Philodendron squamiferum

Philodendron squamiferum is a distinctive climbing aroid from the Guianas and northern Brazil, instantly recognisable by the soft reddish bristle-like hairs ("squamae") covering its petioles, a texture unlike almost any other commonly grown Philodendron. Mature leaves are deeply five-lobed, giving the plant a hand-like silhouette quite different from the plain heart-shaped juvenile leaves it starts with. The species is one half of the parentage behind the famous 'Florida' hybrid line (crossed with Philodendron pedatum by breeder Robert McColley in 1950s Florida), which produced 'Florida Beauty' and its paler sport 'Florida Ghost', both of which additionally carry a stable cream-yellow sectoral variegation not present in the plain species.

Native range

The Guianas and northern Brazil (humid tropical rainforest, climbing as a hemiepiphyte)

Classification

Genus

Philodendron

Family

Araceae

Type

Wild

Growth habit

Climbing/vining

Morphology

Leaf shape

Heart-shaped when juvenile, deeply 5-lobed when mature

Leaf length

20-35 cm mature

Leaf width

18-30 cm mature

Petiole colour

Green, covered in distinctive soft reddish bristle-like hairs

Venation

PinnateVeins or lobes arranged like a feather, branching out symmetrically on both sides of a single main central vein.

Texture

Matte to semi-glossy

Variegation

N/A, solid deep green leaf blade; the cream-yellow sectoral variegation seen in the 'Florida Beauty'/'Florida Ghost' hybrid line comes from crossing with Philodendron pedatum, not from this species alone

Growth habit

Climbing vine with aerial roots