Hi
Doesn't look like spath to me either nor does the flower.
While there are variagated usually to the edges or streaked. I'm sure your guess as to what it really is are as good as mine I will say it's definitely an aroid lol
They often sell plants with tags that say "6 inch tropical " lol
good luck gary

Gary,
Haha, well that narrows it down doesn't it? :P In that case, it probably would have been better if they just stuck a tag in with it to say "tropical foliage" lol. Well, this might be one of those "trial and error" plants. Not too sure if it'll like to stay moist and be a thirst hog like a Spath or dry out between waterings like an Alg. We shall see! Adds a bit of excitement to the plant in some ways. Thanks for your input.

Planto

Nice looking plant!

The leaves have a geniculum, a definite clue. I believe that would eliminate Dief and Aglaonema, but include Anthurium (1,000 species) as well as Spathiphyllum (which has about 40 species.)

Definitely nothing about this particular plant on CF website. Hate the way they do that! How are people supposed to get intimately acquainted with a new plant? I think you got the most specific CF tag I've heard of yet, a first example (of accuracy, or lack thereof) if you are ever able to find a name you are sure fits. They've not been on my radar long enough to have an opinion about the accuracy of the vague labels they usually do provide. ("Succulent" and "plants of steel" is pretty easy to get right.)

This is driving me nuts.

I've searched and thus far barked up all the wrong trees. Given half a chance I'm getting one,but first it'd be kinda nice to know what I was even getting! LOL

For the love of mercy would someone please tell us what the heck this thing is??? :)

Tiff,
Thanks for the information. I've never heard of "geniculum" before, I had to look that word up. Interesting, I didn't know that part of a plant had a word (that sounds silly now that I say that aloud, everything on a plant has a name lol). I purchased a Maranta the other day, I wonder if those also have "geniculum," to allow for their night time movement.

Yeah, I hate how they sell plants but a number of them aren't on their website as plants they offer. Sad thing is about the tag was it said 'Peace Lily' and showed a picture of your garden variety 'Peace Lily.' Not sure how they looked at both the plant and the picture and went yeah, this looks about right. I guess they had to stick something on it (something is better than nothing? Maybe that's EA's take on labeling their plants. I have no idea what this is, oh, here's a label lol).

I've seen a variegated 'Peace Lily' before and know of one that has yellow colored petioles, but I've never something like this before. I showed it to my Mom who has grown quite a number of plants in her lifetime and even she said she's never seen anything like it before. I wonder if whoever was growing it at Costa Farms even knows what it was lol.

Asleep,
Well, at least I'm not alone in my falling into madness trying to ID this plant. :P Yeah, that would make it difficult to purchase something and you don't even know what it is. The BBS I went to only had three of them. I went back the other day and discovered one other was gone and the third one, well it looks like it bit the dust. It almost appeared as if someone put it outside overnight. The leaves and petioles were collapsed on themselves and completely blackened. Poor plant. I looked at the other BBS (we have three of this particular store in town) and none of the others has them.

Planto

wwwupcdatabase?

I see a bar code on the container.

Worth a shot anyway.

Please inform us of your findings! :)

I found one source that says Maranta has a geniculum. Good call/thinking.

Peace lily is a popular name people recognize, and there's no right/wrong with common names. If it is another species of Spathiphyllum, that's probably the common name I'd put on it if I sold plants. Speaking of which, I couldn't get a fix on "the" species name for PL. Maybe a synonym situation, or some look just like others to the casual observer. (I was wearing sweats, and don't have any PL's for a while now, so definitely casually observing.)

Not telling people the name of a plant is just bizarre to me. Assuming they know? Your plant is really strange, Planto, because it looks like nothing I've seen before. With a name, people could make the big deal over it that it probably deserves, as would any 'new' house plant, but especially one so popular as PL.

With names, they could charge a lot more for some plants. I can buy a Stromanthe for the same price as asparagus fern (lawn weed) or single strand of Pothos? I wish the stores had the same mentality about meat or cheese, fruit. "Well people don't know their names, so let's just say 'cheese' and charge the same price for all." LMAO! Are they still catering to the few people out there who aren't carrying the internet around (smart phones?) Do they really think WE don't know what they are and just vaguely shop for 'green things?' 'Succulent.' Oh, well NOW I want it...

What other industry sells mystery items? I can't think of anything else.

Asleep,
Thanks for the link. I typed in the UPC and *sigh* it says "Item not found."

