BIZARRE, UNUSUAL, UNIQUE, & ODD PLANTS OF
Manuel Perez de Tagle y Ventura III
As a plant enthusiast, hobbyist, conservationist, and preservation advocate who has done his own researches, horticultural practices, experimentations and consultations with seasoned plant-lovers, scientists, and private individuals with their own unique planting techniques, I have the most splendid experience of caring for some of the most unusual plants I ever came across with.
There are several reasons why a plant becomes unusual and mostly it has to do with their geographic situation, then the climate or even the micro-climate in its own area! Also, the need of the right pollinators is a determining factor in the evolution of the bizarre kinds.
Take note that it is of my personal belief that these plants are deemed exotic, rare, bizarre, or unusual. Some may acquiesce with my beliefs while others may not as we are entitled to our own sound judgments.
These unusual plants are non-conformists to the regular plant physiology, some might even need special care and attention, some are easy to care for and is tolerant of neglect. And some are already on the endangered species list.
Most plant collectors would often go for these unusual plants, for those critically endangered, new discoveries from forests or unexplored places somewhere, and recent importations to the country. My fervent prayer is that these people will propagate and thus perpetuate these unusual plants under their care as each individual living thing has a niche it fills to maintain the balance of nature.
Among my unusual plants is the monstrous form of a Cereus (cereus is Latin for waxy, wax taper or candle). The Cactaceae family is a group of already unusually evolved plants and monstrosity is an even more unusual occurrence yet they are not that rare. Almost any Cactus genus exhibits a monstrous growth triggered by some mutation process within the genes of the plant. My Cereus sp. Is about a foot tall, of blue-green colouration, stiff needle-like spines, and resembles a bishop’s staff in miniature. I bought this plant for less than a dollar! They hail from South America. Cereus seem to adapt well in sweltering Manila but needs protection against the heavy downpours and Ragnarok-strong typhoons!
Kuya Patric Gozun, a native trees landscaper, gave me a plant which he only said was probably a member of the Araliaceae family and a native of Malaysia; then I searched the internet for a possible identification but was naught, so I tried seeking the help of the online members of the Philippine Native Plants Conservation Society, Inc. (PNPCSI) Face book page and a hobbyist member from Mindanao said that it was a Schefflera arboricola cultivar yet when I looked at the images of this species in the internet and exhausted every picture, there was non like mine. I still believe that my plant is of another species. This plant has forest-green, flat, somewhat fleshy bifidus or bi-lobed leaves that grows quickly after adapting to the conditions of your local environment but takes a long time in the process of adaptation. It is a tiny bush; Once I even believed it was a fern! I know of only one other person owning this same kind of plant, Mrs. Susie Co, a Taiwanese resident here in the Philippines and a member of the Horticulture Society of the Philippines, Inc. I have not yet seen this plant in flower and mine is adapting to the Mandaluyong environment after having adapted for three years in my Binangonan residence area. Its stem becomes pendulous even when it is still starting to grow so stakes or binding materials could be used to address this problem. A long stem sporting a series of somewhat parallel leaves is a striking sight.
Pitcher plants or Nepenthes are all unusual in that they develop a specialized leaf that resembles a pitcher wherein water from natural sources mixes up with digestive enzymes and helpful microorganisms to digest bugs and other animals that might chance to get drowned in these pitchers. Yes folks, they are carnivorous! The Philippines has some 27 to 30 recognized species and more than 90% of them are endemic or only found in this country. Carnivorous plants evolved and occupy swampy or boggy areas where water is stagnant, carbon dioxide doesn’t dissipate easily into the air and is deficient of nutrients or minerals other plants are endowed with in areas where they are growing. Larger pitchers can digest frogs, small birds, and small mammals including bats! Nepenthes sp. Is yet an undescribed species with red pitchers; it has yellow-green leaves almost prostrate to its medium and the bigger one is my Nepenthes mindanaense which has light green leaves and its pitchers have very bold and dark peristome markings and a rim that is deep olive in colour. Pitcher plants are popular with Filipinos but very few are successful in growing them because of the specialized conditions they require. They could grow in pure sphagnum moss or pure coconut husk chips or a combination of both. Sadly, pitcher plant peddlers sell lanky, often dehydrated plants that often will not survive under the care of an ordinary person unknowledgeable of the plants’ growth requirements.
