The categories of 'rare'

 Rare: the most used and abused word since the plantdemic began. Bestowed on plants secretly and not-so-secretly multiplied by the hundreds, even thousands, and branded as such to capture the imagination- and the pockets' contents- of a burgeoning market whose passion for decorative vegetables began only during the government lockdowns imposed around the world. To this day, two years hence, the P.T. Barnums of the aroid craze still use the word as a marketing ploy and echoed by automatons who are under the impression that the word 'rare' is interchangeable with the term 'ridiculously expensive'. 

To be fair, there are indeed 'rare plants' in every sense of the term. However, this does not include the "a plant is rare because you can't afford it" line of reasoning. That's stupid. If that is your mindset, then perhaps I can entice you to some bit of illumination and make your notochord ancestors proud. They have, after all, spent many millions of years rising beyond that primordial muck only to end up with a regressed someone without a backbone and who thinks like a dust bunny.

1. Rare in cultivation, common in the wild.

I would imagine that a great many plant with varying degrees of horticultural potential falls into this category. Freycinetias, many botanical orchids, and plants coming in from countries that do not export their plants should sit comfortably here. In this category also are plants that have horticultural potential, but most people would not want to have around due to a number of valid reasons. Korthalsia laciniosa is a large, graceful palm with diamond-shaped leaflets. What is interesting about these palms is that the petiole bases have organs called 'ocreas', which are swollen and inhabited by ants. However, being one of the rattans, it is spiny. No matter how much one is into palms or ant plants, it just would be farfetched to even imagine someone- especially those from temperate areas- devoting a space for even a single specimen. These palms are very rare in cultivation even in its countries of origin. Other attractive palms such as Aiphanes and Oncosperma also have limited following due to their prickly nature.

Korthalsia laciniosa frond.

Niche subcultures- if I may call it that way- are a hotbed of very interesting plants that most people have not heard of, are unaware of, or are just not interested with. Ant plants is a lose term that is applied on very many plants that are not at all related, from trees such as acacias and cecropias, palms such as Bactris, Calamus, and the Korthalsia above, to shrubs (Clerodendrum fistulosum and C. myrmecophilum), vines in at least one Smilax (S. borneensis), in both Hoya (particularly H. darwinii and H. mitrata) and domatia-forming as well as shell-leaved examples of Dischidia, to ferns (Microgramma brunei, Lecanopteris, Myrmecopteris, Polytaenium, and Platycerium), bromeliads (myrmecophytic Aechmea, Neoregelia, and Tillandsia), orchids (Acriopsis, Catasetum, Caularthron, Coryanthes, Encyclia, Epidendrum, Gongora, Grammatophyllum, and Myrmecophila), epiphytic jungle cacti (Epiphyllum, Rhipsalis, and Selenicereus), Neotropical ant-inhabited gesneriads (at least some species in Codonanthopsis, Columnea, and Drymonia), at least one carnivorous plant (Nepenthes bicalcarata), some melastomes (Blakea, Medinilla crassifolia, Pachycentria constricta, and P. glauca), and one Piper (Piper myrmecophilum). Of these, the latter is the only one that isn't known to be present at all in cultivation. However, the one group that most people associate the most with the term 'ant plant' is the bizarre myrmecophytic and epiphytic rubiacs from the genera Anthorrhiza, Hydnophytum, Myrmecodia, Myrmephytum, and Squamellaria. Some rubiaceous shrubs and treelets (ex. Myrmeconauclea) are also inhabited by ants but are not really known to be present in cultivation. Some of the plants mentioned above are cultivated in varying degrees but not because of their intimate relationships with ants and can therefore be rather easily encountered in horticulture. But those that are maintained primarily by their odd, ant-friendly structures remain a specialists' territory and are consequently very limited in circulation. 

And we haven't touched on the jewel orchids yet. But you probably get it. Truly rare plants are not in widespread cultivation. These are as rare as the people who keep them.

Myrmecodia colony from the highland province of Ifugao, the Philippines.