Tiff,
Interesting about the Maranta. Hubby already likes the plant a lot, he finds the "praying" action very fascinating (I do too). Yeah, now that you mention it, it is a bit odd that they charge the same price for a 'Spider Plant' (I think I remember you mentioning, was it you? that your Mother had them growing like weeds in her yard) as say a more uncommon house plant. In some ways, it's a "rip off" to pay so much for a "weed," but it comes in handy when you pay so little for a steal (I only paid $4 for this plant). They would make more money if they priced things according to their rarity, but let's not give them any ideas. :P

Sadly, I do think there are some people who know nothing about plants and will buy whatever looks pretty. I guess to those people, names don't matter... but for those of us that are avid house plant growers, a properly IDed plant would be nice for once lol.

Planto

Well business people aren't TOO dumb. I'm sure they've looked @ both & decided they'll make more money at "X" price on all than diff price points. If the Pothos, Scheffs and Sans are 'supporting' the other plants, it's a good thing.

Anyone who finds a plant worthy of purchase even if they don't know what it is isn't sad to me, hopefully the start of an enjoyable learning experience. Otherwise, I'd be guilty of such, and you too!

Tiff,
I 'spose you have a point. Considering the average price of differing plants, it may come out to be more or possibly the same amount of money by putting them all at the same price instead of one more than the other. Might cost them more in the long run to market plant at varying prices (just an idea, maybe it doesn't).

Again, you have a point, haha. That statement does indeed apply to me with this plant. I didn't mean to infer that people who purchase plants like that are sad though. Was just typing and not considering the word I used. >.> I have no idea what it is, yet I picked it up because it's pretty. I'm trying to figure out what kind of lighting it likes and what kind of watering it cares for (drying out in between waterings, staying consistently moist) at the moment. That should be fun lol.

Planto

What do ya think?

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:381305}}

Asleep,
Close, but no cigar. :\

Planto

IKR???

The spadix says dief but the spathe says spath!

I'm bewildered...but I know that the key to this lies in that inflorescence.

Asleep,
I was thinking the same about the spathe, I had to look twice because I saw a resemblance. Unfortunately for us, not the same plant. :\

I also agree, the inflorescence holds the secret.

Planto

Well if we never figure it out,at least we know by the look of it that it's a aroid from a rain forest(my guess would be south america),so it's cultural needs would be no different from any jungle aroid,yaknow?

Still... =/

Asleep,
True. I'll find out one way or another about its watering and lighting. Algs like lower light, less water. Diffs like a bit more light, more watering (not drying out as much in between waterings like an Alg). :D

Planto

LOL...I know someone who's gonna be very happy with me!

Without a doubt I HAVE it this time!

AS it turns out the elusive beast has indeed been a spath the whole time! It's called 'silver streak' and guess what??? No patent!!!

So propagation isn't restricted. I imagine it would be by division like any other peace lily(in the event that you're a big fan of such...like me!).

Here is a link that might be useful: here's the link...check out that inflorescence!

Looks like it to me!

Holy smokes, it is a 'Peace Lily!' I have a little more faith in the labeling off Costa Farms now lol. Thanks so much, Asleep! I don't want to imagine how long it took you to find this. :/

Planto

'Morning All,

I came late to the conversation, very interesting. I too thought Agl, maybe one of the newer ones they've been adding / showing recently.

AITG's last pic really does look like a match to me. Otherwise, I was going to suggest EMailing a pic of the plant & its Bar Code & asking Costa Farms to ID it.

Looked up geniculum, but botanical references I saw mentioned joint in stem or node, so I'm miffed how Purp means it in the leaves.

Anyway, good mystery, glad you solved it, good looking plant & for $4, wooo-hooo! Enjoy!

"I don't want to imagine how long it took you to find this"

My fees are nominal. JK ;)

Glad to be of help! :)

The geniculi that Purp was talking about are here,circled in red.

TY for the visual, Asleep. And you're right, PG, the leaves don't have a geniculum, the petiole does. Good catch!

Hi

Glad to hear you got an ID. I raise mostly orchids and since there are at least 30,000 species 60,000 hybrids
I always use latin names Then people say I'm "snooty" lol
I'm struggling with a plant labeled "Palm orchid " Just by reading the name you know it's not right , Can't be both so obviously it's neither lol
Besides putting at least patial names on sale plants a great addition would be prices?? LOL Oh well all part of the joy of gardening ?? gary

Gary,
Thanks. :) I know the latin names to some of my houseplants... I think Hubby has a hard enough time remembering the common names, so I don't use the latin names often lol.

