Mikania cf. guaco - rare vine from Costa Rica

• Origin: Costa Rica
  
• Care: Easy / Medium / Advanced
• Suitable as a houseplant?: Yes / Limited / No
• Suitable locations: terrarium, plant display case
  
• Special features: The coloration of this species is extremely variable. Plants you receive from us may be lighter or darker in color. However, every plant can develop any shade! Even a light-colored specimen will become a rich, dark green with proper care.

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Mikania guaco originates from Central and South America. It is relatively widespread there and typically grows at altitudes of 0 to 500 meters, preferably along streams and rivers. It belongs to the daisy family (Asteraceae). This plant is a rather large vine or liana with leaves up to 20 cm long and 10 cm wide. When damaged, it emits a pleasant, spicy aroma. Other species in the genus Mikania are used in traditional medicine for their constituents.



The leaves of Mikania guaco are ovate to oblong, with slightly serrated edges and a surprisingly rough texture. The most striking feature of the leaves is, of course, their exceptionally beautiful coloration. Depending on growing conditions, they can be light green with only faint pink veins, or almost black with vibrant pink veins. Some specimens also exhibit a subtle pattern of light and dark green areas within the leaf. In our experience, the leaf colors develop best under low light conditions, very warm temperatures, and with good fertilization.



This species (and actually the entire genus, which comprises approximately 450 species!) is practically unknown in the plant hobby and is being offered for sale by us for the first time in Europe. The species name " guaco " causes some problems when researching this species, because "guaco" is also the name of a traditional medicine for respiratory ailments such as coughs. This medicine is made from the closely related *Mikania glomerata* . As a result, searching for "Mikania guaco" yields virtually no results for the plant species *Mikania guaco* (which, incidentally, was indeed named after the medicine), but rather for guaco medicine, which is made from the other *Mikania *.



The identification as Mikania guaco is not 100% certain. In the few photos that exist of this species in nature, it is never as uniformly dark and contrasting in color as our plants, but rather light/dark marbled or simply light green. Furthermore, according to the literature , Mikania guaco has red to purple spotted leaves on the underside, whereas our plants always have uniformly deep, dark purple leaf undersides.



Since it has a fairly large distribution area, it's quite possible that several locally limited color variations exist. Our plants originate from mother plants in southern Costa Rica. A photo of one of these plants in its natural habitat can be seen in the gallery. However, it's also possible that these plants represent a new species that hasn't yet been scientifically described. For a definitive identification, we would need to examine the flowers more closely, but since our plants haven't flowered yet, this isn't possible. Until then, we are offering them as Mikania cf. guaco .

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You will receive a young plant in a 9cm square pot. Small plant, not yet trailing.