Is there such a thing as a miniature Syngonium? I think the tag read, ?Miniature Syngonium", but I thought maybe that name was used because it was still a juvenile with leaves no larger then a thumb nail. It's now been a year a half since I bought it, and the leaves are still small. They grew a little bit since it was brought home, but not to a normal size, by the way, that's ok, I kinda like them being small:) It gets the same light as the pink one. Here's both the pink Syngonium and green one for a comparison of the leaf size.
remember when i was getting ready to send you cuttings and i asked if you wanted syngoniums? what i had were miniatures - the leave sizes were no larger than 1 1/2 maybe 2 inches - on older leaves. new leaves opened up at about 1/2 inch.
Thanks Joclyn! Yep, I remember when you asked me about sending one. I have a couple others as well that are reg size.I never knew there was a mini syn. May I ask, where did you get yours? Is it like mine, light and dark green? Walking thru Walmart one day, it caught my eye because of how tiny the leaves were. I think it was only like $3.99.
i got them at the sears hardware - the one near me has a big garden dept. lol, i couldn't decide which coloration to get so i got all of them!! :) one is the same as yours and the others had various shades of pink, red and mauve along with the green. and one was just green. i lost a couple of them, though - too darn busy to remember to water things :(
They do get thirsty, if I don't water on the seventh day, they start to wilt. I'll have to keep an eye out for more..The ones you described sound really nice, unfortunately, I don't think the Sears around here has a garden center.
it's not sears, per se, it's sears hardware - totally separate store and all they sell is hardware (nuts/bolts, etc) tools, appliances and gardening stuff. not too many of them around this area... not too many sears dept stores either... i wish i'd been able to keep them on the kitchen windowsill as that makes it easier to remember to water and they ARE particularly thirsty!! the sill, the top of the windows, the shelves on either side of the windows AND a small chunk of the counter itself are full of plants, though, and i couldn't move any upstairs to the plant room as that's not set up with proper space for all those small plants, so, i put the syngoniums upstairs... i really need to get the plant room completely situated...wish i didn't have to work - i'd have plenty of time, then! i've never seen these mini syngoniums anywhere else. although, depending on the dept manager, you may have luck with lowe's or home depot if you request them to specifically order them - they do have some leeway with what is ordered. i requested more hoya's a the local lowe's and they made sure to get them in - took a few months for it to happen, though. now they always have at least 4 different types in stock (because they sell so well, they've kept up with ordering things other than the 'standard' carnosa). so, give it a try!!
There was a Sears "Hardware" store around here but it was only around for just few yrs. I don't remember any plants being there though, sounds like you have a better one if they had plants! I bought the mini at Walmart, it was the only one like it they had. Maybe they will get some more different colored ones. I should also ask someone at Lowe's to order some too. Yes, Lowe's does sell a lot of carnosas, but sometimes they will also have hoya shepherdii, Kerriii and polyneura. Hopefully these places will get even more to choose from....
It has a collective vein running near the leaf margin so it could be a Syngonium. I can't find anything about a "miniature" species so it would appear to be simply a juvenile. The species grow much larger in the wild when able to climb. I'll send notes to Dr. Croat and a few other South American botanists and ask what if there is such a thing.
My friend Julius Boos is one of the best experts in this genus. The genus is now highly invasive in Florida and climbs trees to the point of almost hiding them from sight. The majority were planted by a grower that had purchased a Syngonium plant in a store and planted it near a tree. When the leaves are small they don't look anything like the leaves of the adult plant and will constantly morph in both size and shape as they grow. Julius says this is just plain old Syngonium podophyllum which is the commonly sold form of the genus. This same variation was at one time sold as Syngonium Frosty but as far as I can tell it isn't a registered cultivar. Some places offer it for sale with the 'Frosty' in single quotes but in order to do that it must be registered. Natural variations are extremely common in aroid species. Just because a leaf is somewhat different in size, shape or color does not indicate a new or different species, only a natural variant. Aroids are among the most naturally variable species on the planet and people often "swear" they found a new species when all they've found is a variant. if you really get the "yearn" to understand the subject you can read about it here: http://www.exoticrainforest.com/Natural variation within aroid and plant species.html Julius just said that if you were to take this plant outside in Florida and plant it (please don't do that) in a year or so it would look just like the stuff the state has to go around ripping down. Either Sears or someone else has figured out a new way to market a plant with a "new" name but this isn't a miniature, just a variation.
There are three places on my property right now with Syngonium podophyllum growing. They were from a single plant that we called Nephthytis back then. It was in a hanging planter put outside for the summer, attaching itself to stucco and gutter and growing out through the turf. I wanted it gone that first summer as an invasive we could still control. The three places it is still growing look like different plants. One looks like a miniature, with tiny white butterfly leaves in a darling little cluster, but with an overbearing gawky green sister climbing the cedar next to it. The leaves have morphed on the ascending part with upper part of the shield closest to the petiole looking more like devils' horns than a sweet little white butterfly. I told my mother thirty years ago that it would not withstand the occasional frosts here, but it has. Both mother and plant are hanging on despite the odds. Admittedly, I take some of it inside for use in vases and flower arranging from time to time.
Another answer on this from European plant expert Marek Argent: This is one of "cultivars" of Syngonium podophyllum It is usually sold as many juvenile plants together in one pot. After a few months or more it begins to put larger and differently coloured leaves, the internodes become longer and the plants don't differ from popular "normal size" cultivars. An example you'll find here: http://www.wschowa.com/abrimaal/araceum/syngonium/pixie.htm They can be chemically made dwarfish (like Kalanchoe) or just they are very young.
