I'm pretty sure but you are, of course, the final arbiter. Compare your plant with images of Epipremnum aureum and Scindapsus aureus returned by Google Images.
There seems to be some nomenclatural confusion among these responses. In fact the names all refer to the one plant. Pothos aureus is a quite obsolete classification, true Pothos being quite different in appearance. Scindapsus aureus is only slightly less obsolete. As I understand it the plant's current classification is as Epipremnum pinnatum 'Aureum'. The confusion arose because this gold-variegated cultivar was known only by its foliage for decades, so its generic placement was only guessed at. When flowering plants were finally found, in the 60s if I remember correctly, it was named more certainly as Rhaphidophora aurea. When the differences between Rhaphidophora and Epipremnum were later clarified it was transferred to the latter genus, but as a cultivar of the widespread Asian E. aureum.
it is a Devils Ivy/ Golden Pothos .. here is the info on them .. same as the Jade.. Marble Queen and Neon Pothos.. http://www.denverplants.com/foliage/html/PothosGold.htm Marn
This cleared up my confusion about this plant as well. I was getting both Epipremnum pinnatum and E. aureum and thought they might be referring to different species. Thanks.
I was embarrassed to notice I made a slip with the last word in my message. It should have been pinnatum, not aureum.
ty very much for the i.d... i really enjoy the ease of keeping this plant, i've already rooted another from a clipping off of this one.
According the the Missouri Botanical Garden identification site TROPICOS, Epipremnum pinnatum is a totally different plant. E. pinnatum is a multi-lobed plant and is quite different than the one in the photo.
Photopro, most plants you see grown indoors in the US have only small juvenile leaves, which are undivided. Grown outdoors in the tropics it gets huge, multi-lobed leaves, often losing the yellow streaks. See this link: http://www.uhu.es/51038/interior/poto.htm That said, there does seem to be some diasagreement among respectable reference sources as to whether E. aureum should be treated as a synonym of E. pinnatum, with epithet given cultivar status as 'Aureum'. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening (1992) treats them as separate species, as does the online RHS Plant Finder -- which, curiously, treats the white-variegated 'Marble Queen' as a cultivar of E. pinnatum. Flora, though, puts both 'Aureum' and 'Marble Queen' under E. pinnatum. I had a look at the entry in TROPICOS and find they do in fact treat it as a cultivar of E. pinnatum, giving the reference Nicolson, Allertonia 1(6): 347 (1978). It's a slightly tricky database to negotiate. Dr Dan Nicolson is one of the world's foremost aroid experts. See also the Int. Aroid Soc. web page at http://www.aroid.org/genera/epipremnum/
Thanks! And I'm aware of the differences between juvenile and adult forms, especially in aroids. I have one of the larger documented collections of these plants in the U.S. At present, I have a rare aroid known scientifically as Anthurium regale in bloom. Mine is one of the larger specimens of this plant in North America. Dr. Tom Croat of the Missouri Botanical Garden is a personal friend and confidant. He provides identifications for rare plants all the time to assist with the identifications on my website. I communicate with Tom every week regarding one or more plants I am researching and working on for my website www.ExoticRainforest.com That said, I tend to rely on what the folks at MOBOT post over most horticulture sources. The photo TROPICOS has up for E. pinnatum is substantially different than the one originally requested on this site for identification. But you are correct there are many opinions as to the identifications of plants in this group. My personal specimen for the plant in question has now climbed to a height of 15 feet in my atrium and has leaves well over 1 foot in size. Steve Lucas www.ExoticRainforest.com
If you read the very extensive notes on the page http://www.aroid.org/genera/epipremnum/eaureum.htm they seem to provide a case for treating E. aureum and E. pinnatum as distinct -- only problem is the lack of wild, green-leaved populations of aureum.
I received this response from Dr. Croat this afternoon, "There was a time when it was believed that Epipremnum pinnatum and E. aureum were the same species but Peter Boyce now says that E. aureum is different and is endemic to some part of the Pacific. Tom" A careful reading of the discussion which you pointed out, which is very interesting, indiates even that author had some doubts. He indicated E. aureum was much faster growing and infrequent to flower while E. pinnatum is slow to grow and quick to flower. As with many plants there are obviously different opinions as to what plant is actually what species. I've seen this plant grow wild in South Florida since 1980. It is common in many of the parks in the southern part of the city and grows 20 meters (60 feet) or more up into the trees. Once it reaches its maximum height it then drops long, thick running vines that grow all the way back to the ground. In my atrium I have a mature specimen with many leaves up around 5 meters (16 feet) well over 35cm (14 inches), possibly larger since it is too high to actually measure. I have never seen the leaf pinnate like E. pinnatum either in wild growth or the atrium but instead always remains ovate. Since TROPICOS (Missouri Botanical Garden), Peter Boyce and Dr. Croat appear to doubt they are the same species I have to go along with their professional opinion. In time, that may prove to be incorrect, many things change in botany. Best wishes, Steve Lucas
Well that seems to nail it! From now on I will follow these experts and advise that E. aureum is a species distinct from E. pinnatum. I assume that 'Marble Queen' is a cultivar of the former.
Wish I could, but I can't be positive on the cultivars since I try to deal with species for my own collection. You are likely correct. Don't know if you subscribe to the Aroid L discussion group but I've found Dr. Croat and other botanists who read the posts there are very good about responding with accurate advice and information. As I'm sure you have learned, there is a lot of "information" on the net that is less than reliable. That's one reason many of us are constantly chasing our "tails" trying to get to the bottom of subjects just like this one. I very much like hearing Dr. Croat and Dr. Eduardo Goncalves opinion on these subjects. Best wishes, Steve Lucas
