Philodendron sp. "unknown"
We acquired this Philodendron from a Coral Gables residential landscape where it was being grown as a hedge, of all things. Periodically, the homeowner would "trim" the hedge, and we collected some of the "clippings" from the trash pile. I observed the plant in bloom and the inflorescences were typical of the Meconostigma or "tree" philodendrons in overall morphology.
About a year ago, we decided to return to the location to attempt the collection of some more cuttings, but we discovered that the plant had disappeared entirely from the area where we found it originally. Evidently, the home was sold and the new owners tore out all of the landscaping from the previous owner, including this rare Philodendron
Because of the dwarf size and interesting leaf shape, we believe that it holds great promise as a parent to future hybrids. The picture above shows the first of two blooms on our plant in January 2008.
We obtained berry set on three inflorescences in Spring/Summer of 2010, using pollen from three different hybrid plants I also developed. The above picture shows one ripe infructescence (right, orange berries), one nearly ripe (left, yellowish berries visible) and a third much less mature (behind leaves, out of sight).
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