In Search

Marvgravia sp. Condor

December 24, 2019 by ofsmallthings

This is a newer species to cultivation from Ecuador. It has distinctive purple-pink leaf venation that runs in a somewhat irregular pattern. The stem is a nice ruby red. Like many Marcgravias, it usually only produces immature foliage in a terrarium. The leaves are small and pointed, no longer than .5 inches in the immature state. The Condor are mountains in the eastern Andes that occur in Ecuador and Peru. Much of the forest is relatively untouched still, and it […]

Categories: Blog, Plant Photo Library • Tags: Condor, Ecuador, Marcgravia, noid, South America, sp

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Begonia subacida

December 23, 2019 by ofsmallthings

This species was described in 1959 by Edgar Irmischer. It is a rhizomatous species native to Brazil. It is said to be syn. with U304. The leaf undersides are a beautiful rosy pink, as are the stems. Foliage is greenish-purple, with cream or pale green leaf venation. The leaves grow very closely together, forming a compact mound. The leaves are tilted upwards in my experience. There are hundreds of hairs on each leaf, which are pink, giving the leaves a […]

Categories: Blog, Plant Photo Library • Tags: begonia, brazil, large, medium, South America, subacida

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Pearcea hypocyrtiflora ‘Green’

December 23, 2019 by ofsmallthings

This is the green form of this Pearcea, not often seen, and it seems to be quite a bit slower and less vigorous than the standard form. I received one very small plant years ago and just this year do I have plants available. I have not yet seen the flower, but suspect it’s the same bulbous orange blooms as the standard type. The leaves can reach 6″ but it often stays around 4-5″ in the terrarium. The foliage is […]

Categories: Blog, Plant Photo Library • Tags: Ecuador, flower, gesneriad, green, hypocyrtiflora, pearcea, South America

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Begonia rostrata

December 22, 2019 by ofsmallthings

This delicate looking species is from Logo, Tome, on the coast of Guinea. It is a tuberous species that like many tuberous species, is not overly tolerant of wet conditions. I let it the soil go dry between waterings by watering only about half as often as my rhizomatous species. It still requires high humidity I think, although I’m not sure how high as I’ve not tried it in an open air environment. It can reach over 12″, but would […]

Categories: Blog, Plant Photo Library • Tags: africa, annual, begonia, coast, guinea, lome, medium, old world, rostrata, togo, tuberous

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Begonia ningmingensis ‘Vietnam’

December 21, 2019 by ofsmallthings

There are at least three forms of ningmingensis, and I believe this one is the type locality. It slightly resembles B. arachnoidea in the leaf patterns. It is a slower growing species, and of the three ningmingensis types, which all display somewhat drastically different growth habits, this is the one in the middle in terms of difficulty and growth rate. The dark form is the fastest growing of the three, with var. bella being the more difficult and slow growing in […]

Categories: Blog, Plant Photo Library • Tags: asia, begonia, medium, ningmingensis, old world, se asia, small, vietnam

Paradrymonia aurea

December 20, 2019 by ofsmallthings

This plant is perhaps my favorite to use in terrariums. It is not particularly showy, but it stays small and compact and is somewhat non-descript ‘green foliage’ that does not look to me, particularly new world, or old world. For that reason, I use it in most of my biotope inspired (biotope+whatever else looks good) vivariums. It is native to Eastern Ecuador and is an IUCN Threatened species. In my experience, it only reaches about 8″ tall and stays compact. […]

Categories: Blog, Plant Photo Library • Tags: aurea, biotope, compact, Ecuador, flower, gesneriad, green, medium, paradrymonia

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Begonia bogneri

December 19, 2019 by ofsmallthings

This species was a very generous gift from a friend, and arrived looking nearly as it did in the photos below. It is a strange and beautiful one! Not surprisingly, it is native to Madagascar, which is home to some of the strangest flora and fauna in the world, having been isolated from the rest of the world for 88 million years. Its leaves do not grow much larger than the ones below (4″ pot for reference) but it will […]

Categories: Blog, Plant Photo Library • Tags: begonia, bogneri, Madagascar, small, strange

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Solanum cf. evolvulifolium

December 18, 2019 by ofsmallthings

I’ve had this plant for a few years now and up until now, it has been putting out mostly purple leaves with pale leaf venation. It’s overall appearance isn’t that exciting. This month, however, I was shocked to see an entirely different looking leaf on this species, which looked so unalike the typical growth I thought it was a hitchhiker that I was just now noticing. It has bright green leaf venation and leaf tips. Had I not checked to […]

Categories: Blog, Plant Photo Library • Tags: Ecuador, Solanum

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Sinningia bullata

December 17, 2019 by ofsmallthings

This Brazilian native is unique for a few reasons. It is tuberous species, but does not have a dormancy period, and can even flower year round. Its leaves also are covered in a sticky residue that makes your own fingers self-sticky after touching it. I’m sure theres another word for it, but somewhere between waxy and sticky. The flowers are bright orange-red and the stems and abaxial leaf surfaces are covered in thicky, wooly hairs (that also give off the […]

Categories: Blog, Plant Photo Library • Tags: bullata, sinningia

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