2. Common in cultivation, rare in the wild.

Okay, it's not exactly 'common in cultivation', but because the species is now only seen in both public and private collections because the wild population has since purportedly been wiped out, then the very pretty Deppea splendens belongs here. Throw in Osa pulchra, Worsleya procera, and at least some of the South African Encephalartos too. One of the wonderful things that horticulture has done is to propagate truly rare plants and make these available for many to enjoy. In some cases, even illegally collected plants have since become founder stocks of specimens that are now reasonably easy to obtain, thereby making poaching obsolete. Not that I am justifying the practice, though.

Special mention should be made for Philodendron spiritus-sancti here. There should be more plants in cultivation now than there are in the wild, although probably with a very narrow genetic diversity. Not going to be common anytime soon, because those who have the plant would not want the prices to plunge, as some plants have to be elitists' possessions and prime capitalistic assets. And no, don't lecture me about the plant being difficult to propagate from cuttings. Tissue culture isn't a science that was hatched only yesterday. Properly executed, tc can yield plants that are in no way inferior to the parent material. Guess where the mudslinging came from.

3. Rare where you are from.

Plant is both common in the wild and in cultivation, but you'd need to apply for import permits to obtain these, maybe even Mafia connections. Now, the shitty thing here is that these importers will have a markup from three to close to ten times the original plant price to give the impression of rarity. This category has also spawned a new enterprise: flipping. Importers bring in plants grown from a country with a very different climate and sell these plants just a few days after arrival. If you only have a couple of years' experience, then I wish you the best of luck. Nevertheless, in this case, the plants are only a 'small picture rare'. Once you zoom out and begin seeing the big picture, you'll soon realize how quite common the plants are because everybody outside your country is taking cuttings so much that their plants just would not get past 6 feet tall- assuming it's a climbing aroid. And at the other end of this madness are those who send plants abroad but would not share these to local collectors. Many Philippine Hoya species are in general circulation in both Sweden and Thailand, but a one-armed man can count in his fingers the number of people who have these in the Philippines. And then some Filipinos have to go abroad to find and repatriate these species if they want to have these too. Makes me wanna laugh while crying.

And oh, before I forget. There is a Facebook group called 'Really Rare Plants'. While there are delightful plants that I have not yet seen before, some members do post pictures of plants that are so rare, they're potted. LMFAO.

4. Rare, because the plant's a mutant.

This one's pretty artificial, and would probably need at least a couple of sub-categories: mutant common plant and mutant rare plant. I have seen some sellers sell variegated roadside weeds, and then there are mutated forms of plants that are uncommon in the wild. Another word is used for those veggies that sit snugly in this category: unicorn. However, I think it's only a horny horse if there's only one plant in existence. The moment one starts propagating it then the road to being an everyday equine is paved. Should still command some respectable dough, but hey, price does not necessarily equate to 'rare'.  

The mad aroid mania is playing this niche very well. Running out of marketable species to offer, it is now churning out mutants. A number of aroids are being subjected to gamma irradiation to produce not a green Bruce Banner with petioles, but drop-dead gorgeous variegated alocasias. I even read somewhere that some plants are being bleached in Indonesia (?) and sold for hefty sums to gullible plant gobblers. Dunno about the veracity of this, but if true, then I hope that no one has yet forgotten the 'Pink Congo' fiasco.

And while I am at it, lemme assure you that you'll never have Alocasia sanderiana var. nobilis. The plant is a mutant. More on that on my next article.

5. Rare, because only a public garden or a few individuals have it.

There is a reason why some plants call botanical gardens their home, instead of being in the possession of one of those plant 'gurus' who have entered the hobby just three months ago. The evils of agriculture (introductions of farm animals and pest controls that have since become feral, inadvertent release of rapacious weeds and plant pathogens, draining of marshes, land conversion, etc.) have wrecked immeasurable havoc to the world's habitats, and in many cases, the only safe place for the embattled plants is a botanical garden. A great example here would be several Hawaiian endemics that are currently flirting with oblivion due to anthropogenic influences, not the least of which is the introduction of non-native herbivores. Consequently and rightfully, many of such plants find safe haven in botanical gardens where the ultimate goal is reintroduction after suitable habitats have been ensured. However, at least one plant- Brighamia insignis- has entered horticulture. I have no way of knowing it, but there are anecdotal reports of the plants being unpredictable in cultivation, with some specimens just suddenly dying if you fondle them for more than 5 seconds. I think I'll stick with mimosas instead.