I thought I'd be somewhat helpful (you already know so much about Orchids, not sure I'm going to be providing any information you don't already know) and I looked up "Palm Orchid." Seems its also known as a "Ground Orchid." I could be totally out in left field, but when I typed in "ground orchid," one of the results that appeared was Spathoglottis plicata (maybe at the very least, this is a shot in the right direction).

Planto

Hi
I like to call those " Terrestrial " to differentiate from those that form bulbs or those that are semi-epiphytic There are some that grow like mushrooms for which there is a name which I've forgotten . They requrie decaying veggie matter
Then the true epiphytes but there are some that are parasitic so need another group .lol What they all have in common is 3 petals and 3 sepals arranged and modified into a gazillion forms lol For me Spathiglottis grows best semi though it certainly will grow i "ground " but not my ground lol
The so-called " Palm orchid " has true flowers so not a palm one layer of 5 petals so not an orchid lol The latin name is Curculigo orchidoides Asian tropical actually in a family of its own It does have faint resemblance to a seedling palm and pleated leaves like some terrestrial orchids The flowers are most interesting as they emerge from the ground forming a circle around the stem .
When searching for name i found 25 separate common names "orchid palm" was by far the stupidest though maybe second is" grass pinks "lol. Thank the lord for the internet?? lol Thanks gary

Gary,
Haha, okay. Do you have a picture of your plant? It sounds interesting.

Planto

Hi
Well it was interesting until it overran the shadehouse lol
It sends out runners and sprouts about every 6 inches
Since it's around 5 feet high becomes very dense happily sends out runners to every pot it can reach if it runs out of soil it climbs the walls lol
I recently started a tree fern bed and transplanted a couple there probably a mistake lol
There is a very rare red form that I would love to find
but no luck so far It is downright spectacular at least in pix lol
I don't think I have any pix of it the flowers being the most interesting because of the habit Won't have flowers until warm weather but will try to get a pic of the plants... gary

Gary,
You are in FL I see, where you have to be more careful of "invasive" plants. I envy you. ;) Haha, it may just "weed" out your fern bed!

Planto

Hi
Since you seem to be a fan of spathiphyllum,. have a ?? for you. On a visit to HD they had a gazillion of these of many types as usual and noted one that had a pink spathe. have seen many types but never one with any color than white . At first i thought it an Anthurium but feel certain it was a spath. I then figured it was dyed since it was the holiday season . Decided to buy it but since I was there for plumbing went in side the store and when I returned it was gone lol
Are there other colors?? If so do you know the names of the cultivars?? thanks gary

Gary,
We have a HD nearby, but I've never seen a pink one there! I'm not familiar with any Spathiphyllum that produces another colored spathe other than white. But, it seems that I only know the tip of the iceburg when it comes to 'Peace Lilies', haha.

These are the only "colored" Spathiphyllums I know of (their petioles or leaves are different colors). You may have already seen these, if so, my apologies.

Spathiphyllum 'Domino" (there's tons of photos online about this one. I tried posting a picture from Dave's Garden, but it kinda kicked me for doing that lol). This is the "well known" white variegated form.

Spathiphyllum 'Golden Glow': I couldn't find a good picture of this one, but I know you can find it on the blog "Plantsarethestrangestpeople." He shows one of his 'Peace Lilies' that he believes is a 'Golden Glow.' It's more of a yellowish green color overall (leaves and petioles).

Spathiphyllum 'White Lightning': Again, I couldn't find a good picture of this one as there appears to be only one picture online that I could find... it has green leaves and yellowish colored petioles.

Those are the only three color variations I know of, but I don't know of any Spathiphyllums that have different colored spathes. That would be something to see if there is such a cultivar. I hope the ones you saw at HD weren't dyed. I know they like to do that to Phal orchids.... since when was blue a natural color for most house plants. ;)

Planto

This post was edited by plantomaniac08 on Thu, Jan 23, 14 at 8:54

Hi
I grow quite a few types of Spathiphyllum mostly outdoors but in pots . Most are just different sizes but do have bothe the yellow and white variagated types In all these the spathe is varying degrees of white though they turn green
if left in place great variation in size seems related to the size of the variety. But never pink!! lol
HD sells a lot of dyed plants usually during the holidays . Orchids, Poinsettias mostly, some even have glitter glued on lol So I figured why not spathiphyllum ??lol Most of their plants come from Costa farrms but found no mention of pink spaths lol
Would think a pink form would sell like hot cakes??Certainly caught my eye !! Thanks for the info gary

Gary,
Sure thing (about the information). I have seen the "glittered" Poinsettas before. I saw some spray painted cacti at HD earlier today. >.>

Planto

so i went to costa farm site and poked around looking for pink spath - found this pic.. it's pink anthurium with spaths that look like spath :). i don't see them selling it, but it's a catch if you see it again.

