Re: RES: Urgent Request from Tom Croat, a strange new collection (fwd)

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Dear Tom (and other fellows),

     I am sorry for the late reply but we are moving all aroids to the 1000 m2 new greenhouse here! Many plants we thought we had lost or was seriously needing repotting (like the real Bognera recondita) are now growing in a fresh substrate.  Anyhow, because of this hard work, I was able to spot a few pots of flowering Aglaonema costatum. Here follows the pictures, in an RAR compact file. One of the files are sketches of the male and the female (transversally cut) flower. I think it is possible for you to compare, but count on me to dissect your inflorescences. I canÂt tell the difference between A. costatum and the mistery plant, except for a shorter inflorescence (mine was growing in a lighter area and tends to have shorter spadices).

Very best wishes,

Eduardo.

Dear all:

            My Internet Explorer is not working right now.  We just got the review copies of this paper describing this ânewâ species and I think I will ask Norbert Killian to postpone publishing this until I can research this further.  I will try to send images to Pete and will study the image you linked below as soon as my system works.  Meanwhile I am hoping that our plants flower again so that I can get more details.  Eduardo, since you probably know this thing best by now and have described this related genus I will send you the pickled inflorescence.  Would it get to you if I mailed it?

Tom

Dear Peter,

The hypothesis of an escaped Aglaonema (quite common in some places in Amazonia) is just a clue to check on it, not a final word.  Indians use to keep beautiful plants with them as charms (âbeenasâ, as Julius would love to mention) and many cultivated exotic species can be found in abandoned settlements (including sansevieras and variegated Colocasia). Anyhow, discarding this hypothesis and considering many aspects, it could even be something else. In my opinion (only based on a limited set of pictures, together with a description) it doesnÂt seem to be closer to Bognera than to any other âphilodendroidâ genus. However, considering that Bognera is monospecific, we simply know nothing about acceptable intraspecific variation. The âthirdâ species of Bognera from Northern Brazil has just proven to be a brand new genus! (confirmed by molecular phylogeny)

Dear Tom,

Tomorrow I will check if our A. costatum is flowering and, if so, I will send you a picture. But there is a nice close up of the inflorescence of this species in http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aglaonema_costatum_003.JPG  . It is impossible to see female flowers, but you can compare with your picture (they are both at the male phase). It would also be useful to send your picture to Peter. He knows Asian genera pretty well and his opinion would be really important.

Very best wishes,

Eduardo. 

Tom,

This IS a new Bognera.

Josef knows all about this. He mentioned it to me on the phone only last week.

Pete

-----Original Message-----
From: aroid-l-bounces@www.gizmoworks.com [aroid-l-bounces@www.gizmoworks.com] On Behalf Of Steve Marak
Sent: Thursday, 28 October, 2010 12:31 PM
To: Aroid list
Subject: [Aroid-l] Urgent Request from Tom Croat, a strange new collection (fwd)

Aroiders,

The message below is from Tom Croat, who is having problems getting it sent to the list, so I've forwarded it.

(Note that if you just reply to this message, it won't go to Tom, but rather to either the entire list [most likely] or me. I will of course forward anything that comes to me to Tom, but just be aware that if you want to communicate with Tom directly you'll have to change the address manually to Tom's e-mail, Thomas.Croat@mobot.org )

Steve

-- Steve Marak

-- samarak@gizmoworks.com

---------- Forwarded message ----------

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2010 17:58:53 -0500

From: Tom Croat <Thomas.Croat@mobot.org>

Subject: Urgent Request to List members, a strange new collection

Dear Aroiders:

            I have described a plant collected in a remote habitat near the Brazilian border in Peru.  It was collected by a friend in California who has been growing it as an acuatic. It has a definitely creeping stem, rather short petioles and in many respects looks like Aglaonema costatum. 

It keyed out to Bognera and I assumed that it was a member of that genus but Eduardo GonÃalves has some doubts and is wondering if it could have been an escaped horticultural collection.  Although that seems somewhat unlikely I would like to see any images that any of you might have of Aglaonema costatum in order to make a better judement.  It would be especially useful to see a close up of the spadix if any of you have that species in flower at this time.

            Thanks in advance for any help that anyone can render.

Tom Croat