Identification: I need I.D. Help!

Discussion in 'Indoor and Greenhouse Plants' started by derbyparty, Jun 4, 2006.

  1. derbyparty

    derbyparty Member

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    Hello I just found this site and was hoping I get someone to tell me what this plant is. I not been able to get it to do well and if I knew the name maybe I could find the info I need to keep it living. As you can tell it is not doing to well right now. DSC_3109.JPG
     
  2. Junglekeeper

    Junglekeeper Esteemed Contributor 10 Years

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    Appears to be a cultivar of Caladium, Angel Wings.
     
  3. Joe Keller

    Joe Keller Active Member 10 Years

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    Syngonium podophyllum, one of the cultivars. Joe
     
  4. wild-rose-43

    wild-rose-43 Active Member

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    I agree with Joe, Syngonium.

    Likes: Bright light without direct sun. Moderate water, never soggy, drier during the winter rest period. Standard liquid fertilizer every two weeks during the active growing period
     
  5. Junglekeeper

    Junglekeeper Esteemed Contributor 10 Years

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    Joe and wild-rose-43,
    What features of the plant do you look at to determine that it's a syngonium? Photos of the two plants look quite similar (to me anyway).
     
  6. josephine

    josephine Active Member

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    i just got back from the garden center and saw a similar plant, it is Syngonium
     
  7. oscar

    oscar Active Member

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    if it keeps growing its a Syngonium if it stays small its a Caladium
     
  8. toutlan

    toutlan Active Member

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    it a varity of caladium.i have several in my yard here in central fl(zone9) mine seam to do the best in morning sun afternoon shade and will grow all summer.they do produce an interesting flower(pod shaped)havent tried in a pot as you have.just went and looked mine have already flowered and flowers are withering,may be awhile for you,if your variaty deos at all
     
  9. Ginger Blue

    Ginger Blue Active Member

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    Hmm...I disagree on the caladium. It's a syngonium. But I can't tell you why. It has to do with the leaf texture and the way the veining and coloration are. But botanically....I can't tell you more specific than that.
     
  10. toutlan

    toutlan Active Member

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    oh my...you are right...duh,,, i have one in a pot hanging in my front yard...caladiums have a much more delicate leaf.mine are more verigated.
     
  11. Joe Keller

    Joe Keller Active Member 10 Years

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    Caladiums grow from a tuber , if you are really in doubt, look at the roots. Joe
     
  12. Takana_Hana

    Takana_Hana Active Member 10 Years

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    this plant will grow in a vine type setting.... that is why it is called "arrowhead vine" Syngonium podophyllum
     
  13. Marn

    Marn Active Member 10 Years

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    it is an Arrowhead.. Syngonium.. i have 2 different types.. the usually green one like yours and a variegated one .. they are really easy to grow and like lots of light ..

    it is hard for me to tell the difference .. (i mean to explain it) .. it is just if you seen enough of them you just know this plant .. it's a common one .. but a cool one..

    Marn
     
  14. wild-rose-43

    wild-rose-43 Active Member

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    The leaves and stems of a Caladium are much more delicate looking. They remind me of tissue paper. Also, Caladiums leaves come directly out of the tuber on individual stalks. Syngoniums leaves grow out from a central trailing stem. You can see in the picture there is a little stem there with a few leaf stalks branching off.
     
  15. Junglekeeper

    Junglekeeper Esteemed Contributor 10 Years

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    Thanks for the info, wild-rose-43.
     
  16. Chuck White

    Chuck White Active Member

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    Blowing up the photo, I can only see individual stems, which says caladium to me. I have 17 varieties in my yard, from 18 inch dark burgandy with dark, forest green edges to the identical pattern shown in the photo. Much of the world feels the obligation to grow caladiums as rather sheltered indoor or outdoor shade plants. However, the growers here in Florida(Lakeland - - caladium capital of the world) grow these guys as field plants, under the broiling sun. Hundreds of acres of caladiums are in full vegetative sway during the annual caladium festival they hold in the spring each year. Mind boggling, to say the least. My opinion is that the 'arrowhead' leaf is much more slender.
     
  17. wrygrass2

    wrygrass2 Active Member 10 Years

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    wild-rose-43

    Just to clarify, are you saying that Caladium has one leaf per stalk coming directly from the tuber?

    Harry
     
  18. Chuck White

    Chuck White Active Member

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    Harry: Pretty much. There is a stalk and the principal leaf. From a crevice at the very base of that stalk another, usually smaller leaf can emerge, or, from the same place, the inflorescence can emerge. The flower, if you wish to call it that, is very much like that of an alocacia or a colocacia.
     
  19. terrestrial_man

    terrestrial_man Active Member 10 Years

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    Here are some links that will help clarify the difference between
    Caladium and Syngonium.
    http://images.google.com/images?svn...l&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=syngonium&spell=1

    http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=caladium&btnG=Search

    http://www.botany.com/caladium.htm

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngonium

    I have grown both at one time many years ago and it does not look like a Syngonium which tends to be a viny stem with leaves arising along it! These leaves all are coming out of the pot.
    The easy thing to id it is check out the roots to spot any tubers.
     
  20. Ginger Blue

    Ginger Blue Active Member

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    Interesting thread. Your pictures, Terrestrial Man, gave me just the opposite impression. I'm even more convinced it's a Syngonium. I find it interesting how we all see different things in pictures when we're ID'ing plants. In think if we saw this plant in person we'd all know which it was immediately. Pictures are so cryptic.

    Has the original poster been back with more info about the roots/tubers?
     
  21. wrygrass2

    wrygrass2 Active Member 10 Years

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    Thanks wild-rose-43 and terrestrial_man. I too found the thread interesting. Shows that flower identification can be an art, even though based on science. I agree with the majority that it is a Syngonium. Close inspection shows that that some of the smaller leaves (center right) are 3 to a single stem and that means from the foregoing discussion it must be a Syngonium.

    Harry
     
  22. L.plant

    L.plant Active Member

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    I was sure this was a Syngonium, but some of the posts were starting to convince me otherwise. So I sent the photo to the International Aroid Society and they confirmed that this is Syngonium. More specifically Syngonium podophyllum.
    Here's a link to their site: http://www.aroid.org/
     
  23. terrestrial_man

    terrestrial_man Active Member 10 Years

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    The experts should know!
    Still like to find out about the presence/absence of bulbs though!
    The plant I recall growing was sprawling across the bench and I had to put in a totem and tie it to it! It looked nice until the heat failed one winter and my greenhouse plants took a beating before I discovered the damage but can't recall if this was the death blow or not-too many plants-things going on and no notes-did not have a computer like this laptop!!!
     
  24. Junglekeeper

    Junglekeeper Esteemed Contributor 10 Years

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    I was able to do a texture test on both these plants. As mentioned earlier in the thread the leaves of Caladium feel papery whereas those of Syngonium are thicker and feel waxy. From the plants that I have seen recently I'd also have to agree it's a Syngonium.
     
  25. wild-rose-43

    wild-rose-43 Active Member

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    Sorry it took so long for me to get back, I've had company this past week, very busy!! I see that your question has already been answered but yes, Caladiums have one leaf per stalk arising directly out of the tuber with no trailing stems; a Syngonium will eventually trail out of the pot or up a support with many leaf stalks per stem.
     

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