bluesea14808@yahoo.com

That is the email of an Aglaonema specialist who has tons of cultivars.

He may be able to ID the name of the plant you have there.

His name is Russ.

Thanks tlbean2004 and Russ1023.

Russ I think that's it - Martinique. I found this one unlabeled plant among a bunch of other common ags but there was only one of these.

I have a small collection of ags but nothing too unique -emerald bay, bj freeman, tigress- but always looking for more. I do have a bunch of other aroids and tropicals so maybe we can trade something.

I'll send you an email.

Thanks again and Happy Thanksgiving.

helix999, I'd still like to find a few more websites that call this ag Martinique to confirm it is the actual name. I only found the ebay seller with it and I'm skeptical of a single source for a name, too many ags out there with 2 and 3 names each.

I collect other aroids, especially philodendrons and dieffenbachias, and have a very large collection of sansevierias if you're interested in those.

Looking forward to your email, and have a great Thanksgiving.

Thanks for the reference Tony, and you have a wonderful Turkey Day as well.

Russ

helix999, here is a link to an old thread of mine where I posted pics of some of my ags. You'll see the so-called Martinique pic there. My ag list is also there but I've added a few new ones since then.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2881353/aglaonema

Do you know about Dr. B. Frank Brown? He passed away not long ago in his 90s and was instrumental in the popularization of aglaonemas. His is an interesting story of exploration, collecting, hybridizing and marketing of ags, but he began as a school teacher and administrator. He named your B. J. Freeman after one of his daughters, I have another ag, Cassandra, that he named for his other daughter. He's responsible for many other hybrids on the market today, published his book The Amazing Aglaonema plus books on ti plants and codiaeums (crotons). If you get into ags seriously you'll run into his name time and again. I didn't know him well but visited his home and nursery in Valkaria Fla many times in the 90s to get ags.

I have more ag info I can pass on to you if you're interested. Anyone else can also contact me regardless of experience and ability to trade, I always have propagations to share and often do 'for postage' for those ag beginners out there.

Russ

Hi Russ,

That's an awesome collection you have!

I am familiar with frank brown but wasn't aware how involved he was with aglaonemas. I just kept coming across his name while researching crotons (I have a small collection). Looks like even though he has passed his nursery is still operating. It's only a couple hours north of me so might be worth a trip for some harder to find plants.

Btw I found another listing for 'Aglaonema Martinique' on triads product page - it's about half way down:

http://www.triadplantco.com/listplants-details.php?type=aglaonema

Looks like the same plant but I'll let you be the judge.

helix999, Triad's ag looks like the same one, which makes me think more positively that the Martinique name is legit. Thanks for that heads-up.

Years ago I met Cleofar Millare at Brown's nursery, at that time I think he was his assistant but later became his associate. He prefers to be called Clay now, and I believe he is running the nursery. I've seen an ad for a nursery in the Valkaria area in Aroideana which is the magazine for the International Aroid Society, and I've wondered if they have set up a regular retail nursery now. But in the old days you needed an appointment to visit Brown's nursery and growing areas. They used to have 'open house' a couple of times a year at the nursery but don't know if that's continued since Brown passed away.

I'm in the county in the Lake Mary/Sanford area, give me a shout if you want to visit next summer. Probably at least another 45 mins north added to the trip to Valkaria where Brown's place is, so would be quite a drive but something to consider. My brother Roger lives in Homestead, he has books out on Florida wildflowers, native plants and the Everglades. I envy your winters in south Fla, way too cold up here.

Russ

Hi Folks,

I'm an interloper from C&S Forum, Sans. & Hoyas. ;>)

May I suggest this is A. picta?

I had the pleasure of seeing it in person several yrs. ago & it was so lovely it made quite an impression. It looked like a piece of printed silk fabric (as I recall, almost identical to the 1st pic) & as I am a recovering Textile Designer, the image stuck in my mind. I remember thinking this should be a piece of printed silk which would make a great but odd looking quilt. That 1st pic even has the sheen I recall, reminiscent of the lustre of silk too.

Russ' plant does not look the same to me. The first pic has much more dark to it & multi-hued shadings, where as Russ's plant reminds me more of the ordinary Ags from yrs. ago (in the 80s) they were in all the banks, w/ their red berries. I took to calling them the Citibank Ag as that's where I saw it most commonly.

Anyway, Google A picta, the pix I saw look a mighty close match.

Lena (aka Karen)

Interesting post Lena. I'm trying to think of which ag it is that you saw in banks in the 80s. The only one I can think of is Maria, it was all the rage in those days and is still fairly popular. It is very dark green with silvery variegation, it's also much smaller than the ag we're trying to identify here.

The picta you mention is also a small ag. I'm thinking you might have seen picta v. Tricolor with two shades of variegation. I was an illustrator for 20 years and I can see where the leaves of Tricolor would very much impress a textile designer. Here is a pic of what I think is picta v. Bicolor, not nearly as impressive as Tricolor but easier to grow by far. Tricolor obviously has a second variegation color and leaf surface seems to be more velvety.

I don't have a pic of Maria on my computer, but you could Google it. It's sometimes called Black Beauty.

Russ