Re: [Aroid-l] Philodendron verrucosum

From: Ron Kaufmann kaufmann at sandiego.edu> on 2006.03.29 at 19:05:01(14007) According to records in the W3 Tropicos database, P. verrucosum has a very wide range, including Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Across this range, it has been reported from elevations of 50-2000 m, a truly impressive climatic breadth!! Assuming that P. verrucosum from across the entire range aren't a single, freely mixing gene pool, I'd guess that the cultural requirements of an individual plant will depend quite a lot on where it (or its parent(s)) originated. Betsy Feuerstein posted a message describing the diversity of plants that appear to be P. verrucosum (varying degrees of petiole fuzz, varying leaf size and color, varying habitat), and I can second her observations, having seen some of these beauties growing in the wild in Ecuador. For anyone interested in seeing photos of Ecuadorian P. verrucosum, I have several posted on my web site at home.sandiego.edu/~kaufmann/aroids.html (click on "Ecuadorian Aroids" and "Zamora" to see the P. verrucosum pictures). I have P. verrucosum from Central America and several from Ecuador in an intermediate greenhouse that stays moderately humid and reaches temperatures of 85 deg during the day, with night temperatures at this time of year down into the low 50s. The Ecuadorian plants, which are diverse, seem to grow better under these conditions than the Central American plants, and I've been impressed at the speed with which they shoot upward, once they're established. A really beautiful species, and one that I personally find well worth growing! Ron +More Big Herm wrote: At 06:18 AM 3/29/2006, you wrote: Agreed on the difficulty of growing verrucosum in normal growing conditions, including a shadehouse. I imagine in a high humidity, temp-controlled, wet-wall greenhouse, it would thrive. I've tried verrucosum several times without success. Russ central Fla I grew mine eventually in a terrarium. I found it did OK, which is to say, it did not thrive, even in a greenhouse unless i grew it in the hyper humid, steamy hot greenhouse we called MALARIA, and which we used as an intense propagating house. hermine _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

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