@Dogsndaylilies,
That Aloe you have is an Aloe hybrid (not 'Aloe Vera'). There's numerous hybrids, so I can't help with an ID as to which one.

The Kalanchoe does look like 'Chocolate Soldier' to me (I can see the brown). It's just not as dark as others I've seen.

Beth, is it the brown flecks on the edges of the leaves or the general brownish hue of the leaves at the bottom of the plant that makes you think that? I don't really know anything about panda plants, I was just trying to draw conclusions based on teh pictures I saw in the database. Your input is appreciated!

As for the aloe, I'm pretty sure it's a different cultivar, too. All I know is that it came with a label that says "Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera)" and there seems to be conflicting information on the Internet about whether aloe vera = aloe barbadensis. I went here to settle the matter: http://www.theplantlist.org/tp... ...but without pictures, it's hard to feel confident that's what I have.

The Aloe reminds me of Aloe hemmingii or possibly Aloe 'Delta Lights', I see a couple at the Aloe vera database entry that look like maybe they are in the wrong location. A couple look like Aloe maculata and one reminds me of Aloe ciliaris (Climbing Aloe).

The Catalogue of Life/October 2015 shows Aloe barbadensis as a synonym for Aloe vera:

Aloe barbadensis Mill. Species synonym for Aloe vera (L.) Burm.f.

Aloe barbadensis var. chinensis Haw. Infraspecific taxon synonym for Aloe vera (L.) Burm.f.

Aloe perfoliata var. barbadensis (Mill.) Aiton Infraspecific taxon synonym for Aloe vera (L.) Burm.f.

Lin - thank you for the IDs, you are really good at ID'ing things, aren't you? I love that.

I, too, was confused by some of the aloe pictures. I wonder if its worth it to suggest to the owners of the pictures to double-check and be sure they listed it correctly? I don't know if I'll get into it tonight, but I'll look into the cultivars you mentioned and closely inspect my aloe plant first-hand. Hopefully this mystery will get figured out.

LOL, don't ever go solely by my ID's ... I'm wrong much more often than I'm right ... I just make guesses.

plantladylin said:LOL, don't ever go solely by my ID's ... I'm wrong much more often than I'm right ... I just make guesses.

I always try to do my due diligence and research suggested IDs, so don't worry there. I'll bet you're right more often than you realize. And, right or not, your suggestions atleast provide a path that can lead to the right answer. That's important!

@DogsNDaylilies,
I believe it's 'Chocolate Soldier' because of the general brownish hue of the leaves (unless it's dirty, is it dirty? :lol:). There is another "fuzzy" Kalanchoe known as "Panda Plant," but it's leaves are more of a greenish blue (which I do see that color leaf at the top of your plant, but I think it has "lightened up" from what looks like a lack of light). I believe 'Chocolate Soldier's colors are more pronounced in stronger light. The more the light, the darker the brown and the more it covers the leaf. 'Panda Plant' only has brown on the edges of the leaves, and they appear darker with higher light as well. To induce bushiness, you can pinch it back to wherever you want it to sprout multiple stems, although I'd advise waiting until late Spring/Summer to do this (you don't want to do this now, as Winter growth tends to be more straggly).

I apologize, I meant to help you with more IDs. I do believe you do have a cultivar of Bromeliad vriesea, but I'm not sure which one. I have one myself that is orange-ish red/yellow but I don't have a clue on the cultivars of B. vriesea lol.

If I am remembering correctly, to add to Lin's research, I think it's Aloe chinensis that you most often see in the store. This is known as 'Aloe Vera.' Sadly, a lot of plants are mislabeled in the stores. There is a more rare form of Aloe, Aloe barbadensis, that looks a lot like A. chinensis (I think one tends to be spotted whereas the other is more solid green, no spots. I think). To tell the difference, A. chinensis has orange blooms, whereas the more rare Aloe, A. barbadensis has yellow blooms.

Lemme go back and make sure I didn't miss any IDs I can help you with (or at least try).

@DogsNDaylilies,
Okay. Sorry for making two posts. You have so many plants, it took me a minute to look over everyone.

I believe that the jade with the long leaves is labeled correctly (it looks like it says Crassula argentea).

I can't really tell about the other jade in the combo pot (although I can tell you have another 'Chocolate Soldier' there). Not sure on the third one in that pot either (I'm terrible with Echeverias or anything that looks like them).