Thank you Steve for all the information and links! RATS! I was hoping it would stay small! I have to wonder now, if my so called "mini' Syngonium was chemically treated to stay small for a while, but would it stay small over a year? It's been a year and half since I've had it, and it's grown only a little larger. Syngoniums don't seem to be slow growers, I would think the leaves would be much larger after all this time.... By the way, I would love to be able to grow (with some control) "wild" syngonums in my yard!. Do you happen to know "where" this type of stunting chemical is applied??? I changed the soil about a year ago.
My first question is do you have an area of the yard in upstate New York that would be protected from cold? Syngonium are all neotropical plants which means they are pure tropicals from Central and South America plus the Caribbean. They are common in Central America from Belize down to Peru and into Brazil. They also grow on some Caribbean islands. Unless they are fully protected you'll have to plant them year after year. Tissue culture often causes plants to be stunted for fairly long periods of time. That is precisely why so many people thought Philodendron xanadu was just a clone of Philodendron bipinnatifidum. It took so long for the tissue cultured plants (and virtually all of them were TC for many, many years) to produce a spathe and spadix the sexual characteristics couldn't be examined. Once my friend Julius Boos finally got one to produce the sexual parts it became obvious the two were not one and the same. Yet you'll find info all over the internet still claiming the two are one and the same. Just like Philodendron hederaceum (called P. scandens, P. oxycardium, P. micans, P. miduhoi and many other names) the leaves will stay small forever unless the plant finds something to climb. If it can climb the leaf will morph to around 19 inches in size which is much larger than anyone ever sees it in their home. Both Syngonium and Philodendron have genetic markers that cause them to grow toward dark areas because their genes know the darkest areas are around the trunk of a tree. Once it finally finds the tree it then begins to climb and morph into a plant that can produce much larger leaves and finally an inflorescence. The leaves all aroids go through morphology and change as they seek to climb. It appears their own DNA directs them towards a tree so they can begin their climb toward the light and to adulthood. This is the way Dr. Croat explained it, "I suspect that it is auxin controlled. As you may imagine younger plants grow scototropically one assumes because they have to find a tree, rock or wall. Once there they stop growing horizontally and grow upward, effectively toward the light, rather than away from the light. Therefore is is logical that there is an auxin control the makes this change of coarse. As the plants get closer to the source of light the internodes get shorter and broader reflecting this more favorable site for developing into an adult plant." Scototropic refers to the behavior of a tropical seedling vine which grows toward dark objects. The plant does this as an adaptive characteristic which enables the young vine to grow towards the trunk of a large tree so it can eventually begin to climb in order to find brighter light. Auxins are plant hormones that control the behavioral processes of the plant. The mini form is certainly interesting but eventually it will outgrow the TC chemicals and finally begin to morph. BUT, it will never do that until it finds bright light. If you like it as it is just keep it in dim light and the chance are high it will stay small but if you want to see it "do its thing" then move it to really bright light. I have plants of Syngonium podophyllum that have now reached the 12 foot level in my atrium and they look absolutely nothing like the little plants you buy at the discount store. My plants now have leaves approaching 12 inches and as I'm sure you know the color and pattern has zero to do with the species. All those different colored leaves are all the same plant, they are simply natural variations. If you really like it small, just keep it from finding anything to climb.
Bluewing, the Syngonium podophyllum in my yard has been there for twenty or more years. I've ripped large amounts of it out over the years, and what is remaining is from the original single plant. I think one section is probably from a piece that fell off the weeding cart, but the other two locations are adjacent to the original site. The cute little white butterfly with 1-3 inch leaves is in three spots around the base of a red cedar. They've remained like that for a couple of years, maybe as much as five. They will get frost bitten and possibly die back in winter here, but rebound quickly in the late winter. Cedar is allelopathic. The roots inhibit growth of many other species. That may be why these particular syngoniums remain petite. The soil around the tree is very acid with the cedar litter, very dry and sandy on top of marl, a type of clay. The monster aroid is the same plant, even closer to the trunk of the old cedar, because it's growing up it. Those leaves are easily 8-10 inches from tip to petiole, and look like they could be longer than that higher up the tree. Aerial roots have fastened in the fissures of cedar bark, which may not be as allelopathic as cedar roots. I have not cultivated these aroids at all. I like all plants, but I'm pretty much a native plant person, and one that prefers to let them survive or die with the vagaries of the weather. Between the lack of water and the nature of cedar roots, those tiny white butterflies are in an inhospitable environment. That's probably why they are stunted.
That's very interesting about these plants growing toward dark object looking for a tree trunk! I can't think of anywhere that would be well enough protected for them to survive our frigid winters. I'm almost positive that all would die, never to return. I think they will just have stay housebound here in NY. Maybe one already exist, but if not, someone should come out with a book of how "houseplants" look in the wild.You can find some of them online, but it would be interesting to see at least most of the common ones in their natural habitat.
I've been working on a book for two years that has that goal. Although much less detailed than my website it will show the juvenile, intermediate and adult forms of as many aroids as possible as well as explain why all the "old wife's tales" just don't hold water. I have several botanists that have been urging me to get it done but I still need to find a publisher. Most of the material is already "in the can" and I can get almost all the field photos of adult plants from my friends that do the field work. No idea when it might be done but it is being worked on. The big problem is there are 3300 aroids and I'll never get all of them in one book. Chances are we'll just work on the ones that are most popular as well as most interesting.
