The Inside Jungle

Felt cute might delete later! 😅

And while you’re here, be sure to check our ‘Shop’ highlight to see what goodies are up for grabs, like this most beautiful Philodendron Paraiso Verde. 💚

When takes your pic you post to your timeline, no questions! 😀💚✨
Happy 59th Independence Day Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹

Some notes on Anthurium Radicans also known as Anthurium Malyi:

1. She’s a creeping aroid from Southeastern Brazil and parts of Ecuador and the only member of section Chamaerepium.

2. Anthurium radicans is noted as one of the smallest creeping Anthurium species with both cordate and bullate leaf blades.

3. A cordate blade is one that is heart shaped and while a bullate blade is one that appears blistered or puckered.

4. Sometimes tinged reddish purple, the leaf blades are coriaceous (leathery).

5. The inflorescence is allegedly showy (yet to experience it myself) and can be pink or purple with a pale maroon spathe tinged with green.

6. Since the species prefers to creep give the plant a large pot of very loose well draining soil. My babe is due for a repot. 😅

7. And...A. Radicans is a mama to many as she’s often used to produce various hybrid species that give rise to unique plants with interesting foliage. 🤓
NFS

Some notes on geogenanthus poeppigii:

1. It's a flowering plant species in the family Commelinaceae (the dayflower & spiderwort family). As currently circumscribed, the genus Geogenanthus includes two other species, G. ciliatus (currently at the top of my wishlist 😍) and G. rhizanthus.

2. This species is named after E.F. Poeppig, a 19th century German explorer.

3. Geogenanthus undatus is an outdated synonym for G. poeppigii.

4. The surface has a "puckered" appearance hence the common name seersucker plant.

5. The bottom of the leaf is purple while the top is green with darker green stripes. This plant is particularly unique because its cymes* rise from the lower nodes, which often looks like they're growing out of the ground.

6. Seersucker plants are not poisonous; they are safe around pets and children; and they are seldom bothered by disease or insects. Win, win, win. 👌🏾

*A cyme is a flat-topped inflorescence in which the central flowers open first, followed by the peripheral flowers, as in the onion (genus Allium).

NFS

After a much needed hiatus...we're back! With 'some notes on' Philodendron micans:

1. P. Micans is a species of flowering plant in the family Araceae, native to Central America and the Caribbean.

2. The correct placement came in 1829 when the plant was properly named Philodendron hederaceum (hay-day-RA-see-oom), after being originally published as Arum hederaceum in 1760.

3. Collectors consider a few of the synonym names such as Philodendron micans, Philodendron oxycardium or Philodendron scandens to be accurate names and they also consider them all to be totally different species.

4. To a botanist, however, they are apparently one and the same plant since color variations along with natural changes to the leaf are not scientific indicators of a new species. The more you know? 🤷🏾‍♀️😅

5. It has iridescent, heart-shaped leaves that are velvety to the touch and almost quilted in texture...and oh so dreamy. 😍

6. The juvenile leaves unfurl as a chartreuse color edged in pink and then become a velvety, iridescent deep green.

7. Depending on the light, the color of the foliage can look deep green or rich purple with a deep purple-red color on the back side that looks like shades of rusty orange when the light shines through.

Happy New Year Gang!

Here's to...More life. More plants off that wishlist. More of everything good to and for you and your plants. And hopefully more activity on our feed. 🙏🏾💚😅

P. S. How can anyone deny the beauty of this babe? How dare they call her overrated? Make it stop! 😭🛑

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Plants, the great beings they are, rest. And so must I, so should we. I've been going non-stop since the baby was born in January and about a week or so ago, my body sent me a reminder to slow down. Thankfully, I'm doing better but I'll be suspending sales, and therefore deliveries, for 2 weeks (15th to 28th November, 2020). You can, however, grab our plant babes at our two stockists: and . We'll also have a green presence at the ARC Marketplace's Eco Pop-up ()

Much love and thanks to all of you that reached out and checked in. It's greatly appreciated. Burn out is real peeps, take care of yourselves. 💚

Some notes on Fittonia verschaffeltii pearcei (and slowing down, pausing, listening to your body and honoring its requests):

1. Commonly known as nerve plant or mosiac plant, fittonia is a genus of flowering plants in the acanthus family Acanthaceae, native to tropical rainforest in South America, mainly Peru.

2. These spreading evergreen perennials grow to approximately 10–15 cm (4–6 in) tall and bear lush green leaves with accented veins of white to deep pink and have a short fuzz covering their stems.

