Are you SURE that's a hosta?? I keep studying it and several things just don't look right,
for a hosta!!

looks more like a ginger

which would make more sense for PR

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Yeah, that's what I was wondering. The leaf veins do not appear to be very pronounced, or even to run parallel. Maybe Jose can take some better pics??? And how would a hosta end up in Puerto Rico, or survive for any length of time without a period of dormancy???

you might want to try the NAME THAT PLANT FORUM

those peeps are GOOD!!!!

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: NAME THAT PLANT FORUM

I've emailed a 'Steve and Janice' (good names together, btw) and forwarded the photo to them for an I.D.!
They have a fabulous exotic plant website with LOTS of links to others who grow such things!
Hopefully, they will answer, with a positive 'answer'! :o)

Janice of our own 'Steve-&-Janice combo'

The 'other Steve' is really working hard to try and help us ID the plant. He's very certain it is not
a hosta and I think is heading toward ken's opinion about it being a type of 'Asarum'!

I've invited him to come onboard with us and enter the discussion! Hope he will--we'll see! :o)

Oh, I almost forgot, Don--he wants to know if it ever produces flowers?

janice

Hi everyone. I must admit right off the top I know very little about this particular plant but I do plant research all the time so at Janice's request I've asked about two dozen plant experts from South America, Europe, Australia, Southeast Asia and the U.S. if they know what it is. I have a bunch of friends that are botanists specializing in tropical species so we shall see what turns up.

I blew the photo up in PhotoShop so I could see the details and this is what I think I see. Forgive me if I use scientific language but that's just the way I do research.

The plant appears to be velutinous. That means there is fine pubescence or hair growing on the leaves. That makes the plant appear to be at least somewhat velvety. The petioles that support the leaves also have rings. Those rings are known in botany as snnulas. These are both distinctive characteristics used in botany to determine a species. For those of you that normally call the stalk that supports the leaf a "stem", that usage is incorrect. The stem is the base of the plant and is instead the axis or support of a specimen. The petiole supports a leaf. Sometimes I tick people off when I point that out but my site is designed to be educational so that's just one way I teach.

I'd really like to know if the plant produces flowers but with this photo there is no way of knowing so I'll give you the options I have so far.

The plant appears to be similar to a gesnerid but I'm not certain if that can be right due to lack of info. Some of the folks I've written today tell me it could be a member of these genera: Cyclamen, Asarum and Drimiopsis. All are possible but without more detail it is tough to be certain.

I'm expecting more responses tonight and will let you know what I learn. I highly doubt this is either a ginger or a hosta. Gingers are rhizomatous and this plant does not appear to have a rhizome.

I'd suggest you type those genus names into a search engine and look at the photos. Don't expect all the plants in the genus to look alike since all genera and species are variable. I'd bet this plant may well have more than one leaf shape in nature! There is a page on my site that explains natural variation in plant species.

By the way, my site is called the ExoticRainforest www.ExoticRainforest.com and you can just type that into any search engine and find us. We own a private botanical garden in NW Arkansas and grow over 300 species of rare and unusual species, most of which are aroids.......Anthurium, Philodendron, Colocasia, Alocasia, Amorphophallus etc. Most people laugh when I say I own a rain forest in Arkansas but you can decide when you look at the photos on the homepage.

I'll let you know if I learn more.

Steve (my Janice is on her way home)!

Here is a link that might be useful: A possibility

African violet?

Wow, thank you for your help so far, Steve and Janice #1, and Steve and Janice #2! That is excellent input.
I wrote Jose in Puerto Rico and asked him for more information and photos. I asked him where he got the plant from and if it produced any flowers. This was his reply:

"Hi Don,

Thank you for you response. Here send other pictures. The plant get in Puerto Rico, a gift of friend that get in Florida. I have the plant around 5 years but the plant died and born during the year. And never flowering. Thank for your help.

Jose"

I'm still waiting to receive the additional photos, which I will post as soon as Jose sends them to me. Don

cyn427 you are going where I was heading. African violets are members of the Gesneriad group.

Without more details I'm not certain I can figure it out but hope to have some input from Europe or South America tonight.

Wow--is this great or what!! Thank you 'other-Steve' you have been extremely helpful and very good-natured
to help us help another person out about this plant!

I have to say, having spent some time on their site, (before emailing 'Steve') was a wonderful
time spent! It is truly amazing what they have, personally and by way of links to others! Take the time
to explore it and I know you will truly enjoy yourself, as I did!!

I can't wait for this mystery to be solved and it sounds like we have a great 'team' on it!!!

Thank you, 'Other-Steve'!!

'Other-Janice' :o)

P.S. It seems a 'Steve and Janice' team is a great combo--they've been married one-year longer than 'my Steve' and I--making
theirs 42 years! We're gettin kind of extinct these days aren't we--putting up with one another that many years!

Hmmm,
I thought you couldn't take plants out of PR or the tropics? Or send them to the US! Isn't that illegal?

Also, experiment, if it doesn't make our winters then presume it's a tropical!

Gloria, I'm thinking--(reading Jose's response,again) that he got it as a gift from someone in Florida! I'm bettin'
Jose' is still in PR! And, as I understand it, he's had it for 5 years there!

Okay, here are the other pictures that will allow us to solve this mystery!

{{gwi:1091727}}
{{gwi:1091728}}
{{gwi:1091729}}
{{gwi:1091730}}

Definitely NOT a hosta! LOL

But, what fun--I love a mystery to solve!!

