Fw: 'Self-heading' Philodendrons/fruit..

From: "Julius Boos" ju-bo at email.msn.com> on 2001.09.07 at 14:55:37(7408) ----- Original Message ----- To: Multiple recipients of list AROID-L Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2001 9:42 PM Subject: Re: 'Self-heading' Philodendrons. Dear Eduardo and Donna Ed, thank you so much for these great observations and comments! Most interesting stuff!!!!!! I am very interested in your comments about another species, P. corcovadense that sometimes takes advantage of the bromilead 'cups' to germinate, and then eventually grows out of them when they get too large. This would also be a good possibility and a great 'strategy' in other species that are found growing high in the canopy, such as P. goeldii and P. solimoesense, we observed both species in the wild in Fr. Guyana, Joep believes that they are most often found growing HIGH in the jungle canopy, and only when the tree is cut down or falls naturally (from death of the tree or a high wind) are these species then found growing in a terrestrial condition as has been reported in the literature, we actually saw one huge specimen of P. solmoesense growing on the ground near the side of a major road, and Joep remembers when the tree that it used to grow high up in the canopy was felled during construction on the road!. So as you have pointed out, they most probably start germination in a group of bromileads high in the canopy while sending roots down to the forest floor to obtain moisture, meanwhile taking advantage of the trapped water in the bromileads over a period of years till they out-grow the bromilead and the roots are down to the damp forest floor. Many people may not realise that some of the huge specimens with rhizomes several meters long may be well over a hundred years old!! I have seed a slide taken somewhere in Coastal Brazil of a species of Philodendron growing in and amongst a BIG stand or 'wall' of bromileads, it was reported that it did not survive under potting conditions. I am going to try to locate a copy of the slide to try to get a positive I.D. of this species, but from MEMORY (and my old memory generally is still pretty good!), I THINK it was P. saxicolum, the leaves also had that distinctive 'blue' cast to them. Have you found this species also growing in association with bromileads?? By the way, my plant of P. saxicolum does NOT show this 'blue', do they tend to loose it in cultivation, and does anyone know what exactly causes it?? What species of primates/monkeys may be found in the dry areas where P. leal-costae, P. saxicolum and P. adamantiuum occur, perhaps capuchins?? Drop me a line when you have a moment, I hope that things continue to go well for you. Sincerely, Julius +More >>Dear Donna, Dispersers in aroids are even more poorly known than pollinators! Most species of Philodendron have ripe berries greenish or cream colored, that are usually inconspicuous. That aspect make them not so attractive to birds. However, most of them have a very strong smell of butyric acid (rancid butter). Such combination of aspects (together with pendent infructescens) make them strong candidates for bat-dispersed (or non-primate mammal dispersed) fruits. That is the case of most Philodendron subgen. Meconostigma (self-heading), and in fact the majority of species. Monkeys are usually curious herbivores and will taste everything they can put their hands (four hands) on. So they usually are found eating Philo seeds too. They are found eating everything, including our field snacks! It is true that some Amazonian species (including P. elaphoglossoides and others) have fruits that are bright red and showy. The berries are usually easy to pick as an unity, that make them serious candidates for bird dispersed fruits. Well, I am not so good with bromeliads (in fact, I think that the concept of genus in Bromeliaceae is almost senseless), but the plants are Vriesia-like. Ok, I know, it is not so informative... I think I have such information in home (I am in the lab right now), so I will write again later. Whatever, I don?t think there is a specific association, but I have NEVER found a "bromeliadless" P. leal-costae! There are other species that usually start to grow in bromeliads, including another Philo subg. Meconostigma from the Atlantic Coast (P. corcovadense). Seeds usually germinate in the tanks, probably because of the permanent water source. However, they are too big to spend his whole life growing there, so they send out roots to the soil and start to grow as an hemiepiphyte. This is a common association, but other species occasionally germinate in the tanks. It is a good place to be if you are a Philodendron seedling germinating in the canopy. Even in the rain forests, it is hard to keep a constant water supply if you are 30 m from the ground. Maybe Philodendron leal-costae it is just more specialized (once again, maybe because it grows in places where the water is not promptly available all the time).<

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