Alocasia cuprea!!!!! Can't get any more metallic than that!

Metallic fern

Trekking to the near forest. I met some plant with bit metalic sheen on it. I used to see lots of them, but sadly bit rare nowadays
A Selaginela willdenowii (the peacock fern) with iridescent blue.
Actually there is no blue pigment there, but the leaves really shine/reflects a bright blue, hard to miss under the forest floor.

A Piper porphyrophyllum. Fond near the above Selaginella. The back side of the leaves are coppery brown

Here is another plant from the same area I have no Idea of the ID. It form a rossete similar to Tacca or spathyphillum
Leaves approx 30 cm by 12 cm, fleshy almost like african violet and easily breaks. The back side are coppery brown. Upper surface dark green with bit of browny metalic sheen
No flower at the moment.
Anyone have any idea?

Absolutely NO idea!

Gina1960 said:Absolutely NO idea!

... well will wait till it flowers, perhaps will shed a little clue of at least the family.
Also waiting for other member for any suggestion.

I have no idea, Tofi, but I'd love to know what it is.

I want one though

Gina1960 said:I want one though

Currently growing it home... I can send you seed one day may be. Perhaps few seeds is not forbidden... especially for experienced collector.. that way perhaps the rare plants can somehow survive in a fastly vanishing rainforest.

That is a kind offer. That is why I grow some of the palms I do in my greenhouse. When I was collecting palms, I tried to buy the most rare ones I could afford. Some of them only exist today in cultivation, their habitats have been destroyed. Some are only known in the wild in a small very specific place. My collection is very small, and some of the most rare ones I tried to grow did not survive (Licuala cordata, Licuala orbiculares to name 2) There are a lot of palmophiles who do nothing but try and conserve species that are extremely threatened. I grow a lot of different plants, not just palms. But I love my palms. My husband has instructions on who to call in case I die to come take care of my plant collection.

yes,... botanical world need many people like you Gina

I wish I was younger LOL. But I am old now. Its like Pokemon...gotta catch them All!

This colocasia has a metallic sheen. Its called Black Coral. There are so many like it on the market now they all look the same to me, except the one called Black Ripple which I don't have. These tend (for me anyway) to act more like alocasias than colocasias...they seem to require less water


And this ALocasia 'Purple Prince' has a nice sheen

I had both Black Coral and Black RIpple at my last home and found Black Ripple did not have much irridescence, my plant was sort of dull. It was also more tender and when it did not come back one spring I said adios and never missed it.

Yes I have found over the years since these shiny colocasias were introduced that most of them are in fact NOT as hardy as their regular counterparts. I only still have this container because I kept it greenhouse. The one that got left out at 33F did not return. I thought it would have to get colder than THAT to lose it but I guess not.

Here's a really shiny metallic one - Begonia 'Looking Glass'. It's really hard to capture how shiny the leaves are, but they truly look like aluminum foil in real life.


Alice gave me a start of this one years ago, and it is sort of pearly, rather than metallic I guess. Begonia 'Don Miller'

Ooohhhhh! Aaaahhhh! Love that one!!!!

I had 'Looking Glass' many years ago and had trouble with it. Never knew if it was me or the weather but it croaked. 'Don Miller' on the other hand is one tough plant and super hardy, I had it outdoors year round in SC for many years. It even survived the freaky freeze one year and popped right back from the roots.