Sundews or Drosera is a genus of around a hundred species with the centre of distribution in Australia although the Philippines got some of its own endemic and indigenous species. Sundews are also carnivorous plants and prefers flies, mosquitoes, and other flying bugs. They sport hairs in and around their spoon-like leaves tipped in nectar droplets that serve as attraction, trapping and digesting mechanism of the plant. Sundews are just new in the Philippine plant market so prices are still very high. When I bought my Drosera prolifera I was told that I just have to mist it everyday with rain or mineral water to keep its medium soggy and have some standing water underneath about a centimeter or so to mimic its native habitat. In a book that I read about sundews it is stated that they need plenty of sunlight while the seller of the store where I bought my plant said even am hour of sunlight will do. Whom shall I follow? This prompts me to do my detective job! My sundew is no bigger than a one-peso coin! When I was buying this plant, a flying blue bug caught itself among the sticky hairs in one of its leaves. I was then able to observe how the sundew slowly digested its victim over a period of some five or so hours leaving only the shriveled husk. Right now, my plant seemed to lost the pearly nectar spheres at the tip of its leaves but according to what I’ve read about them its just normal. This will be my second investigation topic..
The looping stem of my Dracaena surculosa var.immaculata was accidentally trained to grow as such. One of my aunts placed a smaller plastic pot on top of the big pot where this plant is growing. Then after a couple of years a stem started to coil around this empty pot and eventually sent out a shoot towards the pot through one of its drainage holes-the plant planted itself!! I just removed the plastic pot early last year and ‘twas quite a struggle because the stem was tough! In the end I was able to do so without harming the unique stem growth. This plant is a native of the Congo in Africa. It is now in the Nolinoideae subfamily of the Asparagaceae family sensu lato, Order Asparagales. It was and still is popularly called Japanese or Chinese bamboo by most Filipinos because it really does resemble the growth and physiological habits of the bamboo and it is also a fast grower that neither climate nor environment can hinder! It is also so tolerant of abuse, heavy rains and scorching sunlight. They bear immaculate white flowers that are translucent during the cool dry period from December to February but I think the flowering is triggered by the eventual lowering of the temperature as this is often the case with this plant of mine. After flowering, shiny spheroid fruits develop first green then turning red as they ripen and yellow orange when past the ripened stage. Another unique thing about this plant I have is that the original plant has a root that somewhat resembles an enlarged ginseng. From that single plant I took from the mother plant in my Binangonan garden, the whole massive growth you now can see in the picture did came from.
Haworthia truncata and Haworthia maughanii are for me, the most beautiful members of the South African genus Haworthia belonging to the Asphodeloideae subfamily of the Xanthorrhoeaceae family in the Asparagales Order. I beg to disagree with Kuya Kevin Belmonte (Cactus and Succulent Society of the Philippines, Inc. [CSSP] Chairman, exotic and rare succulent collector, and the one who opened the world of the various plant societies for me) who once mentioned in his ever popular column Succulentophile in one of the leading newspapers in the country, that Haworthia magnifica var. splendens is the most beautiful and sought-after of its genus. I’ll not covet that species! I’ll be vouching more for these two aforementioned plants! You cannot be lazy with these plants!! They require intimate attention because they shun being lambasted by water and shun being so dried up. They’ll also need an overly porous medium and lots of sunshine but not the heat of the sun! I’ve noticed that South African succulent plants need a special way of caring as they grow in a unique corner of the country where they came from. Haworthia truncata’s manner of leaf growth reminds me of a high-domed tortoise. The specific name itself means that the base or apex (in this species, the apex) appears as if it has been cut straight across giving the unique shape of the leaves. A rosette or whorling growth habit also exists but is not popular among Filipino succulent collectors thus the cheaper price. Haworthia maughanii has also truncated leaves but are cylindrical or rounder in shape and for me, poses more challenge in cultivation. There are delightful hybrids between these two plants and I have included their pictures here albeit I am not knowledgeable of their scientific names as they were unlabeled when they were sold to CSSP members after being purchased from the Burks’ Collection in the U.S.A.