Isn't Steve so nice to help us out!!! My husband always use to say--in any movie, the 'Steve's' were always
the guys in the white cowboy hats--being the 'good guys'!LOL

OK, these help a bunch. The plant grows from a tuber and the tuber is the true stem. The annulas (lines around the petiole) are quite unique so this could easily be a clue. I'm going to "borrow your photos" and show them to some people that know these genera better.

As for bringing plants out of Puerto Rico, it is done all the time. You should have the proper documents but they aren't hard to get and I've legally bought lots of plants in Puerto Rico and had them shipped to Arkansas. I've even shown plants to customs at the San Juan airport and bean waived right through since Puerto Rico is a part of the U.S., just not a state.

I believe I've found the correct name as well as solved the "mystery" why the grower called it a Hosta.

I received three identical responses from two horticulturists and one botanist. All are well known and know their plants.

According to my friend and botanist Pete Boyce who works in the rain forests of Malaysia the plant is Drimiopsis maculata Lindl. & Paxton and is a perennial herbaceous species and is not a Hosta but the common name is African Hosta. There is certainly nothing wrong with common names but I don't like them since they often send people on wild goose chases to find good information.

Depending on the scientific material you read the plant is either in the family Hyacinthaceae (Hyacinths) or Liliceae but Pete indicates it is correctly related to the Hyacinths. Liliceae sometimes include species that are correctly Hosta sp. but apparently not in this case. The plant was published to science in 1851 and is native to the region of Natal, South Africa. That is important to know since the location often tells you how to grow the plant.

In South Africa the species is used as a ground cover in dry shady areas. Most growers appear to have the best results if the plant is grown in deep shade which is why it would also be a good house plant. The plant cannot tolerate bright sunlight and should only be given brief periods of sunlight in the early morning and late afternoon.

I thought originally I was seeing pubescence (fine hair) on the leaf blades but that was just an illusion. I also said it was not rhizomatous but that is not entirely correct. A stem, a rhizome and a tuber are basically the same thing, just different forms. A rhizome runs across the ground while a tuber either sits on the surface or is fully submerged in the soil depending on the species.

In the group in which I specialize called aroids the stem may grow across the ground, climb a tree, or be attached only to a limb with no roots in the soil at all. Although lots of folks want to call the support for the leaf the "stem" that stalk is correctly the petiole. The petioles grow from buds on the stem, rhizome or tuber as the case may be. The stem/rhizome/tuber is the base support for the plant and the roots grow from that support.

I always include the information where the plant originates when I explain about plants as well as the name of the botanical authors since many scientific names have been incorrectly published for multiple plant species. During the 1800's that happened often since botany was an infant science at the time. The location is important since it often tells you how to keep the plant healthy.

When naming a plant it is important to a botanist or serious plant grower to know the name of the author since many times the name by a different author can be a totally different plant species and look nothing like the plant you are seeking. If you want to read how confusing this can be visit my site and read about Philodendron martianum from the link below. Most people call that plant Philodendron cannifolium but P. cannifolium has been published several times in science and always for plants in genera other than Philodendron.

Many years ago a botanist named von Martius did a painting of the plant in Brazil and incorrectly called it Philodendron cannifolium. It was eventually named in his honor but plant collectors all over the world still try to call it Philodendron cannifolium. Many horticultural books still use that name even though it has been invalid for over 100 years.

Just like a person's name isn't complete without the name of a parent a plant's name isn't really complete without the name of the author. If someone was trying to find "John Smith" no one would have any idea where to start looking without both his given and parent's name. The same is true with plants.

Now, I know most people reading this will think all of this is foolish..........and perhaps it is. But if you really want to know and understand a plant it is just part of the information needed to be accurate.

It isn't hard to find and I found several for sale on the internet at reasonable prices. The plant will live in zones 7b to 10 and grows to approximately one foot by one foot in size. It produces purple-spotted foliage that emerges from the tuber in the spring. The plant lives in dry conditions and will tolerate both heat and drought but during the heat of the year the plant often turns to a messy mush.

It does produce scented flowers but as far as I can determine they are not particularly attractive.
Due to the natural conditions I would suggest a sandy soil used for succulents and avoid over watering.

If I've made typos in this please forgive me! It is now 2:40AM and I wanted to get this posted for you.

I hope that helps!

Here is a link that might be useful: Why the name of the plant author is important

Oh my, Steve!! How interesting and how thankful I am that I checked in before heading out on our
2-day trip!! :o) I told him, last night, that I hated to be the 'last to know' (in so many words)
the verdict on this one!!!

And, I don't find what you've presented, the importance of 'names', 'authors' or 'parents' foolish
at ALL!! I find it fascinating!!!

I may just have to get one of those--just for fun and to remember this adventure in tracking down the
true identity!

And, I can definitely see why Jose' would imagine it to be a 'hosta', given he probably knew
that part of the name 'African Hosta'!

Thank you, so much, Steve! I'm so glad you took the time to visit us here, too!

Now--can we interest you in a lovely 'plant' called a 'hosta'?? :o)) We LOVE to enable folks like you!!! ;o)

Please come back--anytime!!

Just 'another' Janice! :o)

What a fascinating exercise this has been. Thank you so much for the very informative posts and the lessons in plant naming and identification.

My pleasure! We have well over a hundred hosta in the yard in four beds but to be honest I couldn't even tell you their common names. Maybe I'll take more interest in learning about their heritage as well, you just never know.

Thank you very much, Steve. I'm sure Jose in Puerto Rico will appreciate finding out what he has. :)
Don
PS Thanks for the educational information as well!