Here is a link that might be useful: pink anthurium

This post was edited by petrushka on Sat, Jan 25, 14 at 19:03

so i went searching some more for pink anturiums - i've never seen an anthurium with such narrow spaths. and found these articles about a. amnicola. they also hybridize them with a. andreanum .
do you think it could be that?
'the white lady' hybrid seems to be like that too - they call them tulip shaped flowers - very narrow and elegant.
it's a good site with lots of info on anthuriums.

Here is a link that might be useful: a. amnicola

this gallery from hawaii has the best pics of diff colors, very pretty

Here is a link that might be useful: tulip anthuriums

hi
Pink in Anthuriums is rather common along with red/green /white bicolored even black though I'd call it deep purple lol
Certainly could have been an anthurium since there are over a 1000 varieties and I've seen every one of them lol
Feel fairly certain it was a spathiphyllum have never seen nor heard of a "pink " form which is what caught my eye
Wish I could have bought it even if an anthurium as it had a much different habit than those I grow . My favs are the lacquered looking brilliant reds or the green red bicolors .
Most of the plants in the local HD come from costa which is why I checked out their site Could find no mention of a Pink spathiphyllum though Thanks for the info !! gary

you would know better, i am just totally new - got my 1st anthurium (alabama, dutch hybrid) just a mo ago. so i am curious, seems a. amniola are produced mostly in hawaii. do you see any in fl shops? may be shows?
some of hybrids with a. andreanum have more anthurim like leaves, though narrower and shaarper pointed. but actual a.amnicolas have very spath like leaves.
here's another pic - on the last one you can see the leaves clearer.

Here is a link that might be useful: purple spadix a.amnicola

Hi
About all I grow are andreanun and hybrids . I grow mostly outdoors and find many of the family too sensitive .
Not familiar with that one but if it exists there's probably some somewhere in florida lol. A gazillion nursuries lol
Ah the 'shows" the biggest is the "fairchild ramble" supposedly they had 14000 species!! Most are species specific such as orchids Hibiscus but there is also a huge Aroid show . May be one specific to anthuriums ??
After all these years as a collector I'm trying to develop a landscape so I don't attend the shows WAY to much temptation for an impulse buyer lol
Sorry I couldn't be of more help gary

Hi! Apologies for the delay on seeing this post... The photos originally posted plantomaniac08(8) but the photo showing further down is the 'White Stripe' spathiphyllum we used to grow. Sadly, it didn't perform well for us, so we're no longer growing that one. Regarding tags and accuracy: I totally hear you --- our tagging isn't the most accurate in the world. We typically don't go variety-specific on our tags because it makes things MUCH more expensive for us... and we have to keep our costs within the threshold of what our retailer partners are willing to buy our plants for (while still being able to afford to invest in research and development to find and test new plants...). Another problem is that we're human --- everyone makes mistakes and with the volume of plants we produce, it happens from time to time that the wrong tag gets put in the wrong plant. We are always working on making things better, though, and we're testing some different systems that can help us be more specific on tags without becoming crazy expensive. But if you have any questions about our plants, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. Oh, and by the way: I'm working to get every plant we sell photographed and put up on the website with the variety name, but it's a slow process... ---Justin, Costa Farms

That last line would be immensely helpful Justin & we would all be sooooo grateful.

I just found a couple of variegated succulents over the wknd which look like Aloes, but no had ID other than assorted 4" succulents (from Costa Farms).

I've never seen these plants before so I bought both (pricey for the size at my local BBS) but never seen by me before & I love variegates as long as green & white (not yellow). One regular green w/ white, but the other more white w/ green (never saw that before!). Last night I tried to search CF for the bar code #s to no avail. Perhaps I can take pix later on this wk & ask Justin to ID, tho' I was planning to send the pix to CF for ID. Am so curious as to the ID.

Hi lmontestella: If you want to email me the pictures, I'm happy to have our cacti/succulent grower help ID them. (I probably won't be able to help; c/s are not my area of expertise.)

I know it's frustrating --- and we're working on trying to change things --- but it's almost impossible for us to label our cacti and succulents by variety right now with our current systems. But I am trying to work with our growers to get the varieties updated on the cacti and succulent pages of our Plant Library. I really, really appreciate your patience... it's a challenge for me to go out and get everything collected, photographed, and uploaded when I'm just a one-man show, especially since I'm also maneuvering my other job responsibilities here at Costa Farms.

---Justin, Costa Farms