Frailea cataphracta proved that my planting prowess reached its zenith (I would say “sensu lato”.) when it gave me the Best Globular Cacti Award at the most recent CSSP Garden Show & Exhibit in 2009! It gave me the confidence and boost that the way I care for my plants is on the “par excellence” level. I bought this plant from a fellow CSSP member when our January 2008 meeting was held in their Rodriguez (Montalban), Rizal residence. I took particular notice of this plant because it was somewhat ‘sad’, unpotted, and tucked in a gloomy corner of the garden. There were two of these plants so I persuaded my co-member to sell me one which he did for over a dollar. I then sought my pot collection for the suitable container that would bring out the uniqueness of this plant and there you can see in the picture its emanating beauty! I used very porous media for my Frailea cataphracta, placed it in my Binangonan garden windowsill collection (Tengoku no Kokoro Hikari Gaoka Sanctuary). The genus was named in honour of Manuel Fraile who maintained the cactus collection of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. There are about 17 species recognized but the genus remains poorly known in the wild. For me, the most unique among the species is Frailea cataphracta as the spines are subdued, rarely pricks if handled correctly, the areole and other circular markings are handsomely arranged in orderly rows. In the Philippines, Frailea ctapharacta is a rare cacti but is not expensive.
Here is a zany but true story: one day in the 2009 CSSP Garden Show & Exhibit when I was looking for plants at the commercial booths, I happen to see two Frailea cataphracta being sold. I asked for the price and it was more than over 3 dollars I was taken aback for a second then I asked why. Their reason was, “because the same plant was bequeathed an award in the Exhibit!” Wow! My plant caused the mark up of its price! My co-member saw the plant and asked me, “Is that the plant you bought from me over a year ago?” and I said yes. He then exclaimed, “I should have raised that plant if only I knew it would become a winning specimen!” Well, I never expected to win or even enter the plant in the competition in the first place, as a CSSP member I was just compelled to participate and help in disseminating knowledge and popularity of succulents with the general populace that’s all what I was aiming for. Well I think I achieved that when a visitor to our exhibit asked me, “Can I just buy this prize-winning plant of yours? I want to raise this same plant but there’s none being sold among the commercial booths, please? Even for around 10 dollars?” That was a compliment in itself! But I didn’t sell my plant. I decided to keep it and propagate it if given the chance but Fraileas seldom offset let alone germinate seeds (I even haven’t seen how its seeds look like!).
Another unique thing about this plant is that they have two kinds of flowers-one that is showy and often is of yellow colouration and the other is cleistogamous which means that these are closed flowers that are self-pollinating and are more fruitful than showier. This is a small plant about two to three inches across with dense wool and bristles found at its tip. Its contenders for the categorical prize are a large Ferocactus species and a Mammillaria if I reckon correctly and this ‘David’ among ‘Goliaths’ won!
Coming from Brazil, Gymnocalycium horstii is a lovely, somewhat quadrilateral cactus. A four-ribbed specimen is preferred among Filipino succulent collectors as this is rarer than the five or six-ribbed ones. Sometimes, a four-ribbed specimen will grow a 5th and a 6th rib which diminishes its uniqueness. Those with four ribs seem to resemble an inverted butt given that they are shiny and smooth too. The genus name means ‘naked calyx’ referring to the smooth flower bud. Gymnocalycium does well in Manila as long as they have abundant sunlight exposure to trigger flowering, could be watered every other day or even lesser, but must be protected from the heavy downpours. Luckily mine did not set to grow another rib preserving its butt-like bizarre form.
Ludisia discolor is one of the ‘Jewel Orchid’ group together with Goodyera, Anoectochilus, Dossinia, and Macodes. These plants are not grown primarily for their flowers as almost all orchids are but for their colourful leaves with kaleidoscopic venations and vivid colours. Ludisia stands out among the jewel orchids because they have dark, almost black velvety leaves with striking neon red or neon gold venations. They love dappled sunlight, moist soil, and are best kept in shallow but broad basins as they love to sprawl around. This monotypic genus is indigenous to Southeast Asia and the late “Father of Philippine Orchids”, Dr. Eduardo Quisumbing himself, found them growing in and around the vicinity of Baguio City! (as was vividly recounted to me by my professor, mentor, and horto-botanical master Sir Danilo Arguson Tiu). Dr. Domingo A. Madulid said in his book, “A Pictorial Cyclopedia of Philippine Ornamental Plants” 2nd edition year 2000, that this plant is “native to tropical Asia. Recently introduced to the Philippines and not yet widely cultivated” is clearly an erroneous statement!
