Most of the leaves on Dischidia pectinoides are small leaves around 3/4 of an inch long by 3/8 of an inch wide, but on occasion they develop these monster ‘Ant Leaves’.  This Dischidia has developed a symbiotic relationship with with ants becoming an evolutionary marvel.  The ants will colonize these giant leaves that form hollow spheres which are inhabited by ants.  In turn the waste products from the ants fertilize the plant.  These clam-shaped, special leaves can be 3.5 inches long by 2.5 inches wide and 2 inches thick which can provide generations of ants with a completely waterproof home.

When I received Dischidia pectinoides in an Ebay purchase last year I was kind of dismayed that it appeared to be growing in nothing but sphagnum.  I immediately repotted it into a soil mixture, and then after researching, I found out that moss was its preferred medium.  I then put it back into moss where it has been very happy ever since.  The photo below shows the plant in soil before I moved it back to sphagnum.

I got Dischidia pectinoides in April of last year and it has given me nothing but pleasure ever since.

I think because the flowers are so small Dischidia are not studied or collected nearly as much as Hoya.  Dischidia collyris like many of its species are known to have symbiotic relationships with ants.

Dischidia is a very close cousin of the Hoya with both of them in the Family Apocynaceae.

I spray the Dischidia collyris mount with water and one squirt of fertilizer once a day.  It lives in a small grow tent and was brought to bloom under LED lighting.

I bought this specimen of Dischidia collyris on Ebay last summer not having any idea how I would make out with it. It turns out I was pretty successful and even brought it into flower.  It grows on a moss covered piece of cork.  Here is a partial photo of the plant:

After leaving my Dischidia nummularia variegata outside all summer, I noticed that it was covered with seed pods when I brought it indoors in September.  Here is the result:

A Whole Lot of Fuzz – Dischidia nummularia variegata Seed; Early November 2014