[Aroid-l] Philodendron spp.

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As this is the weekend of the International Aroid Society's annual show in Miami, I'm in an aroid mood and thought I would post these pictures of some current babies.  ( In lieu of going.)

First a picture of three lovely species, on the left is P. variifolium; in the centre is P. superbum of southern Brazil, a one-time contender for the Santa Leoploldina title, and on the right is P. branditianum.  Philodendrons and Dieffenbachias were once my favourite plants, and I suppose that the spate of hybridisation of both these genera in the 1970s and 80s caused my interest to diminish.  I am currently undergoing a revival of species-collecting.

 

Next is a picture of the newest leaf on one of my specimens of P. melanochryson.  It measures 27 inches in length, or 69 cm.  I recently "topped" my tallest plant which was hitting the roof, and this is the rooted top, now at floor level and ready to climb a bamboo pillar to the top again.  I'm trying to see how long I can get the leaves to be.  I've heard of 9 feet , 2.75 m, in habitat in Colombia.  Probably cool, at high altitude.

 

John Criswick, Grenada.