It's our old friend scindapsus pictus. Scindapsus argyraeum is fine too, I think. Ok, now what ISN'T it?
1) It's not philodendron sodiroi, though I have seen it mislabeled as such
2) It isn't philodendron ornatum, I don't know how anyone even got that idea but they did
3) It's not even remotely oreopanax sanderianus, although the Missouri BG tagged it so
4) It it NOT silver philodendron. There are in existence some silvery philodendrons... this ain't one. I don't care what google says.
4) It it NOT silver philodendron. There are in existence some silvery philodendrons... this ain't one. I don't care what google says.
5) Epipremnum pictum: no no no no no. This name is very often applied to this plant but it is not an epipremnum, mon frere!
6) Satin pothos: it is not an epipremnum, which mean's it isn't a pothos, although a pothos isn't an epipremnum technically. Those goshdarn rascally botanists!
7) Silk pothos: come on now.
It is a scindapsus, which from what I can tell means it's just like epipremnum... only not. There is a tiny difference in seed pods. I blame google for the chaos. Roll back, google, you fuckers is dumbern'a post.
*image courtesy of davesgarden
Although I know that "pothos" started out as a genus name, I don't think it's a botanical name for anything anymore. If it's purely a common name, then as far as I'm concerned it's like "palm" or "vine:" a nonspecific word for plants that look like pothos looks. Which Scindapsus pictus does.
ReplyDeleteSo: if people want to call it a satin pothos or silk pothos, that's fine by me (though "silk pothos" is going to be confusing, because of the practice of making artificial plants from silk), and if pressed for a common name, I will myself refer to Scindapsus pictus as a satin pothos. Though I am rarely so pressed.
I am not always this forgiving about common names, though. "Pencil cactus" for Euphorbia tirucalli is a particularly tough one for me to hear.
I would not normally go on like this, but because we are both plant geeks, I am comfortable revealing to you that these are things I think about.