First things first, and this is big:
Pothos the genus is different to Pothos the species.
If you thought you already knew this, just hang on, there may be more.
So, a little while ago, I wrote an article on the difference between Pothos and Scindapsus.
It all started because people get confused about satin Pothos not being Pothos yada yada yada.
So we all know that Pothos is the common name for Epipremnum aureum, which is a species of Epipremnum (there are various forms, such as marble queen, manjula etc etc).
That’s fine. Not a problem. At one point botanists thought Epipremnums were Scindapsus (or vice versa, I forget) so you can kinda see where the whole satin Pothos name came from. And honestly, who really cares? They look similar enough and the care is broadly the same.
BUT DID YOU KNOW??
In the tropical rainforests of various parts of China, India, and the western Pacific there’s a Pothos GENUS. With 55 distinct species.
Nothing to do with the Pothos we know and love, bar being in the same family (they’re all aroids).
They’re not really kept as house plants which is why they’re not widely known, but to have been so overshadowed by a plant that’s only distantly related to you? Sad.
It takes me back to researching this article on Monstera species and I couldn’t find ANYTHING on Monstera Minima because Rhaphidophora Tetrasperma stole (STOLE) all of the internet entries on it.
I don’t know why I’m so mad. Shall we move onto a house plant tour?
House plant tour of the week
If you’re not watching The Jungle Haven on YouTube you neeeed to. We spent the past couple of Saturday nights watching her most recent house plant tour and it’s so good!
They’re pretty long (like, hours, and there are two of them) but so so good, and her house is beautiful. We like to watch house plant YouTube like other people watch films – with wine and snacks and blankets and it really elevates the experience AND inspires me to take better care of my plants.
You know how when you’re watching, say, the Avengers, and you’re like ‘hmm, I bet I could be a master assassin, perhaps I’d better sign up for archery and start eating more lentils’. It’s like that.
(Just me? oh. Nm).
Mystery of the week
Freakin Monster peru.
This is keeping me up at night.
I know, deep in my soul, that it’s an epipremnum. That doesn’t fenestrate. I have SCOURED the internet for information and pictures of a fenestrated one but all that was returned was unfenestrated perus and fenestrated Monstera pinnapartitums.
The weirdest thing is that it’s not on iNaturalist. At all.
100% lab grown, and for some reason, botanists are MAD about it, and refuse to engage. Someone shed some light. I’ve read all the Reddit threads, seen all the photos, and still no conclusive evidence of what it is and where it came from.
Unnecessary plant crap of the week
A lego orchid.
Why have they not done a Monstera??? Like, a MASSIVE one. VARIEGATED. I’d buy the heck out of that.
House plant tip of the week
One of the ‘facts’ about house plants that I was told many, many times, and repeated here without really thinking about it was not to add fertiliser to propagations, because it can damage the delicate roots and burn them.
Let me tell you – adding fertiliser to your propagation water DRAMATICALLY increases the speed at which they root.
I propped some Philodendron brasils in February (not the best idea, but I was inspired), and the ones in water have only JUST started to put out roots. The ones I tried in this stuff are well away.
What’s everyone up to this weekend? My indoor plants are doing pretty well due to the slightly warmer weather and longer days. My outside plants are v v sad and need chopping back to prepare for the growing season.
Shout out to my jade plant that’s STILL ALIVE after a winter outside. Yes, it was a cruel experiment, but she’s a thrips spreader, so it had to be done. Parts of her froze, went mushy, and dropped off, but the bits that didn’t are doing really well and now I’m inadvertently running a jade plant eugenics program.
A few of my most recent articles
It’s my website, and I can plug if I want to.
Heads up, the non-toxic climbing plants one is a bit click-baity because there basically aren’t any. I found ten, but they’re all hoyas, peperomias, or maranta.
I tried, I really did, but I think climbing plants are more at risk to predators (because they don’t pup and tend to reproduce slowly, compared to, say, peace lilies which pup quite quickly), so they need to be toxic to survive.
Fin.
