Mother of Millions

It's January now, and I am still looking longingly at the Christmas decorations, hating to put them away for a year, yet not wanting casual visitors to think I am just lazy! Therefore, as a antidote to post-holiday blues, I am thinking about the metamorphosis of one of my houseplants from a benign little sprout to a monster!

Two summers ago a friend had her regular house/lawn party where she gives her guests a small plant as a departing favor.  Last summer this plant grew to be a rather large specimen and developed little plantlets at the tips of its leaves.   (Click on the pictures to enlarge.) Each one of the little plantlets was like a seed or a spore, and several took root voluntarily when falling into pots of soil beneath the 'mother.'

The philodendron shares its pot with a plantlet.

The plantlet stakes its claim over a another volunteer growth.

I called my hostess, and asked her to identify the plant.  She had to consult with her daughter, and then gave me the basic name of Bryophyllum.  I did some research on the Internet, and came up with the Latin name of Daigremontianum.

Common names for this plant include Mother of Thousands, Mother of Millions, Devil's Backbone, and Flopper. Any of these names would be descriptive of the plant, but I chose Mother of Millions, because it has a nice alliteration and no religious connotation. 

 I gave my sister one of the 'babies' growing volunteer. 

It continues to prosper, but it won't produce any plantlets until next summer, if it follows the example of my plant.

This fall I brought the plant indoors and marveled at the size of it.  In the three or so months it has been sitting on a table by the east downstairs family room window, it has grown to gigantic proportions.  Some of this growth may be due to its attempt to take advantage of the eastern sun that comes into the room over the outside hedge. 

The poor thing has roots exploding

from the pot, as you can see on the right.  Maybe this is why one of its common names is Flopper!  I wonder if I should, or even could,  move it to a more commodious container.  It's not complaining now,

except that it is rather spindly.  Perhaps it craves more light.  Otherwise, though, it seems to be making do.  What do you think?

In this photograph the morning sun is highlighting the blossoms.

Hey! Surprise.  This morning, a day after I posted this blog, I examined the leaves at the end of those spindly branches only to discover that they weren't leaves at all, but FLOWERS!  This plant reproduces by plantlets and flowers.  What next?  Maybe I will soon hear it say, "FEED ME!"