I remember first seeing this plant in Rebecca Tyson Northen’s book, “Home Orchid Growing” which I bought in the early 90’s as a Grade 6 elementary student for the grand prize of 22.73 dollars! At that time, even the best books would cost less than today’s equivalent of 10 dollars. The cashier was so shocked that a young kid would buy such a very expensive book! I engrossed myself in reading that book throughout my school days that year then a teacher borrowed it from me and never returned it back that was so painful for me but luckily I was able to copy some interesting facts from that book and even bore up to this day pictographic memories of its colourful plants and how that big, blue, hardbound book looks like. Ludisia discolor was listed on the ‘collector’s item’ roster of Northen.
It didn’t take long before a distant aunt of mine told me there is a plant collector selling some of his propagations just half a kilometre away from our old Mandaluyong residence, it is in what is now San Juan City. He’s got a fine collection of exotic plants including the vogue orchids and its hybrids. I saw Ludisia discolor among his collection and pleaded to buy even a cutting of it. He then sold me a cutting consisting of three plants which he transplanted to what was then for me one of the most exotic pots or basin-a hollowed out wood of the coffee tree cut very near its thick, picturesque roots and filled with fern chips. He sold it to me for a dollar and 14 cents. I’m now the proud owner of a collector’s item orchid!! I raised it in our Pasig residence which was a developed hilly area with plenty of air movements, bright sunlight (even when the terrace where I kept it is roofed), and the abundant rains that weren’t as Ragnarok-strong as today. I even placed it inside my tall five-gallon former Discus aquarium, put a fine cheesecloth over it, and wrote and attached:
LUDISIA DISCOLOR
COLLECTOR’S ITEM
This plant is a sluggish grower when moved from where it has adapted to grow, the finest specimens I’ve seen were those planted in Chinese porcelain pots each having a spike with plenty but small white flowers which were exhibited during the 1st Flora Filipina held in historic Intramuros in 2005, I was then a college freshman neophyte member of CSSP. The most abundant mass growing I’ve ever seen of this plant is in the Mandaluyong private garden of Sensei Danilo A. Tiu where they ramble among the rows of pots creating a lovely scene of jewel-like glittering things. My Ludisia discolor today is a gift from him. I noticed that they love cool conditions and being fertilized. All jewel orchid genera except Dossinia have representative species endemic and indigenous here in the Philippines.
The commonly called ‘penis’ cactus might appall Filipino conservatives and clergy but there’s no better common name for the resemblance this plant has with the real ‘thing’ hahaha! I suspect that it is a member of genus Echinocereus of the Cactaceae family. They are mostly from Mexico. Penis cactus are rot-prone species that must be planted in a very porous medium. Even a small amount of water can cause rot to the portion of the plant where it will remain for a couple of hours! For this reason, the plant must be placed in a quick-drying area of your garden. It can cope with the downpours provided that it can dry fast afterwards. This is a commonly sold and commonly bought cactus species in the Philippines for less than a dollar at most. This is one cactus Filipinos buy for its name because it could “ring a bell”, is funny, weird, and unusual.
For me the most bizarre, the oddest, the most unusual of my unusual plants are Pseudolithos migiurtinus and Pseudolithos cubiformis both coming from Somalia, the horn of Africa, a barren land but beautiful country, host to some of the world’s weirdest plant species. Pseudolithos means “something that almost looks like a stone”. The former is an apple-green coloured plant native to the northeastern mountain region of Migiurtina; this is the most commonly seen of the species in cultivation. While the latter is a brown-coloured plant named for its shape, a cube form, they have the largest flowers among the species in the genus. In Somalia, Peudolithos, Whitesloeania (formerly the rarest succulent in the world), and other ‘stone crop’ plants are considered powerful magical and medicinal herbs that are administered only to the weakest and sickest persons. The people will not hesitate killing somebody collecting these precious plants so when in Somalia, Behave!! The modern pirates lurking in Somalian waters make the study of the country’s flora not only difficult but dangerous! This catapulted Somalian rarities to be some of the most expensive plants in the world.
