PHILODENDRON 'SPLENDID'

PARENTAGE:

Philodendron verrucosum × Philodendron melanochrysum

ORIGIN:

Keith Henderson intentionally crossed Philodendron verrucosum with Philodendron melanochrysum in the 1980s; released 1990; accepted by the IAS Aroid Cultivar Registry.

HYBRIDIZER:

Keith Henderson

DESCRIPTION:

A hemiepiphyte and active climber. The leaf blades are oblong, elongated, and velvety, with a deeply cordate base; they are dark green above and reddish purple in blocks between the veins beneath. The petioles are green and terete, with white striations along their length that are raised toward the apex, and reddish at the apex. The veins are a much lighter green, with the branching of the primary lateral veins visible closer to the margin. Cataphylls are marcescent. Bloom and fruit have not been observed. The registrant considers the hybrid unique because it retains the ornamental characteristics of both Philodendron verrucosum and Philodendron melanochrysum: the velvety leaves are slightly rounder than those of Philodendron verrucosum but share its branching venation, the abaxial leaf surface is a blushing red, the petioles are roughened, and the red blush in the sinus is particularly noticeable.¹

NOTES:

STATUS - Accepted by the International Aroid Society’s Aroid Cultivar Registry. Accepted, pending publication.

1. A hybrid cultivar of Philodendron verrucosum and Philodendron melanochrysum.¹

2. The registry names Keith Henderson as hybridizer and Neil Crafter as namer. The hybrid was created by intentionally crossing the two species in the 1980s, and the registry records release in 1990.¹

3. The name is a remark about the beauty of the leaves of this hybrid. It continues a series of hybrids made by Keith Henderson that includes Philodendron ‘Majestic’ and Philodendron ‘Glorious’. The registrant calls it an extremely attractive hybrid, worthy of its new name.¹

REFERENCES:

1. International Aroid Society Aroid Cultivar Registry: Philodendron 'Splendid'

Photographs by Neil Crafter, submitted to the IAS Aroid Cultivar Registry