Ohio, and from Jack Brown." End quote. Some of the more than 100 leaf forms of plants that Dr. Brown brought from Luzon to Manila, and then to his residence at that time in Indialantic Fla were selected for cultivation and named as cultivars. 'Jose Rizal' with "intricately patterned bands down''...the center ''of leaf blades''. Cultivar 'Treubii' is another selection and is fairly common today. 'Alumina' is still available from time to time, with a ''metallic sheen that resembles dull burnished aluminum''. 'Superba' has a ''pale sheen of silver set off by narrow dark green marginal and midvein patterns''. 'Moonglow' has ''feather markings of f. elegans which are delicately masked by the overall silver glow." A similar plant from Luzon is Jack Craig's 'Mutton-fat Jade', ''a cultivar in which the silvery sheen disguises a pale variegation over the entire blade, producing a truly magnificent Aglaonema.'' Other cultivars named by Dr Brown are 'Dr. Holzer', 'Echo' and 'President Marcos'. I see what I believe is 'Mutton-fat Jade' being propagated and sold as unnamed plants by nurserymen in the Apopka Fla area. They are indeed beautiful, and I love the thick, almost leathery, silvery leaves on this very special Aglaonema. Russ George Yao wrote--- > Can you tell me more about the discovery of this 'giant hybrid swarm'? I've > never of this before and it sounds very interesting. > >

From: Alektra at aol.com on 2001.10.29 at 03:08:03(7706) Dear Paul and folks, Thank you for your immediate welcome to the list! I'm sorry I am responding so late, when all the threads seem to have wandered away. But I am very interested in Ags, so I am going to trundle on with this. I believe that Ags are perfect houseplants for me, and certainly worth your time if you can get some. I find them extremely easy to grow, more satisfying than anything else I've ever encountered. Maybe you can introduce them to Australia if they aren't there already! As for pests: I've never had spider mite or mealy bug problems on Ags although other people do. I can't keep a pot of ivy or mums alive because voracious spider mites commandeer them and kill them the moment I get home... and I've had mealy problems with jades and African violets in the past... yet I never have had pests on my Ags. Here in the northeast U.S.A., Ags seem to be mostly used in plantings in public locations such as malls and photocopy shops; the sunlight here is weak enough that they often are put in unprotected windows, and they thrive. Here it actually is difficult to find them sold as pot plants for the home. In fact, one of my biggest complaints in relation to Ags is that I have not been able to find a mail-order retailer who sells Ags by the variety. Ag growers seem to be focused on wholesale "to the trade," meaning interior landscapers. If anyone knows of a mail-order retailer of varietal Ags, let me know! +More I'm also disturbed that there are so few Ag breeders working to create new varieties. I only knew of two groups of breeders-- one in Florida and one in India-- although the recent response on the list shows that there are some people coming up in the Philippines and Thailand. Probably Dr. Brown's book talks about others; I have to get that book. One big reason I asked about Ags the moment I got on this list is, I'm like Russ, I'm afraid that there are a lot of old varieties which are simply not surviving. This isn't like African violets where there are 10K varieties, or even like the 200 kinds of sansevierias. There is a wonderful website called aglaonemas.com (note the plural "s"), but it only has maybe 15 varieties on it. Ags are so little known that a lot of people call all of them "Silver Queen" without realizing that "Silver Queen" is just the name for one variety, like "Mauna Loa" spath or "Emerald Gem" homalomena. (Though I have to admit that "Silver Queen" is a much prettier name than "aglaonema" or "Chinese evergreen.") But anyway... WHY do I love aglaonemas? Let me count the ways... 1) They truly do clean the air, as Dr. Wolverton of NASA demonstrated, and my experience upholds (with fumes from paint, carpet glue, and mothballs!). 2) They smell green while doing their air-cleaning, and their flowers don't smell. 3) They can get lovely little drops of pure water at their tips from guttation. 4) They are less picky than spaths about how much water they get and when. 5) Their leaves are thicker and stronger than dieffenbachia leaves. 6) They grow straight upwards, unlike so many philodendrons. 7) They grow at a satisfying rate, without dormant spells like the tuberous aroids. 8) They range in height from a decimeter to over a meter. 9) They have dozens of wonderful leaf proportions, shades, and patterns. 10) They can be multiplied by either offsets or stem cuttings. 11) They root in water and transition to soil extremely easily. 12) They can survive in light almost as low as aspidistra can handle. And therefore... 13) They are a lot of fun for me! They just seem to me like strong, happy, friendly, relaxed plants, to anthropomorphize! (...All of which, needless to say, is not meant as disparagement of anyone else's joy in other aroids! I keep various other aroids too!) Best wishes, Laura In a message dated 10/24/1 3:04:34 PM, ptyerman@ozemail.com.au writes: << How are they as house plants? I had never even heard of them until Laura raised them (Thanks Laura) and I have just been looking them up in a book to find out what they are. Are they something that is available, or just rarely in collections (and how do they go in Australia if anyone is growing them here)? Nice leaves!! Cheers. Paul Tyerman Canberra, Australia >>

From: Paul Tyerman ptyerman at ozemail.com.au> on 2001.10.29 at 05:10:26(7711) >even like the 200 kinds of sansevierias. There are 200 Sanseverias? I didn't even realise there was more than one!!!!! I went out to a local nursery and found Aglaonemas for sale there (a variety called Silver something or other that I can't remember) and will be buying one when I have the spare cash (at this rate.... 2006). Cheers. Paul Tyerman +More Canberra, Australia. USDA equivalent - Zone 8/9 mailto:ptyerman@ozemail.com.au Growing.... Galanthus, Erythroniums, Fritillarias, Crocus, Cyrtanthus, Liliums, Hellebores, Aroids, Irises plus just about anything else that doesn't move!!!!!

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