From: "Julius Boos" ju-bo at email.msn.com> on 2001.11.05 at 03:27:18(7731)
----- Original Message -----
From:
john s. smolowe
To: Multiple recipients of
list AROID-L
Sent: Sunday, November 04, 2001 3:51
PM
Subject: Philodendron santa
leopoldina
Dear John,
We think ALMOST alike on this, BUT I`d like you to consider the following
first---the few people who have the $$ to have afforded to purchase a plant of
this most wonderful Philodendron species certainly do NOT want it to become a
K-Mart plant out of tissue culture at $5.00 a 'pop', so I am presently working
on a plan which may just allow this plant to preserve it`s status AND monetary
worth, and also increase it`s genitic variability in collections--hear me
out.
I propose that we contact the people who DO own plants of
this now almost extinct Philodendron and ask them to 'lend' their plant or a
cutting of it on 'breeding loan' to a central grower with experience in
hand-pollenating this genus. He or she will fertilize and grow these
plants so as that they are brought to bloom, then hand-pollenate them,
and so obtain seed which can be grown to adult size in about three years
(?). These new plants can be expected to show some genitic
variability, some may be as beautiful in form and leaf texture to their
parents, some less attractive, while some may be even MORE beautiful that the
parent plants! Owner gets 'first choice' of the offspring!!
These can be labled as seed-grown and will certainly remain as very
valuable plants, and maybe THEN a tissue-cultured set can be made,
these may not turn out to be as beautiful as or ever have the value of a
wild-collected or 'from-seed' plant.
Perhaps in the future some seed can be donated to a person in Brazil
where they can be grown and then re-introduced back into the
wild??
I am working on contacting some of the owners of these few plants
that I am aware of and see what their response to this idea may be, or perhaps
those of you who do own a plant of this and read this note can let me know
your thoughts?? I`d love to steart a 'stud-book' of all the
wild-collected plants here in the U.S.A. with notes on each, tracing it`s
lineage as to if it is an originally wild-collected plant from Brazil or a
cutting of one, the owner`s name, location, etc.
P.S. I am the auctioneer who auctioned off the plants of
this species at shows in Miami beginning with the wild-collected plants
donated to the IAS by the late Betty Waterbury---my article on the last show
and auction which took place last Sept. at Fairchild in Miami will be
appearing in the next Aroid Newsletter, the one plant available at this past
show went for over U.S.$600.00 at auction.
Sincerely,
Julius Boos.
| +More |
>>In his recent Aroidiana article on Philodendron
spiritus-sancti, aka Philodendron santa leopoldina (the rare, desirable
variety) Eduardo Goncalves suggests the species be made widely available by
micropropagation. I emailed him and he wrote back:
"I am just aware that there are no more than 5 known plants of P.
spiritus-sancti in the wild. It can be considered almost extinct in the
wild. I would love to see it being micropropagated, because it will remain
as an amazing plant, even if it was being sold at K-Mart! Unfortunately, I
do not have the facilities here, and I also do not have a living plant of
it myself. That collected plant were donated to a private conservatory
that has the proper infra-structure to grow it. Well, I think there are
more plants of P. spiritus-sancti in the US than in Brazil (even
considering the wild specimens!)."
I'd be interested in contributing to a fund to make that happen. Does
anyone know the practical details? I suppose we'd have to find and deal with
an appropriate lab, and also find a willing owner of the correct plant.
John Smolowe Menlo Park, CA
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