Your Sansevieria ('Snake Plant') is Sansevieria trifasciata 'Black Gold.' It's not a Bird's nest variety, rather what we call 'Futura' (it's an in between a bird's nest and those large ones).

And your Peperomia 'Golden Gate' is Peperomia obtifusola 'Variegata' (Exotic Angel comes up with some weird cultivar names sometimes).

for the acorn.

Sorry for the terrible picture quality, but this is my Bromeliad. She's already producing two pups.

Mine is currently more of a tan/brown color with some red. I don't know if that means mine is dying or not. I hope not, it's awfully small to have matured to a dying age, so either it needs water or it starts brown and turns colors.

I looked again at yours. It's hard to say... I see where the tips are browning, but that could be from where there was a lack of humidity or it was too dry for too long (?). The color on the flower itself looks rather light, I'm not sure if that's just how that one is (I saw one in town the other say that wasn't dying, but the color of the flower was more green than anything).

Crassula argentea is a synonym of C. ovata (Jade plant.)

Reeeeeally?!

I have to admit, I'm not the best with Jade IDs. In that case, is that particular jade C. ovata? I thought the leaves on C. ovata were more round rather than long. ::scratches head::

Panda Plant (Kalanchoe tomentosa) and the cultivar Panda Plant (Kalanchoe tomentosa 'Chocolate Soldier') both look alike to me but I have difficulty determining slight differences in plants sometimes. When I purchase a plant without a cultivar name I usually tag it with just the genus and species name since I'm never sure which cultivar it might be.

Synonym means they're the exact same thing. They change those constantly, for various reasons.

Sometimes it can take a few months, or even a year or more, to ID a mystery plant, especially when they're tiny and/or etiolated, or when blooms are needed. Assigning a cultivar name is obvious in some cases, never happens in others for some plants that have too many similar choices (like African violets, and Hostas.) If a plant doesn't have one on a label when purchased, just use the species whenever there's uncertainty about cultivar.

That is probably the best advice. Especially if I'm wrong.

My package from Gardino's Nursery arrived today! Somewhere I made the comment that my first hoyas were from SRQ, but I realized that I actually made my Gardino's Nursery purchase before that, but oh well.

I really like what I got from Gardino's Nursery. They were slightly more expensive, but they sent larger, rooted plants in pots. My order from them included:
-- HOYA KERRII 'VARIEGATA' REVERSE - Sweetheart Hoya $15.00
-- STEPHANOTIS FLORIBUNDA - Bridal Bouquet - Madagascar Jasmine $10.00
-- HOYA KERRII 'FUZZY LEAVES' - Sweetheart Hoya $10.00

Here are some pictures of the plants:



(I'm sorry that the pictures aren't terribly good...I was trying to take them quickly before my older dog harmed them. She's something of a klutz and I didn't want her breaking off leaves as she was trying to get me to pet her, so I snapped pictures quickly.)

The thing that prompted my order at Gardino's Nursery was that they had the heart-shaped kerrii hoyas that I really wanted, but one of them was a higher demand item that was out of stock. I got an email notification (I signed up for it) that it was back in stock, so I jumped on the opportunity to get it, along with a couple of others.

For some reason, I thought the 'fuzzy leaf' was supposed to be big leaves (like it is) and I thought the variegated kerrii was supposed to be small, heart-shaped leaves (they're actually big). I'm not sure how I feel about having two with such big leaves. Maybe they'll provide some symmetry somewhere in my house. I really do love the heart-shaped leaves and I'm going to try hard not to accidentally bump any off.

At the moment, I'm trying to do research to find out which hoyas do best in high vs. medium vs. low light. I see conflicting information on the Internet about which cultivars like which type of lighting, but I feel like I'll get to the bottom of things if I spend a little more time at it.

An update on my fishtail hoya: it doesn't appear to be liking where I put it. I think it is suffering from too little light, so I moved it to a spot that is brighter and gets about 10 minutes of sun each day as it comes in at an angle through a nearby window. Maybe it will like that. (Right now the leaves are becoming pale, which concerns me. I think it's failing to undergo photosynthesis properly because of the lack of bright light where it was at.)

The conflicting anecdotes about light are likely due to location/latitude variances, and inside vs. outside. In FL, direct sun might burn, but in Maine it might be needed. Also, tropical plants wouldn't normally experience short days, so might need more light for winter than summer, to make up for there being fewer hours of it.