I acquired my Pseudolithos migiurtinus shortly after I saw it during my very first CSSP Christmas Party attendance in 2005. It was then sold at around six dollars. After nurturing the plant for four years it grew robust and non-stop flowering occurred. The blooms were so small, crimson, grew in clusters and smelled of fresh baby poop, I will never forget the facial expression of my brother, Francis, upon smelling the foul flowers after which he would never even dare touch that plant of mine hahaha! My Pseudolithos cubiformis was the most expensive plant I’ve ever invested in-a mind boggling 114 dollars!!! I just told myself that it was worth it because it does have an offshoot developing about an inch across and a smaller one on the lower right side which I could consider as my “return on investment”. I got the latter during the 2009 CSSP Garden Show & Exhibit.
Being members of the Asclepiadacea subfamily in the Apocynaceae family, they have the characteristic stinking smell that attracts its main pollinators-flies. Unless you stuck your nose very near it, you wouldn’t be able to smell the hellish foul odour! As far as I know there are only around four of us plant collectors in the Philippines that does have Pseudolithos gracing our collections.
The Cactus & Succulent Society of the Philippines, Inc. (CSSP) members know me as the ‘living stones’-loving man. Shortly, they would often associate me whenever they see pictures or hear lectures mentioning Lithops. These are very small South African and Namibian succulents growing inconspicuously among the stones on the ground. They are often eaten by goats, sheep, even turtles and tortoises as they are very rich in nutrients and most specially, water. In South Africa farmers call them “beeskloutjes” or cattle hoof and “skaappootjies” or sheep hoof. Lithops are round plants which genus name means “resembling a stone”. They come in various colours but most often in the brown, red, or green spectra. They are very delicate plants to care for because they occupy a micro-climatic area in their native South Africa mostly in the western Cape Town province. Flowers emerge from the slit between the two stone-like leaves and after flowering the plant goes into dormancy. Then the two leaves slowly shrivel as the new emerging leaves are devouring the nourishment and the growth cycle begins again. Sometimes, an individual plant would produce two or more pairs of leaves creating a clump but this occurs as the plant steadily advances in age. My Lithops aucampiae was a delightful clump of varying colours per head but is of only one species!
I got my very first Lithops from the very first time I attended and became a member of the CSSP way back November 13, 2005, Sunday. The moment Lithops aucampiae and Lithops karasmontana were put on display before the meeting began, I already bought them for 11.37 dollars! I was “converted” to the society by no less than then president and present chairman, Kevin G. Belmonte who became a very close friend with which I share ideas on cultivating and knowledge of the diverse succulent species. I made my debut contribution to succulent care by having my article entitled “Wonderful World of Lithops” printed and published in the Succulentophile (this is the popular column of Kuya Kevin about succulents and he allows “guest writers” to contribute about their plant specialty/ies) column of The Philippine Star, one of the Philippines’ leading newspapers in two consecutive appearances (Succulentophile is a column that appears every other Saturday in The Philippine Star): 22 April, 2006 and 6 May, 2006. It is a thorough and extensive work wherein I combined my researches, experiences, and knowledge regarding my beloved Lithops. My good friend and sparring “plant” partner Aireen G. Bernal even tried putting her Lithops in one of her son’s airconditioned room and met success but was halted when she became busy with her travels abroad specially in Equatorial Guinea. There she stated to me, “It’s really different if it’s the owner of the plant that cares for them because it is when the plants show their utmost gratitude by being more responsive than having others do it for you.”
Cousin to Lithops, also members of the Mesembryanthemaceae subfamily in the Aizoaceae/Ficoideae family are the Conophytums. The name means “cone-like”. There are two habits of growth-the globular and the elongated. The former is said to do better in the Philippines than the latter. And a specimen as large as this cluster of mine is surely a very old one.
