The succulent Dischidiopsis ramosii

About 12 years ago I was given a cutting of Dischidiopis ramosii from the eastern coast of Luzon which thrived until its death in 2013, a casualty of the poor water quality that I (and the plants) had to endure (for more of that story, click here: https://jardinerongsunog.blogspot.com/2018/07/how-deforestation-decimated-my-plant.html). 

At that time my D. ramosii, which was maintained in a rather shaded position, grew fairly slowly, with rather large, boat-shaped leaves in green. The leaves and flowers remind one of Dischidiopsis parasitica, but the leaves were noticeably wider and relatively thicker. Additionally, it was a much slower growing plant than the D. parasitica that I maintained under similar conditions. When the plant died it would be three more years before I got the opportunity to keep one again. 

My current plant is now being exposed to full sun where it grew much more sluggishly than the previous one. But I'm not complaining. Being exposed to the elements, the plant became very compact, with much-abbreviated internodes filled in by heavy, fleshy leaves. Gone are the green foliage and what resulted instead is a golden yellow with faint green tinges. Color-wise, there isn't much difference between a healthy leaf and one that is about to fall off. I have often heard of people complaining that their dischidias and Dischidiopsis are so rampant and unruly that they grow where they shouldn't be in quite a short time. Here's a species that keeps to itself.

Dischidia ramosii is endemic to the Philippines. In the wild, these occur as isolated plants, not in populations like in the case of D. parasitica, which tends to form dense tangles of many different plants. And it is for this reason that D. ramosii is almost unknown in cultivation, as they are on the rarer side of things.

I would love to propagate this plant and distribute it to a few individuals, but how can I possibly have the heart to chop up a specimen like that???


Errata: I have originally posted this as 'Dischidia rosea', until it was pointed out by Antone Jones that this is, in fact, Dischidiopsis ramosii. I mentioned above that I used to have an older plant of this, and earlier today I found the tag of that plant, and it said 'Dischidiopsis ramosii'. My memory failed me on this one!

At any rate, Antone said that, as per Dr. Livschultz, these plants aren't different florally from Dischidiopsis parasitica and that the two should be considered as one species. Maybe so, but for now, will list this plant as D. ramosii until a paper formally places D. ramosii under D. parasitica. And then I'll edit the post again...