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Back with an update on Mei’s mysterious branch. If anyone can tell me… | Anything about plants | Planta community

Adrian

Back with an update on Mei’s mysterious branch. If anyone can tell me if this piece of my Nematanthus ‘Shady Lady Mae’ is simply another cultivar, or if something could cause a Mae to change flower colors so drastically, please let me know 😂 The last photo is what a ‘Shady Lady Mae’s flowers typically look like, and what the rest of Mei’s branches are blooming. She doesn’t have the red streak under the leaves like a ‘Shady Lady Marlene’, and she doesn’t look like a Tropicana aside from the leaf color. I’m pretty stumped about this branch, but she’s a pretty pleasant surprise, so I don’t mind that she looks so different from the rest of my plant, just curious 😊

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5 comments

  1. Adrian

    Here’s some more closeups for anyone new to this plant. The semi-protruding “teeth” are certainly different from Mei’s usual flowers. And for reference, this branch has had the orange outer petals since I got her in the fall, the leaves are the exact same color on the top and undersides, and while similar, these flowers have more of a gradient from red-orange to yellow-orange than a regular N. gregarius or N. wettsteinii. Mei’s other flowers all have a yellow base with red freckles and streaks and red outer petals.

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  2. Phil

    I think all plants put out an anomaly now and then. That’s sometimes how we get variations of many plants. My one Birkin seems to be the worst. Putting out weird leaves seems to be its norm.

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  3. Buffy

    Adrian, how old is your goldfish? Mine looks so healthy, is in good light, and gets watered I believe correctly. I have had it since last late spring and still has not bloomed. Thank you🪴

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    • Adrian

      Mine is a combination of two Shady Lady Mae’s that I bought from two different nurseries, so I can’t give an exact age. I’m gonna guess the larger portion that it consists of was a few months to a year old before I got it in November, and the first set of branches I bought on July 11th of 2025. I bought the second one in November of 2025 and it was flowering when I bought it, so it’s possible I’ve had good luck with mine, but I’ve found they like being treated like succulents more than tropical plants. I let them completely dry out between waterings and keep them in a cactus mix. They seem to bloom the most when they’re dry and I take them from their window or grow light for a day or two, so trying to move it to some darkness for 2-3 days after watering day might help.

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    • Buffy

      Oh! I water mine much more than that! So good to know.. maybe they bloom when slightly stressed! I am sure going to try that with one of mine. Thank you for the idea🪴

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