Help ID plant w/red stem, red leaves, thorns

[karmachelle]

Hi all.

A friend of mine at work just received a bouquet of flowers and in it were these stems of some sort... the stems are very red and appear to have had lots of thorns (i assume they were removed by the florist). The leaves are long and slender, a deep green in the middle surrouned by red on the edges.

We are in eastern MA - I'm hoping these are local, as I'd love to use them in my wedding next year!

I've scoured the internet and can't seem to find anything that even comes close to these. Any help would be appreciated

Thanks so much!

Sorry, I guess I don't know how to post a picture - I'll keep trying to figure it out....
http://s95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/ ... plant1.jpg

[Kisal]

If it was a commercial flower arrangement, I doubt very much that the stems were from a plant growing locally in your area.

It's very difficult to ID a plant just by looking at a small part of it. The stem and leaves in your photo could be part of a small annual grown as a crop, or it could be a twig from a huge tree.

Commercial florists buy plant materials from all over the world, so it could have come from anywhere. My guess, however, is that it originated somewhere in South America.

If the flowers were arranged by a local florist, you could call them and ask what the stems are. They should be able to tell you.

[karmachelle]

South America, huh? What leads you to that?

Thank you for your reply!

[Kisal]

South America, especially Brazil, has a thriving industry producing flowers and plant materials for florists. Many of the flowers and plants sold here, especially during the winter months, come from South America.

[applestar]

You could always try showing the photo to a florist....

[karmachelle]

Good to know about South America!

And I do think I will try to contact the florist and/or show the photo to a local florist.

Thanks for the advice folks!