Good day! I used to volunteer at a Botanical Garden at UC Berkeley (not UBC :-)) when I was in 6th and 7th grades! Anyway, I'm sure one of these may be easy, the Bromeliad is a little more difficult as I'm just looking for a name or a close relative. The first is a "tropical houseplant" I picked up at IKEA the other day...I don't know the name, but was attracted to the yellowish white speckles all over the darker green leaves which are shaped a bit like jacob's coat leaves, but don't have veins like those. The Bromeliad I picked up in 1980 or 1981 when I was volunteering at the Botanical gardens. It only flowers little purple/violet/lavender flowers in the center and they don't grow up and out (they are grouped and teensy and a little spiky but stay low in the plant). The leaves are bright green with little purple specs in them and very narrow and long (as opposed to broad), coming to a little spike at the end almost like a pineapple. From the photo you can see it obviously has grown from one little plant into a large family just being outdoors here in Northern California for the last twenty years! I was wondering if anyone could identify it as closely as possible? Attached are photos of the houseplant and the bromeliad. Thanks for your help! Jill
Thanks so much! I knew that one would be easier :-) I'll look it up so I can take the best care of it! Jill
Thanks Chris! So far I've looked at Aechmea, and it looks too large to be the one. The Billbergia look similar but these flowers that sprout from the centers don't climb out but just blossom in the little pit of the plant's base and don't go much higher...however from some of the photos at :http://www.fcbs.org/pictures/Billbergia.htm I can confirm that the color is most like the ones that are the more purple or lavender...it's such a beautiful color. The closer is the Crytanthus here: http://fcbs.org/images/Crypt/crypt_osiris1.jpg but the blooms are much smaller and lavender in color and bunched together with anywhere from 6 or more blossoms. However I think we have a winner with the Neoregelia!! If my plants were healthier they might look like these!: http://fcbs.org/cgi-bin/dbman/db.cg...tono=718&ww=on&mh=5&view_records=View+Records Thanks so much! Now I can find out how to make them look as beautiful! Jill
The speckled plant is not an aucuba, but a Dracaena (!). Gold dust dracaena is an easy plant indoors, tolerating warmth, low light and humidity, and droughty conditions, although under such conditions, two-spotted mites can be a problem. It is widely planted as a low shrub in the tropics. The correct name for the plant is D. surculosa, although it is often referred to as D. godseffiana in the trade. The name surculosa means producing suckers or shoots, which it usually does once it's established.
Intersesting I did not think it was an aucuba and was leaning towards either the gold dust drac or the apple leaf croton(Codiaeum type) If not to much trouble (outside of a greater Knowledge) how to tell thanks
Dracaenas are mostly upright, fibrous-stemmed plants with strap-like leaves. Dracaena surculosa has broader, shorter leaves than other dracaenas, but they all have clasping, often membranous leaf-bases. Gold dust dracaena has only a hint of a petiole (leaf stem). Stems are never more than the thickness of a drinking straw and they always bend over at the tip. Croton (Codiaeum variegatum) is very different. Although there are many different cultivars with widely different characteristics (primarily variations on colour spotting and leaf-shape), their leaves are always thicker and more rubberry feeling, and they always have a distinct petiole. Crotons generally grow to be large, leafy shrubs with substantial stems. There are lots of websites to see croton pictures (just type "Codiaeum variegatum" into a search engine).
It is producing shoots and it looks to be propagated from a stem cutting. It's growing really well! I'm surprised it's related to my Dracaenas! Thanks for the responses! Jill
