Thursday, May 14, 2009

Mutant Ninja Neofinetia


Neofinetia falcata 'Kibana'. Neofinetia falcata is a wonderful, compact, Japanese native that has a Jasmine fragrance at night. They are tolerant of a broad variety of weather conditions including cold, wet, dry and hot, something you would expect of an epiphyte in their Japanese homeland. They are normally pure white, a large plant throwing clouds of small, brilliant white flowers. However, the Japanese have been line breeding mutant strains of these in different leaf and color forms. Leaf forms include miniatures, bean shaped leaves, thick-short leaves and variegated leaves. Color forms started with light lavender and have since progressed to dark lavender, yellow and even green! Kibana is a bright yellow. Nothing to sneeze at, unless you're allergic to the smell of Jasmine anyhow.

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