I had to google on this one. Nice!!

Harry

Thx, Harry. Here's one of my more mature plants.

They're looking nice, Howard! Someday perhaps mine will be so big. : )

very nice.... what a green thumb you have!! I too had to search on Google as I have never heard of them before :)

thanks for sharing

Chuy

Howard

where are the ants? :) Great looking seedling and the mature plant.

I think you posted one before, with the ants - or am I dreaming? Were the seeds collected from your plant?

Rina, you're not dreaming. I did post pics of my ant plants several months ago. The seeds were collected at the University of Michigan conservatory. I have a good friend who really knows about these and got me hooked.

As for the ants. Well, in nature the ants and plant have a symbiotic relationship. The plant provides a home for the ants and the ants bring food for the plant. While I'm not certain, I believe there is a specific genus of ant that inhabits the caudex. My friend has a caudex which he cut in half to demonstrate exactly what happens between the plant and ants.

This plant came to me years ago as Hydnophytum formicarium and has been in the same pot since that time (pot is 8 inches in diameter). It flowers regularly, and the seeds are fertile but short lived (once harvested, they seem to germinate if planted in 6 days or so).. When I disturbed the plant to take the photo, ants from above entered the holes (not sure if that means anything).

I vaguely recall someone asking (in this forum?) if removing a stem and rooting it would result in a caudex. I cut off a stem and in a few months had a healthy looking plant; finally took a look and it had a swollen base, so my answer is 'yes'.

Thanks for the info.... good to know

Cool plants. Ants have used them in a greenhouse. In nature they tend to grow upside down on tree's. So,if you have a tree and climate or a potted live tree to mount things on..this is a good one.

Growing from seed is always the most fun and interesting. Great job Howard, and mfyss, thats quite an impressive caudex!

Do they cause ant issues for any of your other plants ? Or do the specific ants in question stick to their own plant and leave the rest alone?

Daniel

Yale and Howard,

You have such 'cool' plants...Thanks for posting for all of us to see the unusuals.