For anyone who has ever tried to figure out what their plant was....there's a lot of brain energy right now going into trying to figure out the ancestry of this one meconostigma aroid. :) http://www.blueboard.com/pahatan/rencana/p_cminiselloum_history.htm
Just curious if you had asked Simon about this plant? He appears to have lumped all the natural variations into Philodendron bipinnatifidum. On the subject of miniature species, there is a local barbershop that has a 30 year old Monstera deliciosa that has never produced a leaf larger than 30 cm. I've begged for a cutting but the request has never been granted. They say the plant is a "family heirloom".
Yep, Julius has pretty much brought everyone into it. He got a sample of the bloom, and that should nail it later. It's a good looking plant, but separating it out as a species just based on the leaf shape is kinda iffy.
I recently received a seedling of this plant from Robert Chumley. Julius Boos also went to Mr. Chumley's nursery this past week to examine the plant and take extensive notes. All these are being shared with other serious collectors but so far it appears the plant is only an unusual natural variation of the species Philodendron bipinnatifidum that is both smaller and can tolerate more cold due to where it lives in southern part of South America. Dr. Croat now has an inflorescence that has been properly preserved to examine but we don't know the results of that examination at this time. The photo is of a full blade Mr. Chumley provided at the September, 2009 IAS show in Miami. For those that sometimes ask why I use black, I photograph specimens on a black background so only the details of the plant are obvious and extraneous material does not interfere with examining those details.
I got a chance to examine this leaf closely as I spoke with Mr. Chumley and my take on it is that it is a type of P. bipinnatifidum with recurved leaf divisions. In mature size it is certainly not "miniature". I have a hybrid in which one parent was this plant, but the hybrid does not show the recurving characteristic to any noticeable degree. LariAnn Aroidia Research
Do people in the northern hemisphere have this 'miniature', bought as Philodendron selloum 'Mighty Atom'? So probably a cultivar of P. bipinnatifidum. I would love to know how big it might get. The photos show 12 months growth in the hothouse. Here in Sydney old gardens often have big old plants of P. bipinnatifidum growing in full sun.
This is the first one I've seen. Has the plant begun to develop the "tree-like" stem? Does it have a canaliculate (canal-like or convex) petiole?
Does indeed appear to be a form of Philodendron bipinnatifidum. Have you seen a fully grown specimen? Do you know if the blades change form as they mature? There are a couple of possibilities. This could be a sport which exhibits a different shape as a juvenile or it may be hybridized form. Without being able to see the characteristics of an adult blade, stem and petiole it is difficult to make a guess since all Philodendron species are known to be variable.
It is apparently a new introduction here, I hoped perhaps there might be older ones elsewhere to give me an idea of its eventual size. Will wait and see, report back sometime in the future. Happy New Year!
This account of the history of Robert Chumley's "Miniature selloum" was sent last evening by Robert. For those interested in this plant you may find the account interesting. He also indicated the specimen has endured more than a few nights at below freezing with no noticeable damage. It is suspected that ability was acquired naturally as a result of the plant having been collected in the southern part of South America, This is an accurate attempt of chronological and historical research of the plant photographed evidently for the first time in history, and dubbed with the name of "miniature selloum" by Alfred B. Graf supposedly in 1957 at Cowgill's Plantation near Tampa, Florida. Plant Photograph Pg. 188......an early photograph Pg. 182... showing 'Monstera Deliciosa, from early plantings by Jesuit missionaries, climbing on Bald Cypress trees(Taxodium) hung with 'Spanish moss' (Tillandsia usneoides). The stems, clinging close to the bark, have withstood 19 degrees F.cold,here at Cowgill's Plantation near Tampa, on the Gulf coast of Florida. (caption from the book, Pictorial Cyclopedia of Exotic Plants by A. B. Graf series 3, edition 9, 1957...Library of Congress Catalog Card #72-90669 During the mid 1930's, Carl F. Cowgill (1896-1973) and Jack O. Holmes (1902-1968) of Holmes' Nurseries, Tampa, Florida, traveled, as was their custom, to Uruguay and Paraguay, South America to collect seed (and plants) for importation for their respective nurseries in Florida.On one trip , a solitary plant was noticed to be of an unusual form, high on a mountain, (no location given) and was subsequently collected and imported (with other aroid specimens from other unspecified locations) and imported to Florida. This was considered by them to be a mutated or bazaar form of "P. Selloum". The plant (and other specimen aroids) collected on South American trips were incorporated in Carl Cowgill's private collection. These were rarely shown to touring collectors or individual's as they were located in an old 'glass greenhouse' inundated by many weeds and not regularly maintained for many years. " To my knowledge the "special selloum" was never pollinated and never produced seeds." The plant was virtually forgotten by all (except myself) and on one occasion in the early 1960's, while moving plants to a different nursery relocation, I asked for a back cutting of the "special selloum" as a special favor from Mr. Cowgill, as I "dearly loved the plant" and wanted to preserve it (as it was doing poorly and was neglected} He granted me the favor and I took it home. I think during the preceding years his plant was either lost or died due to neglect. This plant, under my care went through many severe freezes down through the years. In 1962, it endured 15 hours below 30 degrees. I remember the water in the bromeliads was frozen solid.Then again in 1977, 1982, and a severe two day major freeze in 1988 dropping to seventeen degrees both days with ice everywhere. " I never forgot this "dearly loved plant" and the special history it endured down through the years, even though it was moved around Tampa many times, and went through severe weather conditions, and special care was provided against theft from unscrupulous people desiring to covet it.....I protected it, knowing I had to share this beautiful, unusual plant with the world." Robert Chumley
