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NOID similar to alo portodora/ birds nest fern?

petrushka (7b)
10 years ago

any idea what this can be?
the plant grows out of low upright rosette, it's the size of giant bird's nest fern. leaves about 4' long and 12-18" wide, but with veining similar to alocasia portodora. there is no split of the leaf at the stem (arrow like) and the stem is ultra short, a few inches only.
i did not have a camera with me, so could find a very distant pic only. in the background is alocasia calidora i think, the plant i am talking about is in front : 2 of them.
i think i found a match - it's bird's nest anthurium.
anybody grows them? i hear they are quite common in florida?

Here is a link that might be useful: here's what it looked like closest

This post was edited by petrushka on Sun, Nov 17, 13 at 18:33

Comments (11)

  • tropicbreezent
    10 years ago

    When I saw in the title "similar to alo portodora/ birds nest fern" my first thought was this I must see. But I did suspect it was an Anthurium. There's quite a few different Birds Nest Anthuriums, I have a number but only one is identified, Anthurium plowmanii. The others I'm not sure. A. cubense is another birds nest type that I've seen in nurseries. They grow as epiphytes but also do well on the ground. And some get quite large. That Exotic Rainforest site has good info on them.

  • petrushka (7b)
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    i've since seen posts that in fl they sell them as a. hookeri and they are quite common. they are just gorgeous! apparently they are native to centAm and mexico. the one i've seen in person has white thick veining totally similar to alocasia portora, just the leaves are longer, narrower and more ovate. and also leaves are quite crinkled, very 3D, great texture.
    found another pic similar, nice site,lots of good pics

    Here is a link that might be useful: schlechtendalii

    This post was edited by petrushka on Wed, Nov 20, 13 at 11:03

  • petrushka (7b)
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    just saw some nice bird's nest anthuriums at fairchild in miami - very large mature leaves close to 4' in length. it was marked as A.cubense. it looked very close to that fuzzy pic of mine - which was in yucatan. apparently they are common in yucatan/guatemala and cuba (hence the name?). it's a spectacular plant. i wonder why they don't cultivate them more?

  • tropicbreezent
    10 years ago

    We get quite a few around here, but I guess the flowering isn't enough for a lot of people.

  • grabmebymyhandle
    10 years ago

    I wonder that about most aroids!

    I've honestly never tried to grow an anthurium, there are some absolutely stellar ones out there, a quick trip to eBay is enough to show that!

    The strap leaf/pig tail anth.'s are great!
    With my limited space and their inability to go dormant, I'm holding off on getting any...but it's tempting!

  • petrushka (7b)
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    finally i stumbled on a very good collection at palm hammock nursery in miami - these are such spectacular foliage plants, who needs flowers? alo/colo's don't have special flowers, yet everybody grows them.
    they had many varieties, but most of them were not marked.
    i spotted plowmanii label, but the rest were unknown. some with very long leaves, some with more rhomboid leaves. most just gigantic.
    this time i had the camera and got them all - but misplaced the cable, so can't post now...
    i'll do a pic show on aroid forum later - got so many pics, might run out of mem.
    they had a lot of rare variegated aroids there to die for - but not for sale.
    and regonia rexes !! it must be a rex heaven....the place is amazing!

  • petrushka (7b)
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    so this one is from fairchild gardens in miami,fl.
    A. cubense. they have many varieties in rainforest section - real giants. they do look very similar to each other. i'd never be able to tell them apart!

  • petrushka (7b)
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    this one is from palm hammock in south miami - these are for sale. and had lots of them.

  • petrushka (7b)
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    this one was in the ground with alocasia next to it?

  • tropicbreezent
    10 years ago

    Anthuriums are one of the (very many) favourite plants of mine.

    That one in the back of the last photo looks a lot like Alocasia lauterbachiana, but you can see the flowers are Anthurium. Similar looking ones to the second last photo are very commonly available here, but I've never been sure of their correct ID. Most nurseries are only interested in selling them, not getting into discussions on their correct IDs.

    Not long ago I got an Anthurium with a trifoliate leaf (I'm always looking for the less common types). Have had a lot of trouble trying to ID it, closest I've got is A. madisonianum. Very difficult finding any information about it.

  • petrushka (7b)
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    now wherever i go i look for anthuriums and try to find a tag for ID.
    this one is in rainforest conservatory and it is anthurium plowmanii - absolutely gigantic and in super shape.