In last week's Know Your Pocomoke I made a reference to the hardy plants that are currently scheming to take over our living room. As I mentioned in the post, we've never been sure exactly what species they belong to. Many have speculated that they came to this country from somewhere down South America way, maybe Argentina, Portugal, or Brazil. We've taken to calling them "rubber tree plants" even though they clearly are NOT rubber trees. Some (like me) are convinced that they are definitive proof of extraterrestrial life. Thanks to Bex's diligent research, however, I now have some more information to give you:
Philodendron selloum
Our plants appear to be members of the genus Philodendron, which includes over 1000 distinct species. We were right about at least one thing: many species of household philodendrons originated in tropical South America. So it looks like we can close the book on this Pocomoke mystery...at least for now. Their aggresive growth and apparent indestructibility still makes me suspicious that we may be harboring alien life forms. Or even worse, they could be nosferatu - the Undead!
1 Comment:
I think this blog entry needs some sort of 'Free Willy' resolution, where you return the philodendron to its native soils in south america, freeing it from such potted degredation.
Post a Comment