Stone Jaguar Posted September 22, 2014 Report Share Posted September 22, 2014 This plant is from a mixed batch of seeds that I received from Pinoy Plants in mid-2006. This plant is being grown in California, but I have several others in Guatemala. It seems to be rather slow growing when compared to other Hydnophytum spp. that I cultivate. It has a very interesting and distinctive form with large, slot-like entry holes concentrated on one end of a somewhat elongate caudex that is a common feature to all of these plants that I have. Algal/moss growth on the caudex is a byproduct of very high relative humidity in the cool tropical greenhouse that it's located in. While the plant flowers fairly well at this time of year it has so far refused to fruit reliably so may require manual pollination. As is evident in the first image, the canopy is extremely "bushy" when the plant is unstressed. Ciao, J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Wistuba Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 While the plant flowers fairly well at this time of year it has so far refused to fruit reliably That's a nice one and a pity it does not multply. Some of the most interesting Hydnophytinae refuse to propagate in captivity. So it does not set seeds at all or just rarely? All the best Andreas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stone Jaguar Posted September 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 Andreas: It has only set a few fruit over the past years that I did not harvest, so I suppose "rarely" is the case with it. Hopefully, this year I will obtain some fruit from this flowering cycle. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Wistuba Posted September 23, 2014 Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 Andreas: It has only set a few fruit over the past years that I did not harvest, so I suppose "rarely" is the case with it. Hopefully, this year I will obtain some fruit from this flowering cycle. J Hi Jay, if you harvest one, think of a passionate Grower in Germany... All the best Andreas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stone Jaguar Posted September 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2014 Haha!! At this point, I could hardly forget this "passionate grower in Germany"!! Kinda hoping that one of my ferrugineum gets with the program, too...still no flowers. You will certainly be the first to know J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd Kramer Posted December 7, 2016 Report Share Posted December 7, 2016 Jay, Is this plant the same as your H. formicarum "Pumpkin"? I know Frank grows H. sp. "Philippine Dwarf" that Frank says is the same as your H. "Pumpkin". If that is the case the H. formicarum "Pumpkin" I have from you is fruiting like crazy at a very small size. Have a great day. Todd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted December 7, 2016 Report Share Posted December 7, 2016 Hi Todd, I think Jay is going to end up confirming that that was my mistake in my email to you. I think Jay has used Philippine dwarf to mean the plant he also calls "shoe caudex" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd Kramer Posted December 7, 2016 Report Share Posted December 7, 2016 Thank you for the information, Frank. Good to know that H. sp. "Shoe Caudex" and H. sp. "Philippine Dwarf" are one in the same. Those both originated from Merlin Sy is that correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stone Jaguar Posted December 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2016 No, Todd. Your plant depicted appears to be H formicarum "Pumpkin" (my denomination). This is just a very nice form of formicarum that originated from Merlin Sy. The other plant is quite different and appears to be part of the moseleyanum-types. It has very large entrance holes evident in the caudex from youth. See pictures at the beginning of the thread. These appear to provide refuge to far larger animals than ants, presumably small arboreal lizards, frogs, roaches, etc. They do not fruit like formicarum. This plant also originated, like the H. "philippinense" also in cultivation here and in the EU, from Merlin. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd Kramer Posted December 8, 2016 Report Share Posted December 8, 2016 Jay, you are absolutely correct and I updated my post to reflect that. I was busy at work and taking little mental breaks reading and posting here and had my plants crossed up. Thank you very much for the information on those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted December 10, 2016 Report Share Posted December 10, 2016 Quote No, Todd. Your plant depicted appears to be H formicarum "Pumpkin" (my denomination). This is just a very nice form of formicarum that originated from Merlin Sy. Jay, you wrote the above quote. Where is the photo by Todd that you are talking about? Also, let me add some useful information about the H formicarum from Merlin Sy that Jay calls the "Pumpkin". I got seeds of this same species from Merlin in October of 2006, and he provided this information with the seeds: "from a mountain range in Quezon Province, on the Island of Luzon in the Philippines" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stone Jaguar Posted December 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2016 Hi, Frank. Todd edited the post and appears to have removed the image of a fruiting formicarum. Thanks for the additional info. I had only gotten as far as Quezon Province with him as an origin. I think we must have gotten seeds right around the same time. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd Kramer Posted December 10, 2016 Report Share Posted December 10, 2016 I had updated my post and removed the picture to maintain continuity with the post title but I will add the picture back in now that we are discussing the H. foricarum "Pumpkin" as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.