Myrmecodia becarii

[David]

Can't help it! Just want to share my new pet that has just arrived. Just got this cute fella today. A good friend from Australia hand carried it back to Malaysia for me. This is M. becarii, a tuberous ant plant from the lowland forest/mangroves of Cape York, Australia.

Just done potting it with wood bark mixed with fern bark and topped with fern bark. Not a very cheap media but worth it... and it definitely deserve it!

[atmccmn]

It'll be one good interesting plant. I see very stout healthy tuber there. Just remember me when the plant set seeds.

[funkychips]

Fascinating, David! Looks like an alien-infected host plant . I notice there is a little hole on the tuber in the closeup pics. Is that where the ants enter and exit? If not, how do the ants actually colonise the tuber?

[David]

Originally Posted by atmccmn

It'll be one good interesting plant. I see very stout healthy tuber there. Just remember me when the plant set seeds.

Sure Andy! I was already thinking about that. Wanted to repay you for the two beautiful H. formicarium you sent me. I also got some seeds that I was thinking of growing into little plantlets before I surprise you with a parcel of it at your doorstep.

But I think I'll send some of the the seeds to you now... guess what it is? It's Hydnophytum moseleyanum seeds. That same friend got it from a grower in Australia for me. I'll mail to you tomorrow.

[David]

Originally Posted by funkychips

Fascinating, David! Looks like an alien-infected host plant .

That's why I like them! I am just crazy about weird and unique living things.

Originally Posted by funkychips

I notice there is a little hole on the tuber in the closeup pics. Is that where the ants enter and exit? If not, how do the ants actually colonise the tuber?

Yupe! That's where the ants enter. I think mine is still a very young plant. Not many holes in the tuber.

[Amelie.Poulain]

David, any of the tenant move in yet?

[Robert]

worth it , David. How spiky when compare with M.tuberosa?

[David]

Originally Posted by Robert

worth it , David. How spiky when compare with M.tuberosa?

Much more spiky compared to tuberosa and seems to be longer and thicker. I am basing waht I just said on the few plants I have. The spikes on tuberosa is also harder and sharp like a needle. M. becarii's spikes are softer and does not really poke your hand when you touch it.

Originally Posted by Amelie.Poulain

David, any of the tenant move in yet?

Nope! It would be interesting to have ants actually living in the tuber. I think it won't happen since I grow them in my apartment. I have a about 10 pots of ant plants in my apartment and none of them has ants living in them. But then again, if they start to have ants living in them, they will be kick out of the house by the "Minister of Home Affairs".

[atmccmn]

David,

Thought you might be interested in this. While I'm doing some files cleaning from my computer, bump into this old file. Some picts of Hydno. moseleyanum from Tropiflora (photo credit to Tropiflora). A fine specimen plant! Sure is a beauty for caudex lovers.
Here they are:

[David]

WOW... WOW... WOW!!! Thanks Andy. Their moseleynum looks so healthy with so much leaves and such a thick tuber. Hmm, it is grown quite dry huh? Maybe I should do that for my tuberous ant plants too.

By the way, the moseleynum plantlets that I grew from seeds are starting to have the second set of leaves. Really slow growing and so far none of them have the swollen tubers yet. Any advise? How are the seeds I mailed you? I suspect they might not germinate as my friend hand carried those back to Malaysia for me, whcih is a delay of a couple fo weeks from the time the seeds were collected. Those that I had was the other half he mailed to me once he got them from the seller. I understand that the shelf life for the seeds are really short.