Arthrostemma parvifolium is a a Melastome that occurs from Mexico to El Salvador, and is wonderfully suited to terrarium culture. It often stays under 12″ but can get at least 18″ in some growing conditions. It forms a small bush and beautiful pink magenta flowers that are easy to pollinate and produce a lot of […]
Stelis gelida is also known as the ‘Frosted Pleurothallis,’ and is widely distributed throughout the Southeastern hemisphere. It also occurs in Cuba and Florida but is considered endangered in Florida, only occurring in the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve. According to the North American Orchid Center this species can be found in large colonies of oak, […]
This article is meant as an introduction to collecting Begonia seed, primarily for those who are new to identifying flower parts and collecting seed. I have only been doing this since early fall, so take this with a grain of salt. One of the purposes here is to combine information from multiple sources into one […]
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 […]
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) […]
B. metallicolor is in the Petermannia section, and is native to Padawan, Sarawak, Borneo. It resembles B. nagaensis in the iridescence, but the flowers differ. Like B. darthvaderiana, metallicolor is found in low elevation dipterocarp forest. It is a rather small species, growing to just under 12 inches, but it often stays smaller. The leaves […]
Another SE Asian species, this one, unfortunately, did not come with more precise locality data. It’s lobed leaves come out very green and very fuzzy, slowly reaching about 4″ in length. I’ve not had it very long so I cannot say for certain this is its mature size. Flowers are magenta and diminutive.
This lobe type Sonerila is from Borneo, and so far has only attained a leaf size of about 4″. New leaves come out bright pink and very very slowly grow out into longer lobed leaves. Mine flowered shortly after I received it, but the seed pods were already dry. If anyone has experience with collecting […]
This stunning species hails from China and possesses velvety leaves and a hardy constitution. It looks rather delicate, but in the terrarium at least, has proven to be a vigorous grower with little care. It blooms often. The undersides of the leaves are bright reddish-pink and visible when viewed directly from the front due to […]
This small Melastome is a wonderfully polite Melastome for the terrarium, only reaching about 12″ tall, with slow-growing, compact rosettes. It can be propagated by taking a cutting containing a few leaves and at least two inches of stem, in sphagnum. I’ve tried taking smaller cuttings, leaf cuttings, putting them in potting soil, and it […]
This trailing Gesneriad makes an excellent house plant as well as vivarium plant, and blooms often. The flowers and white with tattered edges. It is a very easy species that can grow as a foreground plant or in a hanging basket, where it will grow long pendant vines. It is found in Mexico, Costa Rica, […]
This is the easiest orchid I know of! I’ve not had good success in the past growing orchids but this one is really hard to kill. It is equally well suited to life as a house plant as a terrarium plant and is tolerant of a wide variety of conditions. If grown as a terrarium […]