3. Flowers are small with a white to off-white colour...but the Uber attractive foliage more than makes up for it. I mean.

4. You may know or own some of the varieties:

Fittonia albivenis ‘Red Anne’ or Red Anne Fittonia has a bright pinkish red foliage with a pinkish veins and patches of green.

Fittonia verschaffeltii has three-inch dull greenoval leaves with a network of deep-red veins.

Fittonia verschaffeltii argyroneura has thinner, crisper emerald green leaves netted with silvery white veins. Probably my favorite fittonia tbh 👀

Fittonia verschaffeltii pearcei, pictured, has tissue-paper leaves of a brighter, lighter shade of green with rose-pink veins.

5. This may be the last post for about two to four weeks. Having the baby, a full time job and navigating life and business during the pandemic is beginning to take its toll and mama needs to slow down, regroup, recharge, and take some time to tend to the plant babies...I'll be checking in from time to time but please bear with me if I take a bit longer than usual to respond to messages.

How are you guys doing? How are your plant babes? And what, if any, varieties of fittonia do you have?

Some notes on Cercestis (ser-SES-tes) mirabilis (mir-AB-ilis), the slow growing climber that's endemic to Africa:

1. The Cercestis species are members of the larger plant family Araceae (uh-RAY-see ee) commonly known as aroids. An aroid is characterized by the growth of an inflorescence which is the sexual reproductive organ of the plant.

2. Like almost all aroids, as a specimen matures it morphs into a plant with a totally different color and shape. In the case of the Cercestis Mirabilis, the colors begin to turn slightly yellowish and the attractive pattern fades as the speciemen ages and the leaf blades become substantially larger.

3. The pattern on the leaves are known as being maculate which simply means "blemished".

4. The white areas (maculate) of a juvenile Cercestis Mirabilis are puffed and raised above the darker green areas. You can both see and feel the raised areas! The leaves of the plant appear to have been embossed which is why it sometimes called the African Embossed Aroid.

5. In adult plants the leaves are semi-glossy and possess the slit-like perforations which are located between the primary leaf veins on each side of the midrib. Definitely something I'm looking forward to. 🤓

6. Additionally, the adult blades of Cercestis mirabilis are subcoriaceous to coriaceous. Coriaceous indicates the blades are leather-like while sub-coriaceous indicates just less than leathery to the touch.

It's my birthday month 🥳 and I wanted to make someone (else) really really really happy. This year has been on one but plants and the plant community kept us together and in some instances sane...I know my babes definitely made it easier to get through this thing called life in 2020. And for that, I am beyond grateful. So my assistant and I conferred (1st pic) and decided the following would make a GREAT giveaway (we hope you agree):

1 Raven ZZ
1 Monstera Standleyana
1 Golden Pothos
1 Unisex 'Plant Geek' Sweatshirt (S but can fit a standard M)
1 Wake Up Illustration Tote
1 3PC Sungmor Self Watering Wall Planters Set (Modern White)

Rules:

1. Tag 3 friends (all of you must be following our Instagram page).

2. State one thing you're grateful for in 2020.

3. Share this post to your stories and tag us.

That's it. Easy as 1-2-3.

Competition closes on November 25th and the winner will be announced on November 30th.

Good luck gang!

Some notes on Euphorbia tirucalli:

1. Commonly called pencil cactus but it's not a cactus and actually a member of the Euphorbia family. So a succulent.

2. Also known as milkbush due to the milky white, irritating sap or latex the plant releases when the stems are broken.

3. Care must be taken when handling a pencil cactus to avoid the sap. Eye protection may even be necessary as this babe produces a toxin that can cause an anaphylactic reaction. In most cases it can be cleared up with antihistamine but occasionally more severe reactions occur and are difficult to clear. I'd suggest not even bringing her inside if they're kids around. Better safe...

4. This sap or white acidic substance is also toxic to dogs and cats and causes vomiting and mouth irritation if ingested by the animals. If you have pets at home, you should protect them from exposure to these ‘fire sticks.’

5. The new growth on the end may be tinged pink and have tiny leaves which disappear as the branch matures. Hence 'fire sticks'.

6. In its natural habitat, pencil cactus can grow to 30 feet, and potted it can reach six feet (sometimes more) under ideal conditions (full sun, immaculate drainage and easy on the water).