Actually it was an old piece of newspaper broadsheet that I mistook for jade (as they are green too) that started my succulent growing “epoch”. The e-mail address of the columnist (Kevin G. Belmonte) was printed at the end of the article and I attempted and did send him my e-mail letter and he responded eagerly then the rest is history! I found Conophytum harder to grow than Lithops, I believe this genus will really need air conditioning to successfully be raised here in the Philippines. Most members of the CSSP shun away from growing Mesembs due to their “hard headedness” but I take it as a fruitful challenge to own and raise them!
Next are the hallucinogenic sacred “peyotes” or genus Lophophora. For thousands of years the ancient Aztecs-ancestors of the Mexican Indian natives, used these plants by eating them after some magical or mysterious preparations according to their religious practices. These small cacti have strong alkaloids that are mind-altering due to the substance called ‘mescaline’. However it has a strong emetic (vomiting) side-effect when eaten so it is so unpleasant. Lophophora is found from Texas, USA to Mexico. Lophophora williamsii is the type genus of the group. There are only two recognized species by the International Cactaceae Systematics Group but cultivators as well as CSSP members consider four species: Lophophora williamsii has the most potent alkaloids, Lophophora diffusa is a blue-green coloured slimmer species with lesser alkaloids. The other two are Lophophora fricii which seems to be a curled head because of its multi ribbing and Lophophora jourdaniana, the smallest and bears red flowers albeit I haven’t seen mine flowered yet.
My Lophophora diffusa was a “forced” sale because I insisted stubbornly to buy it from the collection of architect Bimbo Vergara, succulent collector extraordinaire and a fellow member of the CSSP. This man does have tough succulents that will surely live and thrive in sweltering humid Manila (because he raises them in his Quezon City garden). He sold me his at the “non-friendly” price of six dollars hahaha! But it was worth the price because that plant I bought still lives and is non-chalant of the environment where I subject it. I have transferred it together with my other Lophophoras from my Binangonan garden (Tengoku no Kokoro Kyujo no Naka ni) to my Mandaluyong garden (Tengoku no Kokoro Hagetaka). Here it is lambasted by the winds, Ragnarok-like downpours but still it persists to live. In Binangonan, it was partly eaten by rats, tasted by snails and slugs, fell from its pot and got lost for a few days, tasted scorching heat and typhoons but it grows staunchly still! However, it doesn’t produce even a single offshoot nor has it flowered yet. Kuya Kevin G. Belmonte subjected his once lanky Lophophora under the elements and it became plump and even flowered for him! I wish to repeat the same feat. The CSSP members who went with the CSSP’s first foreign trip to Thailand brought pictures of even plumpier and gigantic Lophophoras that I can’t believe could exist! Meanwhile another survivor is my Lophophora williamsii because a part of it has rot and my joss stick ashes saved my plant from further deterioration and certain demise. It enjoys a sporadic head mist and is plumper now than when I first bought it from then CSSP Vice President Peter Bangayan, another good soul and succulent guru in the society. Lastly, my Lophophora jourdaniana. It enjoys ”under pot” watering but do it sparingly! I still am not moving it to the next larger pot because it’s quite happy occupying its now three-year old three-inch terra cotta pot. Lophophoras will do very well in Manila but again, safeguard it against being water-logged. Lophophora came from the Greek words “Lophos” meaning crest and “Phoreus” meaning bearer, referring to the crests or tufts of hairs borne on each tubercle.
