CLOUD FOREST

Hugging the entrance of the Cloud Forest is a tapestry of assorted plants made up of ferns, orchids, flowering and foliage plants. And it is always a pleasure to see the flowering Neomarica gracilis (common name: Apostle's Iris; Family: Iridaceae), which like the N. longifolia is a walking Iris.

Inside the Cloud Forest are planted with a range of unusual, uncommon or rare plants to create a man-made tropical montane forest. The beautiful Tree Ferns, Magnolia and Slipper Orchid varieties all add to the allure of this picturesque landscape. Small polygonal windows at the Secret Garden frame unique views from which one can see a miniature slice of the landscape beyond the walls, thus creating an element of mystery and secrecy. 

TRIMEZIA MARTINICENSIS

I was told this is the real Trimezia martinicensis (Family: Iridaceae). The other similar looking plant that is often referred to by the same scientific name and is commonly known as Neomarica longifolia is actually Trimezia steyermarkii. Whether this is true or not, I do not know as this needs to be further verified.

Anyway, this are the unopened flowers but it is not hard to tell from the leaves that the 2 Trimezias are definitely 2 different plant species. The brownish structures are the dried capsules that contain the seeds.

NEOMARICA LONGIFOLIA

This plant from the Iridaceae Family is known to me as Neomarica longifolia (common name: Yellow Walking Iris, Apostle Plant, Martinique Trimezia). In recent times, I was told it has another synonym Trimezia martinicensis.

This highly adaptable plant can grow in a wide range of soils in a wide spectrum of light. It can take wet soils and shaded sites although it does best in semi-shade conditions.

3 links are attached here for reference:

1. http://berniesgarden.blogspot.com/2010/03/neomarica-longifolia-yellow-walking.html
2. http://www.backyardnature.net/yucatan/neomaric.htm
3. http://toptropicals.com/catalog/uid/Neomarica_longifolia.htm

NEOMARICA

These extremely vibrant bluish-yellow flower Neomarica was so irresistibly gorgeous, so I gave in to the temptation of taking the photos. It was used for a floral decoration piece. The smaller yellow flower Neomarica longifolia can be seen at the bottom right corner of the top photo.

NEOMARICA CAERULEA

This bed of Neomarica caerulea (common name: Walking Iris, Twelve Apostles, Apostle Plant) was planted by mistake. But I decided to keep it back then because it was too pretty to be removed.

According to the Top Tropicals website, this plant was discovered in Brazil in the shade near the ocean and was found growing in sandy soils. The common name was believed to come about because it was thought that this plant would not flower until it had twelve leaves.

I am not sure if this plant's scientific name was changed because I was told the more common Neomarica longifolia was changed to Trimezia or was it the other way round. Oh, all these name changes are confusing to follow. Attached are the 3 web addresses relating to these plants:

1. http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Neomarica
2. http://toptropicals.com/cgi-bin/garden_catalog/cat.cgi?uid=Neomarica_caerulea
3. http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Trimezia