Croto - Codiaeum variegatum

Croto - Codiaeum variegatum

The croton (Codiaeum variegatum) appears to have it all: colorful foliage, nearly limitless leaf forms, and a cultish following. But these plants do have a drawback—they're difficult to please indoors. In their native habitats, crotons like humid, warm conditions, with dappled light and plentiful water. The problem indoors is typically temperature; too cold, and they start losing leaves. However, crotons are well worth the effort because a well-grown croton is an explosion of color. There are hundreds and hundreds of croton varieties, with names like Dreadlocks, Ann Rutherford, Mona Lisa, and Irene Kingsley. For a plant with this incredible diversity, it's amazing there is only species (C. variegatum). However, crotons are genetically unstable, so each plant is unique, and interesting varieties are highly prized by enthusiastic collectors. Crotons are often subdivided by their leaf type: curling, twisted, oak leaf, narrow, broad, oval, etc. A well-grown croton will keep its leaves all the way to the soil level—and the trick to this is to provide steady warmth. Even in outdoor settings, crotons will drop leaves after a cold night. However, these plants respond well to trimming. If a croton becomes leggy, prune it back hard at the beginning of the growing season, move it outside, and the plant will regrow from the cut portion. As a last note: vibrant leaf colors depend on the quality of light. Don't shy away from providing lots of bright, shifting sunlight.

Cica-Cycas revolute

Cica-Cycas revolute

This very symmetrical plant supports a crown of shiny, dark green leaves on a thick shaggy trunk that is typically about 20 cm (7.9 in) in diameter, sometimes wider. The trunk is very low to subterranean in young plants, but lengthens above ground with age. It can grow into very old specimens with 6–7 m (over 20 feet) of trunk; however, the plant is very slow-growing and requires about 50–100 years to achieve this height. Trunks can branch multiple times, thus producing multiple heads of leaves.  Cycas revoluta is one of the most widely cultivated cycads, grown outdoors in warm temperate and subtropical regions, or under glass in colder areas. It grows best in sandy, well-drained soil, preferably with some organic matter. It needs good drainage or it will rot. It is fairly drought-tolerant and grows well in full sun or outdoor shade, but needs bright light when grown indoors. The leaves can bleach somewhat if moved from indoors to full sun outdoors.

Of all the cycads, C. revoluta is the most popular in cultivation. It is seen in almost all botanical gardens, in both temperate and tropical locations. In many areas of the world, it is heavily promoted commercially as a landscape plant.  It is also quite popular as a bonsai plant. First described in the late 18th century, it is tolerant of mild to somewhat cold temperatures, provided the ground is dry. Cycad sago palm is extremely poisonous to animals (including humans) if ingested.

Avecilla- Heliconia psittacorum

Avecilla-  Heliconia psittacorum

A herbaceous upright small heliconia, indigenous to the Amazon rainforest Heliconia psittacorum flowers are actually highly modified leaves and bracts growing up to no more than four feet tall.

The parrot's beaks are exotic, abundantly bloomers all year long. The flower, or inflorescence of the Heliconia stays almost constant, and may last from several days to several months. Heliconias like places with a lot of water, rich soil, and sunlight. Heliconia psittacorum does not mind cool temperatures, but does best in warm, humid areas. Although these large tropical flowers are natives to only Central and South America. Heliconias are remarkable plants, not only for the beauty of their flowers, but also for the fact that they are so mysterious---so little is known about them, their cultivation and care. In the American Tropics, hummingbirds are the exclusive polinators of red, yellow, pink and orange heliconias while nectar feeding bats are the polinators of green heliconias.

Palma de tallo Rojo - Cyrtostachys renda

Palma de tallo Rojo - Cyrtostachys renda

A stunning feather palm that develops a brilliantly red trunk. Palm is originally from Malaysia, but has been introduced to Costa Rica and other tropical areas of the world. Sealing Wax Palm seeds are very slow to germinate, up to a year. This palm will require a good overhead light, especially when grown indoors, and constant warmth. It's a very cold-sensitive plant and must be kept above 55F all the time. Soil should be rich, moist and loamy, and plant should be fed monthly with a commercial tropical plant food, or a plant food specifically formulated for palms. Grows well in both full sun or part shade. Tricky to grow, the sealing wax palm needs high humidity, well-drained soil, and is not tolerant of drought or wind. As they naturally grow in swamps, they are highly tolerant of flooding and can be grown in standing water.

Helecho Rabo de Mico - Sphaeropteris Brunei

Helecho Rabo de Mico - Sphaeropteris Brunei

The Cyatheaceae is the scaly tree fern family and includes the world's tallest tree ferns, which reach heights up to 20 m. They are also very ancient plants, appearing in the fossil record in

 the late Jurassic, though the modern genera likely appeared in the Tertiary. Cyatheaceae is the largest family of tree ferns, including about 500 species. The Cyatheaceae usually have a single, erect trunk-like rhizome (stem). Their fronds (leaves) are also very large, some of the largest in the plant kingdom. Some species have fronds reaching 3–4 m in length, and have a final crown width of some 6 m. The fronds are circinate before unfolding and usually pinnately or bipinnately compound, with leaflets that are deeply pinnately lobed. Since the exact number of species is not known, classification of the Cyatheaceae has had a long and controversial history, and is still undergoing revision. Three tentative clades have been developed: Alsophila, Cyathea, and Sphaeropteris. Some indusia are cup-shaped (cyatheoid), while others are hood-shaped (hemitelioid), enclose the sorus (sphaeropteroid), or scaly. Like most ferns, members of the Cyatheaceae are homosporous. Cyatheaceae are found in both New and Old World tropical wet montane forests and cloud forests, with some species extending into south-temperate regions.