Anyway, can somebody please tell me why Nymphaea thermarum still hasn't made it beyond the hallowed walls of botanical gardens (apart from those that were stolen in 2014 and now floating out there in the murky black market scum)? People there have already figured out a way to coax these into seeding, and unless plants begin trickling in, the demand can spawn another evil: poaching. Or in this case, stealing, because the plant is supposedly extinct in the wild.

6. Rare, because the plant is, well, rare.

Rare in the wild, rare in cultivation- maybe even totally absent. Here you will find plant species from horticulturally regarded families or genera that are conspicuously absent in cultivation. One that immediately comes to mind is Nepenthes aenigma which I described together with Herman Nuytemans and Michael Calaramo in 2016. It is NOT present in cultivation anywhere, and the plants being sold under this name are most likely N. barcelonae (H. Nuytemans, pers. comm.). The plants are known in extremely small populations on only three sites, and the plants we have seen where it is most numerous (think of something like below 20 individuals) consisted only of males. Nepenthes clipeata- the Nepenthes poster child for being rare and endangered- ain't got no shit on N. aenigma. Most Nepenthes mysteries have already been solved (e.g. N. mollis, N. thorelii), but a number of Philippine species such as N. alzapan and N. blancoi (no, don't give in to Jebb & Cheek's position on this taxon) still elude resolution.

A number of monsteras, including, but not limited to, the recently described ones, should probably also belong here. However, at least some of these species are likely not at all rare, just rarely observed as most make their living high up in the forest canopy and lost within a maze of green on green. A monstrous taxonomic can of worms, Monstera is THE genus to dive into if you dream of someday having a worry-free existence inside a mental asylum.

Okay, I'm just kidding. I think.

Nepenthes aenigma, from the all-male site. None of its authors have living plants in their possession.

The only known image of Alocasia augustiana. Described in 1886, no one has yet managed to locate it anywhere.

Now, you may have noticed that I did not put a category for 'Rare because it will cost you an arm, a leg, and a kidney' because, quite frankly, it is just a Kaylie Ellenized ploy. Peruvian Monstera obliqua isn't rare. It's expensive. Like Ps-s, it's a status plant. However, since everybody who has managed to get an obliqua is propagating it as fast as they could before the prices start falling, they are unwittingly contributing to the further drop in the plant's prices (while we're at it, the Ps-s crowd is most probably secretly mocking the obliqua worshippers for making their plants common, albeit vulgarly overpriced). The same thing is happening with the much-hyped Colocasia esculenta cv. 'Pharaoh's Mask'. Wanna recoup your expenses? Grow the plant as fast as you could, then snip off the daughter plants sprouting around it and sell those for some pretty money. The bad news for you is that a hundred other people are also doing the same. What this means is that you should already have moved away from multiplying that plant and into another one before the prices become affordable enough to pheasant-level plant collectors (sneer, sneer). In a planet run by capitalism and consumerism, it's all fine for as long as both seller and client agree on the price. Just refrain from being insufferably silly by labeling those plants as "rare".

Also, your Philodendron verrucosum isn't rare. And so is your Philodendron cv. 'Strawberry Shake'.

Acquired early last year, this is the planet's only known variegated Voacanga globosa, a shrub (to treelet size) from the Apocynaceae family that bears fragrant white flowers and rounded fruits that are amusingly shaped like a pair of testicles. This is endemic to the Philippines where it is known as 'bayag-usa', or literally, 'deer testicles'. Despite being common and widespread, the species is very rare in cultivation, even in its country of origin. So we have a plant with a rare mutation belonging to a common species endemic but widespread to only a single country but is very poorly known in cultivation and is in the possession of only one person who currently is not propagating it. Is the plant rare? You tell me.