Spathiphyllum question

Hi, I've got a spathiphyllum, and it looks like it thrives because the amount of "flowers" it produces. Today I saww something strange on one of the flowerstems. I wondered what it was. My first thought was that it is the female part of the flower, but then I remembered something about an elefantplant that had both its female and male parts at the same place, but that they were separated by time.

So my question is this: is this the female parts; or some other strange thing?

 

That looks like an insect to me; certainly it's not a normal growth for a Spathyphyllum. Try touching it with a q-tip soak in alcohol. If it contracts and falls off, it was a bug. If not, we wait for the rest of the aroid experts to weigh in.

 

some kind of bug. ditto the treatment of q-tips dipped in rubbing alcohol

 

That thing on the stem of your spath sure is wild looking! Never seen anything like that on mine....
Have you seen it move at all since posting the photo?

 

checked this first today.

First: Is rubbing alcohol any different from pure ethanol (ethyl alcohol)? Or is it just a fancy word for it?

edit: found out what it was.

Bluewing: No, it hasn't moved at all. To me it looks plantish, not like any insect or bug that I know of. To top it all I haven't had bugs on my plants or in the soil for as long as I can remember ...

I always put a new plant in quarantine before putting it beside any other plant.

UPDATE:

Found some washing spirits (35% vol.) and tried that ... Nothing happened. And by the way; it still looks very planty-ish.

 

I sure would be curious as to what was inside that thing! If that was my plant, I'd use a very sharp knife to slice off, trying not to get too much of the stems tissue, then take a peek inside. You never know what you might find, or, you may wish you never looked, lol.

 

I've been following this thread curiously, and I think Bluewing just successfully gave me nightmares, hehe.

 

Pleasant dreams frauleinlayla, lol.

 

heh, even though you advise me to cut it off, I'll love to see what happens over time with the thing ... Even if it is a spider cocoun or something.

I'll update if something happens.

Thanks for all advice!

 

If you aren't sure what it is, you need to remedy it as soon as possible. It's not a spider eggsac, I'm not real sure what it is, but if it's something damaging, it could spread to other plants in your home as well.

 

Well, the reason to why I'm not removing it at this point is because it doesn't look "strange" other than it shouldn't be there (since none of you know what it is). The spathe will die sooner or later ... and untill then I'll just watch it carefully.

 

If its a strange growth on the flower stalk it may just be a mutated flower stem, i have seen similar growths like this before and some spaths with 2 spike fused together. I doubt it is harming your plant.

 

Me neither ...

here are som images I took of the thing after I cut it open. It doesn't look like there's anything in there, exept som browne thingies ... Don't know what they are, but anyone who have a picture of the female parts of this plant?

I'd like to see it.

 

I have no idea what your "thing" was but I can explain regarding your comment of the flowers.

What everyone calls a "flower" on Spathiphyllum specimens is an inflorescence. An inflorescence is a group of flowers and there were many tiny flowers on the spadix at one time. The inflorescence of any aroid has both a spathe and spadix plus many tiny sexual parts which includes male flowers, female flowers and sterile male flowers

The stalk you called the "flower stem" is correctly known as the peduncle. http://www.exoticrainforest.com/What is a stem. What is a petiole.html

The true male and female flowers are extremely small and can be found on the spadix which is the fleshy portion at the spathe. The spathe isn't a flower since it is only a modified leaf shaped like a hood. To be a flower it must have sexual parts including stamens, stigmas, anthers and other sexual parts and all of those can be found on the spadix when the plant reaches sexual anthesis. However, you'll need a really good magnifying glass to see them!

What grabbed my attention was all the powdery substance in you photos. At first I thought it might be pollen which would be produced by the tiny male flowers but I doubt that is what I'm seeing. In nature an insect which would likely be a small beetle would collect the pollen from the spadix and carry it to the female flowers of other plants and cause them to be pollinated. If that were to happen you'd see small berries form on the spadix. Those berries would contain the seeds of the plant.

By the way, the support of any leaf isn't a stem either. This idea likely came into being as a result of the rose plant which is correctly called a stem. Everyone likes to call the support of any leaf a "stem" since we see a similar stalk supporting a rose flower. On a rose it is truly a new stem growth from the main stem that has not become woody which supports a terminal flower. The leaves have all been removed from that non-woody stem in most cases by a florist so we forget those leaves were actually supported by a stalk of their own.

The stalk that supported the rose's leaves is correctly known as a petiole. So the correct name for the support of any leaf is a petiole and not a stem. The stem is the central axis of the plant from where the roots and petioles emerge. Take a look at your Spathiphyllum and you'll see the true stem down near the soil line.

This article by my friend Julius Boos will help you to understand how an aroid reproduces. And your Spathiphyllum is an aroid.

http://www.exoticrainforest.com/Natural and artificial pollination in aroids.html

 

Thanks, for sharing your thoughts about the subject. I'll try to remember all the defenitions ... well ...

You said "At first I thought it might be pollen (...)" What was the other thought, It never came?

