Yellow Jade Vine ??????

[Really full garden]

About two years ago I purchased a batch of Mucuna bennettii seeds in a FGLNA auction.The seeds origin was listed as Flamingo Gardens.Most seeds germinated and I planted several young plants on a chainlink fence about one year ago.I am getting a few blooms now and they are not red they are yellow!

IS this because they are the first blooms on an immature vine or is this a different species? I am very disappointed after spending a lot of money and two years waiting.

[XYZ]

Scott:

Both Mucuna bennettii and M. novo-guineensis have brilliant scarlet or a vivid orange-red infls. even when young. There are many other spp. - incl. some unattractive Pantropical ones and others native to Guatemala - some that have brown, yellow, mauve/violet or bicolor (bright red & yellow endangered sp. from HI) flowers. From recollection there is a "gold" jade vine (short infl) cultivated in FL on limited basis that reportedly originated in Papua. They used to carry them (perhaps still do?) at Ernesto's Good Earth. More mustard yellow than golden-colored, but anyways.

Do your plants have bright yellow flowers?

J

[Gbarce]

pictures?

[Really full garden]

Sorry no photos yet.It has been dark and rainy all day. Jay the flowers are bright canary yellow like palo blanco flowers.I think they might be Mucuna sloanei.The flowers are not ugly,but they certainly are not spectacular.

[Really full garden]

Had some sun this morning here are a few pics.

The flowers are hidden in the foliage,not easily seen from the street.

[XYZ]

Scott:

Unfortunately, looks like a case of "cocos al puerto"...this looks like one of the native species aff. sloanei. You may have these growing as wild lianas down the road from you in those forested hillocks on the west side of the road near Escuintla. I have certainly seen mucunas like this in abandoned coffee plantings near Palín.

Not sure whether mine is flowering at the house right now since I aksed the gardener to cut it back, but it usually blooms mid-August.

J

[Jeff Searle]

Scott,

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. It's always bad when you purchase something, wait a long time before it blooms, only to find out you didn't get what you wanted.

I planted my Black Jade, M. nigrans(spelling ?),2 years ago after loosing my red before it bloomed due to severe cold weather. AND....just this past week I noticed it is flowering for the first time. It's pretty, and unusual. And, I consider it even faster growing than the red, if you can believe that.

Jeff