COSTA RICAN CROTON WANDERINGS-PART 5

[donroberth]

ALONG THE OLD ROAD TO OROTINA, CR: Passing through areas such as La Garita and the small townships of Atenas, San Mateo and finally Orotina we encountered countless CROTONS both along the road’s edge and private country homes.

FOTO #1: We spotted several preserved cabins tucked away in the rolling hills of San Mateo and Orotina on our foto excursion. This photograph depicts the owners of their conserved older house making their traditional Christmas Tamales (the owners actually live in San Jose and visit only occasionally) I asked them why they set the “tamale assembly-line” next to the cabin, they answered, “the tamales tasted better when made outdoors next to the cabin” !!!

FOTO #2: L to R, STEWARTII, GENERAL PAGET AND OVALIFOLIUM along a fence line.

FOTO #3: A nice pair of good-looking ANDREANUM next to a local factory.

FOTO #4: ANDREANUM close-up.

 

[donroberth]

FOTO #5: NO IDEA…I.D. PLEASE

FOTO #6: NO IDEA close-up I.D. PLEASE

FOTO #7: DISRAELI or ROYAL HORSE GUARD ? An abandoned farm house…CROTON still looking good.

FOTO #8: DISRAELI or ROYAL HORSEGUARD ? Close-up…I.D. PLEASE

 

[donroberth]

FOTO #9: STEWARTII...along-side of the road.

FOTO #10: STEWARTII...in a private yard.

FOTO #11: ACUBAEFOLIUM...I used to confuse this cultivar with GOLD DUST.

FOTO #12: ACUBAEFOLIUM Close-up...older leaves take on a slight rust tint under leaf and petioles are pinkish-purple…leaves much larger than GOLD DUST (personal observations).

 

[donroberth]

FOTO #13: DAYSPRING...Beautiful older cultivar that still holds its own in this very pleasant country garden.

FOTO #14: DAYSPRING...Close-up

FOTO #15: MAJESTICUM…CROTON SOCIETY WIKI “Commonly known as pheasants tail. The ground color of the narrow leaves is a dark green spotted & marbled red and yellow. This is the finest variety of this type and very popular.”

I actually measured the leaves in this foto and they were 18 to 22 inches long and 3/4 to 1 inch wide.


FOTO #16: MAJESTICUM…same plant but this foto taken from a section that receives more light. A bold red mid-rib line is very evident on its leaves (allegedly a PICTURATUM trait not found in MAJESTICUM). Am I confusing MAJESTICUM with PICTURATUM ??? Help please with I.D.

P.S. I hope all you ladies and gentlemen that frequent this forum had a very Merry Christmas and also wish everyone a safe and sane Happy and Prosperous New Year.

 

[ScotTi]

Great photos Robert! I say #16 is Picturatum as it looks like the one I have. The bold red mid-rib is the ID giveaway.

 

[Jeff Searle]

#5 and #6 not sure, but could just be some green seedling that came up many moons ago. #7 and #8 are not Disraeli or Royal Horseguard.

And a very Happy New Year to you Robert!

 

[donroberth]

Scott, I'm glad you enjoyed the fotos. As for MAJESTICUM vs PICTURATUM...I really thought I had found Majesticum (I just like the name...MAJESTICUM), my hunt continues. Also, thanks for the hint...I'll try not to keep on making the same mistake. The name game...names, names, names, what's in a name !!!

 

[donroberth]

Scott, I'm glad you enjoyed the fotos. As for MAJESTICUM vs PICTURATUM...I really thought I had found Majesticum (I just like the name...MAJESTICUM), my hunt continues. Also thanks for the hints...I'll try to not to keep on making the same mistake. The name game...names, names, names, what's in a name !!!

 

[donroberth]

#5 and #6 not sure, but could just be some green seedling that came up many moons ago. #7 and #8 are not Disraeli or Royal Horseguard.

And a very Happy New Year to you Robert!

Hi Jeff Searle: In the fotos #7 & #8 below (in my submittal “Road to Orotina”) you state that this cultivar is neither Disraeli nor Royal Horse Guard…by the way thx for constructive comment.

 

[donroberth]

Below are a couple of fotos of what I think is the same cultivar but shown from different views and angles. This variety is quite common in Costa Rican roadside gardens…none of the nurseries I frequent have the slightest idea as to what its name could be. Any suggestions from you or the Croton Society membership what its proper name could be ? Thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer me .

 

[Moose]

Looks very simular to Dr. Alix to me. Could be a seedling from a Mrs. Snyder Disraeli as well. Good looking croton regardless of the name.

Robert - is it your plant? If not - its definitely worthy of securing a cutting for your Tico Collection!

 

[Marie Nock]

I think it's an Evansius. Evansius has a shape similar to Mrs. Snyder's Desrali but is not nearly as colorful.

 

[donroberth]

Looks very simular to Dr. Alix to me. Could be a seedling from a Mrs. Snyder Disraeli as well. Good looking croton regardless of the name.

Robert - is it your plant? If not - its definitely worthy of securing a cutting for your Tico Collection!

MOOSE…thanks for your thoughts re: Disraeli/Royal Horseguard ? No…the last cultivar I attached is not in my garden but Dr. Alix certainly resembles it. Below on the left is what I think is the same cultivar that is in my garden and on the right is my little jewel…Blotched Disraeli as identified by Marie Nock about 3 to 4 months ago.

 

[donroberth]

I think it's an Evansius. Evansius has a shape similar to Mrs. Snyder's Desrali but is not nearly as colorful.

MARIE…I have never heard of CROTON EVANSIUS. No foto in the WIKI…would you or anyone else have a foto of this cultivar…perhaps in your gardens ?

 

[Jerry Shilling]

Hi Robert - here are a few shots of my Evansius that I took this afternoon.

 

[Marie Nock]

Hi Roberto,
I'll post a picture later. Dr. Brown lists Evansius in his first book but no picture. I bought one at auction a few years ago and then discovered that i had many of them mislabled as Mrs. Snyder's Desrali.
Marie