PHILODENDRON 'PHANTOM FLAME'
ORIGIN:
Kara Warner; a sport of Philodendron ‘Dark Lord’; accepted by the IAS Aroid Cultivar Registry
CULTIVAR DESCRIPTION:
A climbing (scandent) evergreen aroid of moderate vigor. Juvenile growth is compact with shortened internodes; mature growth produces an elongate stem capable of climbing when supported. Leaves are borne on arching burgundy petioles, forming a broad, layered canopy. Leaf blades are elongate, sagittate, coriaceous, and moderately glossy, with an acuminate apex, entire margins, and a shallowly sagittate base. Emergent foliage is burgundy-red to copper-red. Mature foliage is irregularly variegated cream-yellow, chartreuse, and dark green, the variegation expressed as broad sectoral, marginal, and medial patterns. The midrib is prominent. Petioles and emerging foliage retain deep burgundy pigmentation. The leaves appear narrower and more elongated than many mature Philodendron ‘Dark Lord’ leaves, giving the plant a more elegant, flame-like appearance. Bloom and fruit have not yet been observed. It differs from Philodendron ‘Dark Lord’ in its stable cream-yellow, chartreuse, and green sectoral variegation, narrower leaf blades, and mature foliage that remains predominantly light-colored rather than developing the uniformly dark burgundy-green coloration characteristic of the parent cultivar. It retains the dark burgundy petioles, cataphylls, and emergent foliage of Philodendron ‘Dark Lord’, creating a distinctive contrast between new growth and mature leaves.¹
NOTES:
STATUS - Accepted by the International Aroid Society’s Aroid Cultivar Registry.
1. Philodendron ‘Phantom Flame’ is a sport of Philodendron ‘Dark Lord’, originated by Kara Warner and named by Carmen Cullen.¹
2. It arose as a sport mutation from one mid cutting of a Philodendron ‘Dark Lord’ more than 20 years old, growing outdoors.¹
3. The name refers, in the namer’s sense, to the cultivar’s ghostly cream-yellow foliage combined with the dramatic flame-like burgundy coloration of the emerging leaves and cataphylls; flame is also a reference to its marginal sun-stressed coloration and to the shape of the leaves.¹
4. Compared with Philodendron ‘Dark Lord’, its mature foliage remains predominantly light-colored and its leaf blades are narrower, while it keeps the dark burgundy petioles, cataphylls, and emergent foliage of the parent cultivar.¹
REFERENCES:
1. International Aroid Society Aroid Cultivar Registry: Philodendron 'Phantom Flame'