Who knows the origin of String of Dolphins?

String of Dolphins -- The hottest plant

One of the ‘hottest’ plants is String of Dolphins – Senecio peregrinus.  Where did this come from?  Why had we not known about this novelty plant before?

The internet will tell you everything.  But what to believe?

              I don’t know if the stories of its origin are true.  One account is that it is a hybrid of two species and has a species name of peregrinus.  This is suspect, because hybrids of two species are conventionally given a hybrid name in single quotes; e.g.  Sinningia ‘Li’l Georgie’ is a hybrid of (Sinningia concinna X Sinningia muscicola).

            Perhaps, it is natural occurring species found in nature as Senecio peregrinus --- common name:  String of Dolphins.

            A counter argument is that it is a hybrid---- either natural occurring or man-made.  We have had hundreds of flowers go to seed, but have not seen any seedlings sprout, implying it may be sterile.  This is a common phenomenon of F1 hybrids of two species --- a sterile hybrid.

You are welcome to comment to give an accurate picture of String of Dolphins.

This novel plant is going to become a standard.  It would be nice to know its history.

There should be a record of this...

String of Dolphins

            It is so rare that a small business gets national notice, that it should be recorded.

            Ellen Wells of Ball Publishing has been tracking a story about the new plant --- String of Dolphins.  She offered to help match buyers with sellers for this still rare plant.

            Here is the mention in the Feb 2019 Buzz e-newsletter.

Gary Hunter of Gary’s Specialty Plants in Drumore, Pennsylvania, responded to my request for folks who sell the very hot and trending dolphin succulents, also known as string of succulents. He ships within 200 miles of Drumore and is still accepting new customers. Gary says all “strings of things” are worth watching.

This is more than getting my name in the paper.  This is genuine recognition of what’s happening in houseplants and a boost for making sales happen.

         I appreciate this recognition and thank Ellen for her effort. 

String of Dolphins... You gotta see this!

String of Dolphins

 String of Dolphins… You gotta see this!

 

            Plants can be interesting in any number of ways--- color, flowering, variegation, size or shape.

            Common names and novelty help attract casual lookers.  We have String of Peas (Senecio rowleyanus), String of Beads (Senecio herrianus), String of Bananas (Senecio herrianus).

            Now we’ve found the most clever of them all ---String of Dolphins.  By looking at the leaves up close and at the right angle, there is no doubt that this is a Dolphin.  The diving Dolphin has one or two fins on its arching body.

            I don’t understand how this novel plant (Senecio pregrinus) has not been around. It’s not in commercial production and is still only found from eBay collectors at high prices.

            I paid those high prices and am attempting to build stock.  So far, it is easy enough.  Those indoor gardeners lucky enough to find one will have no trouble growing Dolphins at the windowsill.

            Will this be the next internet wonder to sweep through the expanding houseplant craze?

Diving Dolphin's body