It's Philodendron Friday guys, so it's only fitting I drop some notes on Philodendron Gloriosum:

1. She is a member of the family Araceae, genus Philodendron.

2. Also known as Anthurium Gloriosum and Velvet Philodendron. 🤔

3. P. Gloriosum is a terrestrial plant whose foliage is characterized by cordate (heart-shaped) leaves with a velutionous surface, pink margins, and pale green, white, or pinkish veins. It's also just plain BEAUTIFUL. 😭😍

4. This babe is a crawling philodendron. By crawling, I mean creeping on the ground or the forest floor as is the case in their natural environment with its stems growing horizontally along the surface.

5. P. Gloriosum is a rhizomatous plant, where the rhizome likes to be exposed/out of the soil. So apparently it's best to ensure that their stems are resting on top of the soil instead of buried in it. I'll be trying this with my bigger babe. Stay tuned.

6. Like other philodendrons, this babe has high levels of calcium oxalate which can cause toxicity. Ingestion may lead to irritation and ulceration of the throat and oesophagus region. As such it's advisable to keep kids and pets away from the plant.

Some notes on Cycas Revoluta or Sago Palm:

1. You hear Sago Palm, so you don't give it a second thought. This babe is obviously a palm, right? Wrong.

2. The Sago is an extremely interesting type of plant, and by its common name it's easy to think that it's a palm but it's actually a Cycad.

3. Cycad is one of the oldest groups of plants dating back to prehistoric times and sago palms have been around and relatively unchanged for over 200 million years, making it a living fossil! No wonder they're so hardy.

4. Due to superficial similarities in foliage and plant structure between cycads and palms they are often confused with each other. In reality, they belong to completely different phyla, and are not closely related at all.

5. Sago palms are actually more closely related to pine trees than palm trees.

6. They are are dioecious, therefore the individual plants of a species are either male or female.

7. Originating from the South Japanese islands of Ryuku and Nansei, the sago's growth pattern is very slow with elegant arching fronds stemming from the center of a trunk derived of older cut palm fronds.

8. It should be noted that all parts of this plant are considered toxic to both humans and pets if ingested, so caution should be taken if you are growing sago palms around small children and pets (specifically cats and dogs). Not to mention the spiny leaves. Ouch.

Scindapsus Pictus 'Exotica'. Some notes:

1. A vining plant with light green foliage that's speckled with silvery, reflective variegation.

2. The heart-shaped leaves are almost velvety to the touch and quite matte in texture, perhaps why the plant is more commonly known as Philodendron Silver and Satin Pothos (though botanically it is neither Philodendron nor Pothos).

3. Its vines grow quite long, and in our experience quite fast, making this babe a great choice for hanging planters.

4. They LOVE humidity, so they are great plant options for the bathroom.

5. Scindapsus babes (exotica is only one type) are epiphytic and epilithic, meaning that they grow up trees and across rocks.

6. Scindapsus are shingling plants in their native habitat so when they attach to something to climb, the leaves lie flat against the growing surface.

7. We're currently all out of these babes at the moment...Thanks for the support. And for everyone that's enquiring we've potted some and put even more cuttings to root. Just for you.

8. We'll definitely be staking our oldest mama plant to see how she looks when she gets to shingling, apparently as they mature the leaves not only get bigger but also change shape. 🤔

Ever took a cutting from a plant only to have the new plant look NOTHING like the mama? Or saw a plant in the forest and have someone tell you it's X but you 'know' X and that's not it? Well...in the aroid species this can be due to the changes that naturally occur throughout the life of the plant. This process is known as ontogeny and is basically the changes observed as the plant grows from its juvenile stage to adulthood. Also known as morphogenesis. Morphogenesis is sometimes not observed until a plant is allowed to climb and change into its adult shape...ever notice how the leaves of your climbing babes are typically bigger than those of your trailing babes? Despite what many home growers believe, Philodendron hederaceum is a climber and will not fully display it's full natural form unless it is allowed to climb. 😒


The other change commonly observed in aroids is known as variation within a species. Natural variation, however, is different from morphogenesis and happens over many years, as variation is far from sudden and occurs over a very long term which can easily be eons. That long term variation within the species P. hederaceum or P. Brasil has created a great deal of controversy and confusion among and for collectors...like me. I currently have some philodendron brasil that are completely green...no variegation in sight. 👀🥴 Luckily mama bear (pictured) is not. Time to stake her though and see what morphogenesis has in store for us. 💚

Michelle of .lyhaven wanted to get some plant related insight from us, so of course I obliged🌱😀. Really enjoyed this process and was reminded that I'm supposed to be blogging as well 😩...but until then the link to the interview is in our bio. Happy Reading!

