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Indoor mystery plant (with pictures)

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 10:32 am
by vonbonbon
I bought this unlabeled plant on year-end clearance after my previous office plants (ivy) got mites and I let them go on to the great garden in the sky.

They were never labeled. They are some sort of tropical plant and seem to be doing really well (water when soil is dry, I have a west-facing large window so they get plenty of light), but I'd like to know what they are if possible and so far have struck out.

[img]https://img513.imageshack.us/img513/7494/plant1z.jpg[/img]

A view of the "trunk"

[img]https://img29.imageshack.us/img29/5080/plant2r.jpg[/img]

They are about 18" tall and the largest leaves are about 6", most are 4-5". They have shot off a few branches (each plant 1) that I've pruned off because they sort of stuck out funny, and I'd rather have them growing vertically for now. The leaves come out as it grows vertically, one at a time, rotating around the trunk. The leaves are reddish as they come in but quickly turn green.

Thanks a ton if you have any ideas...and even if you don't, thanks for trying.

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 8:14 pm
by kdodds
Looks like Ficus benjamina.

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 11:09 pm
by vonbonbon
Thanks a ton for the help. I'm not sure it's a 100% match, it seems to spread more than this and the ficus benjamina has much waxier and slightly darker leaves.

I'll keep looking. In the meantime, I'll narrow a little closer to the ficus family...seems close.

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 11:54 pm
by bangstrom
It might be an oleander. If so it really isn't an indoor plant and they can grow quite tall.

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 5:40 am
by !potatoes!
hope you get the answer...I've got one of these, too.

definitely an indoor plant.

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 8:47 am
by vonbonbon
Looks like I've found it: ardisia elliptica.

Pretty invasive, although I don't think it would survive our winters if it got outside. It's illegal in Florida, apparently, so it must cause some problems down there.

Turns out it will eventually flower and produce berries...and get quite large.

Thanks everyone for helping out.