And by the way; all the powder came from the spadix, which makes me believe that it actually is pollen.

 

Then your plant did produce pollen!

If it does it again then as soon as you see it begin to slowly slide it up and down the spadix with your fingers dampened with sterile water. Distilled water from the grocery store is fine. If you have an unused clean artist's paint brush that works even better.

Do this for several days and you "might" be able to pollinate the plant. It will take a few months for the berries to develop but if that happens please photograph them and put your photos on this link.

If you have two inflorescences open about the same time then put the pollen from one on the other as well. Your chances will be even better but the pollen should go on the one that hasn't begun to produce pollen yet since female anthesis preceeds male anthesis. You are trying to take the pollen from the male flowers and give it to the female flowers which will be receptinve a day or so before the pollen is dropped.

Once the berries ripen they will begin to soften. When they are soft you can squeeze them out of the pulp into a bed of dampened sphagnum moss. Put the moss in a clean salad container from any fast food restaurant. Mist the moss lightly every day or two and keep the lid shut in moderate light. In a week or two you should see baby plants develop IF the plant is not sterile. Chances are it isn't since it produced pollen. It will take awhile to grow new plants but it is fun to watch. I now have nearly 40 species of baby Anthurium growing out.

I don't expect anyone to memorize the botanical terms on the first trip out but I really have a problem with using the word "stem" for the wrong part of the plant. That's just a personal thing so forgive me. To me it is like calling one of your children by a name that belongs to a sibling but I'm nuts and I know it!

 

I now live away from home, so I don't actually see my plants that often. I do agree with you, one shouldn't call something what it's not.

Anyway, last time I was home it didn't have any spathes ... which isn't that odd since it had been without water for at least a month (summer vacation) but now it's all shiny again, maybe I'll try and see for cristmas and hopefully take some plants to my ... apartment ... in lack of a better word.

 

If you can give it some Osmocote 30-30-30 it should produce inflorescences on a regular basis. The one great thing about this genus is they are very tolerant of neglect but once they've had "enough" they just quit.

 

Yfe, I'd really like to use one or two of your photos for a page on my Exotic Rainforest website. Your photos of the pollen are excellent and will illustrate some of what I'm trying to explain in the text. If you are willing to allow me to copy them please drop me a note at Steve@ExoticRainforest.com

I'll need to know how you want the photos credited so I can properly prepare them for the page. You can see the information here: http://www.exoticrainforest.com/Spathiphyllum Clevelandii pc.htm

This page was originally written almost four years ago and was filled with bad information I had grown to believe that has proven to be scientifically incorrect. The photo at the top of the page is one of the worst on the entire website but I'm working to fix that now.

Thanks!

 

Can you specify what you think is bad info?

I tried to find things I thought was incorrect, but I couldn't find any ...

 

Specifically the plant's need brighter light and more water. People have been told over and over the best way to grow them is to water them only when needed and keep them in dim light. Nature does neither in almost all cases. This genera will live dry during the dry season when necessary but will not flourish. It grows so fast in the wild if some die nobody ever sees a difference. It also can be found in shade in some instances but is far found far more often in bright to moderately bright forest zones.

Most people assume the grower knows how to pot the plant so they never do their homework and learn how to pot it properly. In time, the combination of low light, little water and poorly draining soil will cause the demise of the plant and the grower will be dismayed since they were certain they had done everything right.

By the way, the soil mixture I recommend came directly from the aroid keeper at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. Dr. Croat keeps the largest living collection of aroid species in the world at MOBOT and you'd be stunned at how well they grow in the garden's greenhouses.

 

Where do you think I can find info about the strange thing that was growing on the peduncles?

I just want to know what they were I guess ...

 

I'm not certain but I know two very good insect taxonomists. I'm sending your photo to both and will let you know what I learn.

 

I think this is going to be the best answer we're going to find right now.

I sent your photo to a group of experts on this subject and my friend Christopher Rogers who is an invertebrate ecologist/taxonomist sent back this quote:

"It is very difficult to tell from the photo, Steve. But I think it just might possibly be the larva (maggot) of a syrphid fly. The family Syrphidae are the flower flies. Most adults are pollinators but the larvae are predaceous. Many species are aquatic, and a few are parasites in ant nests, eating the young ants. Several species have larvae that are bright yellow, red or pink, and can be found in and around flowers. We have one hot pink species that is common in our crepe myrtle flowers. They wait for other insects to come to the nectar and then eat them. Like I said, I would need better pictures or the specimen in hand to give you a proper ID."

Since the critter is now in pieces and long gone I suspect we won't soon learn more with the exception of this link: http://mint.ippc.orst.edu/syrphid.htm

I believe your critter also had pollen on the edges as you can see in your enlarged photo.

 

Thank you very much!

Even though I doubt it's a critter ... I'll see if the "thing" appears again, and if it does, I'll try to dissect it while the peduncle is still alive instead of after the thing has died.

I'll just call it a day till then ;P