Meet the Fiddle Leaf Fig tree took the long way but still managed to find itself back home. She's probably the first Fiddle Leaf that I sold, she was a big beaut back then...she's still beautiful but definitely a shadow of her former self. The client that got her had to migrate and decided she should be back in my care...so I graciously accepted and now she's home to convalesce and I'm feeling blessed to reconnect with this lovely soul and excited for the journey that lies ahead. Stay tuned for progress updates.


And please don't hesitate to reach out if your plant babes aren't thriving. 💚

Un-showy inflorescence, they said. But man oh man major foliage. 👌🏾😍💚

Good Morning!

What do they say about the best laid plans? That they often go awry? Exactly that! The plan has always been to blog but last year was a lot (in a great way), so I decided to give it another go, hopefully this time it'll stick. Peep the link down below...finally did a proper introduction of ourselves. And it only took us 2 years. Better late than never, right? If there's anything you guys think should be on the blog, drop a comment and I'll see what I can do.

Have a great day guys. 💚

https://www.theinsidejungle.com/news/2020/6/21/allow-us-to-reintroduce-ourselves

In honor of World Environment Day we wanted to ask: 'Is your (house)plant habit eco-friendly and sustainable?' It's easy to think that because plants are 'green' that the practices that get them to you are also green but that's not always the case. So here are some of the ways we take the environment into consideration as we get our plant on:

1. We reuse everything! There have been nursery pots and other containers that we've been reusing for almost 2 years.
2. We keep it local! Our plants aren't imported...so I guess you can say each plant you get from us has a relatively small carbon footprint. Our mommy plants were either originally part of my personal collection, sourced locally or have been gifted and from there it's major trial and error with tons of propagation.
3. We're chemical free! No chemical anything is used in our nursery. No chemical fertilizer. No chemical pesticide.
4. We try to employ wise watering practices! When it comes to watering, we do use a hose but during the dry season 'deep watering' is also practised. All that means is a watering can or small bucket is used to water (less wastage) until the water can be seen running out of the drainage holes. And once it rains, our babes are always in for a treat. Like today!
5. We aim reduce the time spent on the road! Deliveries are typically grouped and also happen on days when other errands are being done. Less days on the road is a win for the environment and my sanity. 😀

Fast becoming one of my personal faves...those thick waxy leaves and deep green foliage. Perfection. 👌🏾💚

Do you have a favorite Sansevieria or Snake Plant? I'd say mine is sansevieria moonshine but sansevieria cylindrica is giving her some competition...she's such a stand out babe. Just look at her! 😍

Here is a mama and her babies...and our belated Mother's Day post. 🥴😀

We hope each and every mama (plant mamas included) had a wonderful one yesterday and that you guys have an even better week. 💚

Yesterday marked our second anniversary, and with everything that's happening I almost forgot. So no big celebration this time around, just a long overdue gratitude post...

Thank you to everyone that's supported TIJ, bought a plant, liked a post, shared a post, recommended us, gave of their time, talents and energies, collaborated with us, wished us well...nothing was too small and everything was and is appreciated. Thank you! Stay safe, keep well and remember you're not the only one affected by the heat...water those babes. 💦💚

Stay home but make it green.

Happy Sunday! 💚
📷:

Not sure how many of you know this, but my LOVE for gardening for food (I hightailed it to Costa Rica in 2017 to become permaculture design certified, lol) fed into my obsession with ornamentals...don't ask how or when it happened, it just did. Plants, typically things of purpose, were now also irritatingly beautiful to me. And then sometimes, you meet a plant that's as beautiful as it is purposeful. 💚

So how many of you grow your own food? And what exactly are you growing? Not an ad or anything but if you're interested, but not sure where to start is offering online gardening classes.

Took some time off. Became another kind of mama. And now, I'm finally back...exactly 13 weeks and 6 days postpartum and ready to bless your timelines with some bomb dot com greenery...peep this Anthurium Hookeri. She's 💚

Hoping you guys are safe, sanitized and in good spirits. 📷:

Sometimes success looks like this. 💚

Where are you going to be on Saturday? Not Another Christmas Market, we hope. 👀

We'll be officially having our 1st ever plant sale. Come get a lot of your faves from as low as $35. Our gift to you. 💚