the first plant was a cutting from a friend, i rooted it , planted it and it just wont stop growing. i have given babies away and repotted it twice since i started with it 1 yr ago. it has little clam shaped pods that come up between the leaves and briefly bloom delicate white flowers. it loves the sunniest window and i even put it outside for the summer in semi shade... the other one was a gift.. its very slow growing and 1 leaf at a time slowly unrolls from the top of the plant.. little water droplets drip from the tips of the newer leaves.. it doesnt like hot sun at all.. but likes it bright.. help me put a name to them someone please.. thanks ahead of time.. Erika
The first plant is Tradescantia spathacea. It is a tropical plant. Back in Malaysia where I came from these seem to prefer part shade. My mom used to boil the leaves and make a fragrant tea out of it. It is a pretty tough houseplant, though. It is quite tolerant of low light levels and temperature fluctuations. It is also easy to propagate from cuttings. The flowers themselves are pretty inconspicuous. The second plant is a banana tree. Can tell what species it is. The most common ornamental banana tree available, however, is the 'Japanese Fiber Banana', Musa basjoo
thanks for your information, is there a common name for the tradescantia spathacea? something perhaps, that i can pronounce? another question then.. will the banana tree produce fruit or is it just ornamental?.. thanks again
To answer the first question, fire up Google (or another search engine) and search for "tradescantia spathea" common, like so
Looks like it's a member of Tradescantia now: http://www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?si=493&fr=1&sts=