I find dark-coloured flowers simply irresistible and a queer plant caught my attention last August 25, 2011 at the Manila Seedlings Bank Foundation, Inc. (MSBF) in Quezon Avenue, Quezon City. It has broad shiny leaves and brown flowers unlike any other. I was so fascinated by it. Luckily, Sensei Dany Tiu gave me his plant. It is called Dorstenia elata in Dr. Domingo A, Madulid’s book, “A Pictorial Cyclopedia of Philippine Ornamental Plants” 2nd edition year 2000 but when I surfed the internet it is called Dorstenia indica. I’m not unfamiliar with Dorstenias because Kuya Peter gave me a Dorstenia plant as change for my payment for his Haworthia compacta, that means it only costs around 50 cents! Dorstenias are always often sold cheaply here in the Philippines maybe because they look like ordinary plants and not as some weird succulents. However once it is trained as a bonsai, its value soars up. Sifu Cesar Cheng, a good friend of mine from the CSSP, is a succulent bonsai master that also specializes in succulent Euphorbias turning them into bonsai craftsmanship. Dorstenia elata/indica as Sensei Dan told me, grows like a grass in his Mandaluyong garden. I’ve noticed that it doesn’t take long for it to adapt to a new environment and after a couple of months, it will bear leaves the size or bigger, of an adult man’s palm. The wonderful inflorescence arise from leaf axils and proclaim the identity of the genus: flat disc-shaped receptacle and many unisexual flowers distributed over the surface. Female flowers are sunk into little pits and from these the small fruits are shot when ripe by the contraction of the surrounding tissue of the receptacle. Be wary as the size of the leaves is tempting for insects specially mealy bugs so constantly monitor your Dorstenia above and below the leaves and inspect the whole body as well. The flowers readily die when kept watered. Sometimes tiny mosses render a colour contrast to the dark receptacle. Dorstenias are Afro-asian succulent plants and the largest of them, Dorstenia gigas is found in the “Galapagos” of the Middle East-Socotra Island, a territory of Yemen.
The genus Crassula Is a 200 genus strong family that are native to the southern hemisphere with the centre of distribution in South Africa and some in Australia and New Zealand. I was hesitant at first to buy my Crassula perforata knowing very well that they are not that suitable to lowland environments and lesser still to almost sea-level elevation of Manila. However, the unusual growth habit of the plant was reason enough for me to acquire it for the low price of 80 cents! The growth habit of its leaves, particularly on long stems seem to remind one of Chinese, Japanese, and Balinese pagodas. Other times, at other angles they resemble the recent popular skinned fried potatoes on giant barbecue sticks hahaha! My plant started with only around two or three stems and now there are a dozen. I never knew it loves being watered-but must be free draining-and now it is one of my pride and joy.
Sansevieria kirkii ‘Coppertone’ will complete the list of my bizarre, unusual, odd, freak, and weird plant collection. When I became a member of the CSSP and learned about Sansevierias, I told myself that it is only this species that I want from the entire family that is native to Africa and Asia. But the prohibitive price for a small plant is 11.36 dollars! I learned the reason later on. When I visited the residence and garden of Tita Sally O’bien, a fellow member of the CSSP and connoisseur of Sansevierias, I asked her if she can sell me a small Sansevieria kirkii ‘Coppertone’ but instead she gave me an uprooted plant for free as well as another uprooted lanky Sansevieria masoniana ‘Congo’. I planted both plants in my Binangonan garden (Tengoku no Kokoro Kyujou no Naka ni) but concentrated more on my favourite Sanse kirkii. The plant has brown leaves with veins that sometimes resemble feathers, pearls, scripts, or just plain streaks. It is a very unusual sight! But it took me five long years to grow and see the unique beauty of this plant. It is sturdy enough to withstand storms, drought, abuse, and neglect. Mostly, variegated plants and mutations sporting the likes of Sanse kirkii don’t readily flower and will be produced once the plant is very old. Sansevierias are the second best pollution-absorbers as was studied by the National Aeronautical Space Administration (NASA) of the US when they brought the plants to outer space as source of natural oxygen and pollution-absorbers. In China, because of the plants’ longevity, they are even passed on as inheritance and treasure included in the last will and testaments of the dying owners who themselves might have inherited them from their predecessors. Sansevierias are very strong plants that can damage their pots-even large ones. Kuya Bimbo Vergara personally experienced this when a Sansevieria sp. of his broke the butt of his ”burnay” jar! Ate Aireen Bernal kept Sansevieria cylindrical in a hole-less large plastic pot with standing water without any adverse effect for quite some time (she has removed the plant and might have sent it to her Tarlac garden). A leaf cutting I took from the original mother plant I raised took four months before it sent out signs of new growth and as I am now writing this blog, the new leaf is still small and coiled. It might take a month or so before it opens. The rooted cutting I took sent out its new growth after around two months.
Unusual plants might be considered status symbols but let us not make them slaves while we seek self-fame and gratification. They are living things that need love, care, the right to live and exist and fill its niche in nature, and be understood. Let us perpetuate them for the future of this very planet of ours.
