tony palmer

Sub-tropical climber,

In the BBC program Wild China, episode Shangri-la, there is a climber in a number of shots in that program about the nujiang river valley and the sub-tropical forest of Gaoligongshan in a remote part of Southwestern Yunnan, I would like an ID of this climber if anyone can help! It looks like a Philodendron similar looking to Philodendron xanadu but in my search for an ID it turns out that philodendrons are from south America and not native to China, I am almost certain it will be in the Araceae family though, any help is appreciated.



Thanks.

Tony

Attached Images

	Picture 024.jpg (1.82 MB, 15 views)
	Picture 028.jpg (1.79 MB, 20 views)

lorax

Try the genus Monstera, although if that is in the wild wild, I'd be more inclined to say it was a large Pothos of some sort. At least that genus is native to Yunnan.

EDIT - Got it. What you're looking at there is mature Epipremnium aureum. Most people never get to see this form of it, since they don't provide it with enough space and climbing height for it to achieve this leaf-state.

Tog Tan

Yep. it's an Epipremnum pinnatum alright. Hey Lorax, the Epipremnum aureum has ovate leaves and it is thought to originate from the Solomon Islands. The E aureum will only become slightly pinnate when mature and big.

We have E pinnatum here and people grow them outside their house onto a tree as a herb - I can't remember for what though. They are common in the forests.

I found this young plant next to a stream. I think they look cute as the leaf starts becoming pinnate. You can see the unsplit young leaves in the background.

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Tog Tan has sadly suddenly passed away 6/16/09. We will miss you Tog Tan.

lorax

E. pinnatum. Of course. Serves me right for answering an Aroid question off the top of my head on 2 hours sleep.

I'm partial to the young Monsteras we get down here, when they just start to develop their pinnate nature; they get these holes right down near the central vein, then slowly start to get the edge-splits. Tasty fruit, too.

Tog Tan

"Not enough sleep, identifying plants wrongly?" DR Musa recommends you to take 2 'naners and a glass of wild honey. You will definitely be wide awake and your plant ID on the spot!

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Tog Tan has sadly suddenly passed away 6/16/09. We will miss you Tog Tan.

tony palmer

I have posted this on three forums and you’re the third person's Lorax and Tog Tan to suggest Epipremnum pinnatum, but I can’t find a picture on the net of one that looks just like climber in the program.

Tog Tan

Tony, I have seen mature plants in the forests here which looks like the ones in your pix. These are plants in optimum growth condition. Since they are common here, I did not bother to document it. However, I find the juv plts intriguing. The E pinnatum is not grown as an ornamental plant here, people rather grow philodendrons.

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Tog Tan has sadly suddenly passed away 6/16/09. We will miss you Tog Tan.

lorax

You probably won't see many mature specimen E. pinnatum pics on the web; it's not a common ornamental, so you basically have to go into the jungle to see it that way.

Also, you have to account for the massive intraspecies variability of Aroids - no picture you find of E. pinnatum will look exactly like the ones in your ID photos.

Tog - ROFLMFAO.

Chironex

I was just imagining what it must be like to wake up to the sounds of the jungle filled with all sorts of fascinating plants, beautiful flowers, look out the window and see any type of animal, from monkeys to tapirs, wild boar, and beyond. It's like a Tarzan movie to me. If I could just make money there it would be so much more like how I want my life to be. Instead, we wake up, get coffee, drive to work through traffic and smog, race to our appointments and then do the same thing on the way home. Yuck!

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Scot

Bananaman88

I have seen some folks growing E. aureum in their landscapes on a few occassions here in Houston. They are usually training it up a tree or wall. They definitely start taking on a different look when they start to get past that juvenile stage. I think we had a discussion about this last summer on here if I remember correctly.

Tog Tan

It's easy Scot! Be like me, I quit my photography business after 25 years and went full time. Sounds easy, actually not so....

The only drawback about jungle hopping is getting acquainted with the tropical diseases here. I have a friend who is full time helping the Orang Asli and he tops our group by catching almost every known disease the jungle has to offer. Two months ago I just got knocked down by Chinkgunya - a form of Malaria. Medically no cure so far, you just gotta wait it out. It weakens you out like a limp over ripe rotting 'naner. Right now the outbreak hasn't stoped yet and has spread from the south to the north of the country. So enjoy your coffee, traffic, smog and appointments for the time being!

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Tog Tan has sadly suddenly passed away 6/16/09. We will miss you Tog Tan.

Bettyboop1948

I found this pictures is this the plant ur talking about, I google it and got them
File:Epipremnum pinnatum TBU.jpg - Wikimedia Commons i hope this link work's.I am still learning about this site lol scoll down to see the pic the top part over look lol

damaclese

the link worked for me but the picture is of a varagated form is that the same plant?

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Chironex

I don't know if you have seen this photo yet, but I Googled it and then asked for images.
http://www.botanypictures.com/planti...003%20kmbg.jpg

Epipremnum pinnatum - Google Image Search

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Scot

damaclese

so based on this pictures it can be viragated right?

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Tog Tan

Pauly, the variegated one is the E aureum not the E pinnatum. If you look again, the E aureum has ovate leaf and even if it split up later, the leaf is not long like the E pinnatum.

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Tog Tan has sadly suddenly passed away 6/16/09. We will miss you Tog Tan.

tony palmer

I’ll explain why I’m interested in this climber but to do that I’ll have to talk a little bit about Gaoligongshan.
Botanist’s are fascinated with the Gaoligongshan valley because tropical plants are able to exist there even though it is well out of the tropics, the reason for this is the influence of the monsoon rains and heat being driven up the Gaoligongshan valley from India, the monsoon is mainly through the summer months and the plants have also had to adapt to the cold at different degrees.
They say if you travel up the side of the valley you can visit all four seasons in one day from sub-tropical and alpine and eventually up to snow capped mountains.
The climber is growing amongst alpine plants and sub-tropical plants, you can see the climber growing up Rhododendrons a plant you would normally associate with alpine regions.
I’m not deluding my self into thinking this climber would be hardy for me but if it’s as hardy as say Philodendron selloum –3c that would be great.
So far it looks like its one of two possibilities Epipremnum pinnatum or Raphidophora decursiva?

International Aroid Society

Thanks,

Tony

tony palmer

Scot,
If you haven’t seen the BBC program Wild China and the episode Shangri-La you should try to! In that episode you can see wild and cultivated bananas probably itinerans? That i would of thought would be able to survive the cold at various degrees.


Regards,

Tony

Bettyboop1948

well I Added theplant ur wondering about to my slide with my plant's on the google page it does say they are Epipremnun Pinnatum and one is a variegated form.
hope this show's my slide