Urospatha and Montrichardia

From: Piabinha at aol.com on 1999.11.15 at 16:22:34(3837) at the california academy of sciences in SF, i bought a nice calendar with illustrations by margaret mee. one of the pictures is of Urospatha sagittifolia (?), i believe. also, in the spring, i was in rio de janeiro, where i saw Montrichardia grown at the sitio burle-marx. does anyone grow any of these aquatics? tsuh yang chen, nyc, USA

From: donburns at macconnect.com on 1999.11.15 at 16:56:30(3839) Julius Boos and I both grow Urospatha and Dracontioides. Urospatha is a particularly easy grower. I have Montrichardia here but am finding it difficult to grow. Am not yet sure why. And I suspect our friend Eduardo Goncalves is growing all three in Brasil. Don Burns +More Plantation FL Zone 10b

From: "Craig M. Allen" cm_allen at yahoo.com> on 1999.11.15 at 19:31:12(3840) We have Montrichardia arborescens on display at Fairchild Tropical Garden, 10901 Old Cutler Road, Miami, Florida 33156. 305-667-1651. It is in the pond at the Windows to the Tropics Conservatory. In the summer we occasionally move some to out door ponds.Recently I sent some propagations to the Shedd Aquarium, Chicago. It probably isn't on display just yet, but they needed some for their electric eel exhibit. Eels breed in the root mass of this species. Craig +More --- Piabinha@aol.com wrote: > at the california academy of sciences in SF, i bought a nice calendar with > illustrations by margaret mee. one of the pictures is of Urospatha > sagittifolia (?), i believe. > > also, in the spring, i was in rio de janeiro, where i saw Montrichardia grown > > at the sitio burle-marx. > > does anyone grow any of these aquatics? > > tsuh yang chen, nyc, USA > > ===== Craig M. Allen Conservatory Manager 'Windows to the Tropics' Fairchild Tropical Garden 10901 Old Cutler Road, Miami, Florida 33156 Tel. 305-667-1651 ext. 3320 FAX 305-661-8953 email: cm_allen@yahoo.com Web site: http://www.ftg.org __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com

From: "Julius Boos" ju-bo at email.msn.com> on 1999.11.22 at 04:36:06(3848) To all the aquatic aroid freaks out there, there is a dwarf cult. of Montrichardia that I have collected in Trinidad, W.I. that will only grow to about 5 ft tall, generally less, 'trunks' as thick as your finger, and it blooms at this size! Has NOT grown larger with better soil and fert. as one would expect. These plants grow in 'poor' conditions in two areas of T`dad, one is in the gravel bank of a river on the N.Coast, another is in the earth 'bank' above a small sheltered beach also on the N. Coast. They grew well for me, and for a couple of friends who just stick the 3 gal pot in their fish ponds. There are giant clones of this plant growing near to these dwarfs, some to 15-20' with 'trunks' 6" in dia!! Cheers, Julius +More ===== Craig M. Allen Conservatory Manager 'Windows to the Tropics' Fairchild Tropical Garden 10901 Old Cutler Road, Miami, Florida 33156 Tel. 305-667-1651 ext. 3320 FAX 305-661-8953 email: cm_allen@yahoo.com Web site: http://www.ftg.org __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com

From: "Jay Vannini" interbnk at infovia.com.gt> on 1999.11.22 at 16:14:48(3852) Dear Mr. Boos: Found your comments on "dwarf" Montrichardia of interest. I have also found a short-statured (2.00-2.20 m) stand of Montrichardia growing and blooming in a Bactris (?) palm swamp on the Caribbean coast of Guatemala. This species seems to be fairly tolerant of different growing conditions there - in the same general region, the Westin Hotel "Cayos del Diablo" has a couple dozen similar-sized stems planted in a sheltered cove just behind the tideline in muck and coral sand, but basically damp or dry most of the day. They've been there for five or so years now, so I guess Montrichardia is more amenable to drier conditions than I would have expected from seeing them under natural conditions. Cheerio, Jay Vannini

From: "Julius Boos" ju-bo at email.msn.com> on 1999.11.25 at 16:43:35(3864) >Dear Mr. Boos:< Dear Jay, Glad to hear from you! It is interesting that you have observed this 'dwarf' form of Montrichardia in Guatemala!! What interests me is that in T`dad this small form seems to be genitically 'fixed', as if it is grown in 'good' soil and fertilized, it remains small, and does not become a 'giant' like it`s 'cousins' growing close by under 'better' conditions! I believe this illustrates how Aroids seemingly mutate and evolve much more quickly than is presently recorded. We had quite a long discussion in this forum on this point a while ago. They will grow under drier conditions than one would expect---- a friend of mine in Trinidad, W.I., planted it in a garden bed in his dry yard, way above the water table where the only water received was from the on and off rains and the occasional watering from a hose, yet this plant did well, so well in fact that it spread out from the bed onto his lawn area where he had to mow the emerging 'trunks' down with his lawn mower!!!! I`d bet that the small form you found growing in wetter conditions in Guatemala also belong to this 'small clone', and grew from it`s seeds!! There is a great need for a revision of this genus! In T`dad one can observe several populations of this genus growing close together, what would be classified as M. linifera seems to favor fresh water swamps, while M. arborescens favors salt/brackesh water conditions, and then there are these 'dwarf' populations growing in poorer, drier conditions remain an enigma!! Also of interest is that my friend Joep Moonen tells me that in Fr. Guiana the two presently recognised species in this genus can be found growing in fresh water close to each other, but that the 'primitive' bird, the Hoatzin, will feed soley on the leaves of Montrichardia linefera, NOT M. arborescens! It too seems able to recognise the difference between these two plants!!! There is a population growing high in the crater lake of the dormant volcano on Grenada Island, W.I. that is said to look 'different' that needs to be investigated. +More Hopefully in our lifetimes SOMEONE will sort them out!!! All the best, Julius

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