Help!!

Discussion in 'Indoor and Greenhouse Plants' started by elusive ivy, Dec 28, 2007.

  1. elusive ivy

    elusive ivy Member

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    i have been looking for a specific Ivy for a couple years and cannot find it.... It has true heart shaped leaves. a coworker of mine was given a small plant of it as a gift at valentine's day about three years ago, and i have been unable to find it anywhere. i also do not know the true name of it. the leaves never got more that an inch or so across and it was a very small plant, im not sure if it was because she (my coworker) never replanted it into a bigger pot. the leaves had a solid green color to them-no white markings, and the vines did get a little woody. if anyone could steer me in the right direction i would appreciate it. It is not a three pointed leaf, each leaf does truly look like a perfectly formed traditional heart shape
     
  2. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Try nozing around at large greenhouses - both nurseries and public displays - nearby, to see if they have it. If you've already exhausted this method then try flipping through Graf, EXOTICA at a library. It's a giant picture book of tropical plants and others used indoors (such as ivy).
     
  3. Bluewing

    Bluewing Well-Known Member

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  4. Liz

    Liz Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Bluewing what is the wee blue bird on your avitar please? It is stunning. Colours remind me of our parrot hues.

    Liz
     
  5. Bluewing

    Bluewing Well-Known Member

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    Liz,

    I've had this bird picture for a while on my computer, but I believe it's a young Indigo Bunting.
     
  6. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    "true heart shaped leaves" certainly doesn't sound like an ivy. A photo would help identify it.

    Bluewing's avatar pic is a Mountain Bluebird Sialia currucoides.
     
  7. edleigh7

    edleigh7 Well-Known Member

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    Philodendron perhaps....

    Ed
     
  8. Millet

    Millet Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    True heart shape ivies are a very large category of ivies. There are eight classifications of the genius Ivy. They are: Variegated Ivies, Bird's Foot Ivies, Fans, curlies, heart shape, miniatures, Ivy Ivies and oddities. You can go to the American ivy Society's web page and look at their pictures. The web address is www.Ivy.org

    As there are hundreds of varieties of ivies, not every variety is shown. However, you can telephone the society and ask Mrs. Susan Periot. - Millet
     
  9. newbieplantlover

    newbieplantlover Active Member

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    Try ceropegia woodii... or rosary vine.
     
  10. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    I just ran across this thread along with one other that recommends Alfred B. Graf's books. I thought I should do a bit of explanation regarding Mr.Graf and his books Exotica 3 and Tropica.

    Mr. Graf did a wonderful job of introducing collectors to a large number of tropical species. The major problem was Mr. Graf was a collector just like many of us. He was not trained as a botanist. As a result there are many errors with the identification of species in his texts. Just this morning I received this email from Dr. Tom Croat of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Tom is considered the world's leading expert on aroid species.

    I believe that the name P. variifolium Schott that you are using is in fact based on the picture in Exotica 3 which is a total fabrication by some horticulturist that Graf picked and illustrated in his book. Schott's original description was of a Poeppig collection from Pompayacu and may be the same as some form of P. deltoideum. It is nearly 3 lobed, with spreading posterior lobe. So I think you can forget that name. Alternatively that very image in Exotica 3 is a spitting image of juvenile plants of P. brandtianum. The adult plants are rather large and have no variegation at all. I suspect that in pots or even on a totem it would never turn into the adult form, in the same way that P. hederaceum has remained juvenile in cultivation for centuries, owing to the lack of ideal conditions for becoming adult. It must climb about 10 m or so climb out onto branches, then becomes pendent for 3 or more meters then it flowers.

    Over the years, as I research plants, I've found a very large number of "made-up" names in Exotica 3 as well as Tropica. The first thing I do when I am seeking information on any plant is to check with one of the nomenclature data bases such as TROPICOS, IPNI (International Plant Names Index) or the Kew's site in London. Many, many times I would find a name in Exotica 3 that never shows up on any of these scientific data bases!

    I've corresponded with several growers who knew Mr. Graf personally. Regrettably he is no longer alive. Every one of them told me he would visit their nursery or collection and ask "what is that"? He would then take his photo and write down the name he was given. It appears many of those names were never checked against any data base to make sure they were a verified published scientific species.

    I could easily name a bunch of plants that are in Exotica 3 that do not exist in taxonomy. My only reason for pointing this out is to encourage you to verify the names you find in TROPICOS or IPNI before you start using them publicly. Situations similar to the confusion described by Dr. Croat are quite common. It appears the publishers who regularly reprint Mr. Graf's work make no effort to correct the errors. I'm not certain if they are prevented from doing so by some contractual agreement or just don't take the time to do the work. The fact remains, many of the names Mr. Graf used are not known to science.

    http://mobot.mobot.org/W3T/Search/vast.html

    http://www.ipni.org/index.html
     
    Last edited: Feb 15, 2008

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