> >> We too have this as `correctly' called Philodendron Winterbourn.
> Maybe that name is a beter lead into finding out the parentage.
>
> Alistair<<
>
> Thanks, Alistair!!! Come on folks, SOMEONE out there must know SOMETHING
> about the origins/parentage of Philodendron Winterbourn (aka P. "xanadu").
> Drop us a line with whatever info., no matter how small, on this plant.
> Cheers,
> Julius
> ju-bo@msn.com
Dear Julius and all,
I first saw Philodendron 'Xanadu' as a photograph presented to me during my
tenure as a micropropagation production lab manager for the now dissolved
division of Weyerhaeuser
Tissue Culture back in the spring of 1987. The Australian nurseryman
presenting the new cultivar was hoping that a large U.S. horticultural company
like Weyerhaeuser might be interested in producing and marketing this unique
Philodendron. It was nominated as the Australian Nurseryman's Association
Plant of the Year and it had received a good reception from the Australian
market. I felt that the P. 'Xanadu' was a real winner for the US market as
well. However, the upper management of Weyerhaeuser did not recognize the
potential of the plant and passed on the opportunity.
A couple of years later, I know that Twyford Plant Laboratories
(http://www.twyford.com) did gain the U.S. patent for P. 'Xanadu' and have
been successfully producing the plant since then. I contacted Beth Lamb, New
Products Development Manager of Twyford Plant Laboratories, about the origin
of P. 'Xanadu' and she asked that I pass along the following information to
Aroid-L:
>Hi Scott,
> Xanadu is a neat plant!, one of my favorites. Perhaps this
information
>from the U.S. patent will help:
>Philodendron Winterbourn (trade name: Xanadu)
>Inventors: Veronica L. and Barry M. Winterbourn, P.O. Box 12, Gosnells,
>Australia.
>Patent Number: 7030
>Date of Patent: Sept. 12, 1989
>Origin as stated in paragraph 1 of the Patent:
> "The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of
>Philodendron which is believed to be a sport of the Philodendron
>selloum. The plant was grown from a seed found in a collection of seeds
>from the Philodendron selloum and is believed to be derived from that
>variety. The denomination of this new variety is "Philodendron
>Winterbourn".
>Best Regards,
>Beth Lamb
I hope this helps shed some light on the enigmatic Philodendron 'Xanadu'. I
will leave the nomenclature to Alistair and Wilbert, and the taxonomy to Tom.
By the way, P. 'Xanadu' does just as well as P. selloum as a landscape plant
here in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 7b, and is widely used as a landscape plant
at Disney as Lester Kallus has correctly observed.
Regards, Scott
Mr. Scott E. Hyndman
USDA, ARS, USHRL
Orlando, Florida
USA
E-mail: scothynd@magicnet.net
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