Myrmecodia lamii

[piotrsw]

I began cultivating myrmecophyte plants from the Rubiaceae family in 2017, slowly getting to know different genera and species. Most of them were not commonly cultivated at the time, and many weren't even described or depicted. Quite quickly, I came across materials about the most spectacular and impressive species, Myrmecodia lamii. It's fascinating for several reasons. It's one of the largest, forming fantastical shapes due to the presence of multiple stems, and it grows in exceptionally inaccessible, beautiful, mountainous landscapes of central Papua. Of course, this is somewhat simplified. There are at least several other equally extraordinary ant plants, each characterized by some other remarkable feature.

The history of introducing Myrmecodia lamii into cultivation in Europe, or perhaps globally, is relatively long. It's difficult to access all the information, but it seems most likely that the first attempts to bring these plants and their seeds to Europe occurred in 1994, 30 years ago, when Andreas Wistuba went on an expedition to Mount Doorman. Subsequent expeditions to that region took place in 2013 and 2015.

I know of at least two collections where plants from that period still exist, but it's difficult to consider their cultivation a success. In 2015, Andreas Wistuba offered for sale two young Myrmecodia lamii plants. Although attempts to introduce this species into in vitro cultivation were unsuccessful, there is a lack of data on how many such attempts were made and how much effort was put into this area.

From our current knowledge, it appears that in vitro cultivation of myrmecophyte plants is unfavorable, or perhaps this method is still underdeveloped. Plants obtained in this way typically exhibit developmental disorders that persist for years. For example, in the case of Squamellaria major, plants obtained from in vitro culture form specimens with multiplied tubers, which is quite different from the natural development of this species.

It seems that the first successful cultivation of Myrmecodia lamii was achieved by Akihiro Ito from Japan. In 2022, he obtained seeds from his imported specimens, which germinated to produce a new generation of plants. This is just one of the many successes and discoveries of this extraordinary cultivator.

My search for Myrmecodia lamii began in 2018, six years ago. I invested a lot of effort and later financial resources into these searches. This period was a time of getting to know many new people and attempting to purchase Myrmecodia lamii in Europe or Indonesia. I could write a lot about it, but whether it would be interesting for you, I doubt. It would be gossip.

Currently, a very complex network of contacts has been established in Indonesia, and over the past year, imported Myrmecodia lamii plants have appeared in Europe, the USA, Asia, and Japan.

I finally managed to import these plants last year after six years of searching and solving successive problems. Now, after about six months of cultivation, I can say that the results are very satisfying. Only one out of 15 plants died. All the remaining 14 have returned to normal growth. They've produced new roots, leaves, and started blooming profusely. I'm trying to pollinate every flower. So far, there are significantly fewer fruits with seeds than flowers, but the plants still produce enough of them. The seeds germinate easily, and the seedlings grow without any problems.

We definitely need several years to understand the cultivation of Myrmecodia lamii, avoid losses in plants, and be able to obtain naturally looking specimens. A new era in the cultivation of Myrmecodia lamii and other myrmecophyte plants has begun.

[stickgrub]

good to see your efforts paying off and that they are growing well for you. Growing the seeds out will be a great way to introduce the species into cultivation and hopefully you can distribute them and flood the market a bit to prevent poaching in the future! Have you got them in a climate controlled environment or just ambient conditions?