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bihai

Anthurium titanium

bihai
16 years ago

Does anyone own one of these, who might have a color photo of it? I'd like to compare it to mine.

Comments (10)

  • jaxfl_dude
    16 years ago

    I bought a plant labeled Anthurium Titanum a couple years ago. I couldn't find any info on it on the web so figured it was incorrect. I believe what I have is Anthurium Faustino's Giant. I'll see if I can take a pic of it tomorrow although you maybe talking about a completly different plant...

  • bihai
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    THere actually is one by that name, there is a photo on the Aroid Society webpages, but its in black and white and to me poor quality. I can;t tell if its my plant or not. Mine may also be Faustino's Giant.

  • exoticrainforest
    16 years ago

    Photos of Anthurium titanium are difficult to find. If you can locate a copy of Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 1983, A Revision of the Genus Anthurium (ARACEAE) of Mexico and Central America, Part 1 by Dr. Tom Croat there is a clear photo of a leaf with a detailed description. That photo is also black and white but is quite clear and should be relatively east to compare to Anthurium faustomirandae to make a distinction. A. faustomirandae is the species commonly called Faustino's Giant.

    If a good library doesn't have one, you can order it from the Missouri Botanical Garden bookstore and I believe the International Aroid Society offers it for sale as well. If you enjoy trying to figure out which Anthurium is which, this is a good book to add to any plant collection library for Mexican and Central American species. It is a two part book, so you might want to order both parts (1 and 2).

    The leaf of Anthurium titanium is distinctly heart shaped and looks only a little like that of Anthurium faustomirandae. If your plant is young, the distinction is much clearer. You should be easily able to tell them apart. At the link I am giving you here, there are a number of photos including one by LariAnn Garner and several others of A. faustomirandae. Sorry, I've been unable to locate good photos in color of Anthurium titanium on the net.

    There is however a partial color photo on the Missouri Botanical Garden website, TROPICOS. Be sure and use the correct spelling. Seems a shame, but TROPICOS is not set up to allow for any errors in spelling. Anthurium titanium is an odd spelling which includes an i. Many have made an innocent error and left out the i and as a result found no results. Hope this helps.

    Here is a link that might be useful: A. faustomirandae

  • bihai
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Thanks but I have A. faustomirandae so your photos only replicate my own plants. There is enough difference in the one I have as fausto and th eone Ihave as titanium that I believe they are different plants, however, I am not sure titanium is titanium

  • bihai
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    This is the plant I have as Titanium.
    The leaves on this plant are definitely heart shaped, but it is extremely THICK. The leaf has no flexibility. It is the thickness of a sheet of posterboard. If you tried to bend it, it would not crease, it would crack. It has a definite green veining that's quite a bit lighter than the leaf color. The leaves are held very stiffly upright on tall stems. Like I said, its different from my Faustomirandae, but I don't know if its really Titanium

    {{gwi:395272}}

  • exoticrainforest
    16 years ago

    According to the notes from Dr. Croat's journal, the leaf blades for Anthurium titanium are only moderately coriacious. That would translate to moderately thick. On Anthurium faustomirandae he indicates the blades to be extremely thick. I don't have his journal in front of me at this time since these species are described in two different books, but I believe he indicated thickly coriaceous which would equate to "cardboard". His photo of Anthurium titanium appears to show a blade that has some puffiness to the surface. I'm not sure botanically it could be called bullate (puffy)m but is close, at least from the photograph.

    All specimens of Anthurium faustomirandae I have personally seen were flat and show nothing that could be called bullate or puffy. His description would sound exactly like "cardboard" but that is a term Tom would never use in a scientific journal. If you try to bend one that I've seen, it will snap before it easily bends. There was a large specimens at the IAS show in September.

    I will quickly admit, despite the fact I've been trying to find one, I have yet to ever actually see a verified Anthurium titanium, all I've been able to do is read the description. That is one of the species I want to add to the collection so I can do more study and write a page.

    So each grower will have to draw their own conclusions. Your photo above certainly does appear to approximate LariAnn's photo of Anthurium faustomirandae as opposed to Dr. Croat's photo of A. titanium.

  • lariann
    16 years ago

    Bihai,
    I have a selection of A. faustomirandae and one of them has leaves that look exactly like the leaf in your picture. I know what mine are because I know where the seeds came from. There is a significant degree of variation amongst seed-grown specimens of A. faustomirandae. Some have a very open sinus (space between the "ears") and others, like some of mine have "ears" which overlap over the sinus. Some are very flat and smooth and others are puckered to a degree, but certainly not bullate.

    The plant in your picture fits in well within the morphological range I see in my collection of A. faustomirandae plants.

    LariAnn
    Aroidia Research

    Here is a link that might be useful: A. faustomirandae leaves

  • bihai
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Thanks, LariAnn!
    I was wondering if it really was A. titanium, because I know how rare that plant really is.
    So, I have 2 Faustomirnadaes that look different.
    Classic!

  • exoticrainforest
    16 years ago

    Don't feel alone. I'd venture any of us who collect a lot have found that a number of our specimens are actually the same species but bear only a vague resemblance.

    I now have four totally different varieties of Philodendron stenolobum. None look anything like the other. The leaves of some are long and thin, others wide and fat, and some have very frilly edges. I thought for certain I had four unique species. Only when I began to send photos to several botanists, including Dr. Eduardo Gonçalves in Brazil, did I learn they were all the same species. Eduardo has done a great deal of work with that species and was kind enough to send me a fairly detailed explanation of how the Philodendron grows and how much it varies. One was bought labeled "Philodendron williamsii" but turned out to truly be P. stenolobum. I still don't have Philodendron wiliamsii due to the extreme rarity of the species. And even that one has variances that look nothing alike! Two were on display at the IAS show and I recognized one but had to be told what the other was. One has glossy leaves while the other has matt leaves.

    Then Dr. Croat, just out of the blue, sent me a photo of a very large plant and asked "what is this"? the plant was one that was donated to the MOBOT collection. I was shocked. I'm the one who is always asking him what some plant might be! I never expected him to ask me for an opinion! I looked carefully at my four P. stenolobum and saw a resemblance to the one in Dr. Croat's photos. So I guessed it was Philodendron stenolobum. I figured, since he is one of my mentors, he was testing me. Turned out, he didn't know! He hadn't worked with that species, or at least not that variety of the species. I was just lucky, but even the very best sometimes run into a specimen they don't quickly recognize.

    If you sit with Dr. Croat and talk for an hour or two you'll learn he sometimes sees plants he has to dig out all his own journals in order to make a determination. I took him to one a year ago and he literally dissected it while checking his journals before offering an opinion. And it turned out to be something neither of us expected.

    It's no wonder so many of us have tags on plants that likely aren't accurate. I change them all the time. The enormous variance in Philodendron and Anthurium species is one of the things that prompted me to try to learn more and write down what I had learned. Memories quickly fade. And the more I think I learn, the more I realize I know next to nothing which is why I now refer to my own notes as well as those of all the botanists who are kind enough to help us all.

    It is the nature of aroid collecting. And to me, that is one of the major factors that makes aroid collecting so interesting.

  • exoticrainforest
    16 years ago

    Sorry I didn't spell Philodenron williamsii correctly! My fingers don't always do what my brain wants them to do!

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