It is always fascinating to encounter plants that did not exist a generation or two ago.

Many new cultivated varieties, also known as cultivars, are continually developed. Sometimes, cultivars are bred to improve yield, as in the case of different hybrid versions of staple crops. Other times, it’s simply to add new shades, colours and taste to existing flowers or fruits. A combination of curiosity, imagination and necessity compels us to develop new versions of what is already bestowed by nature.

In the 1950s, Robert McColley of Florida, USA, developed a hybrid by crossing Philodendron pedatum and Philodendron squamiferum. There are many similarities between these two closely related houseplants, which can also be grown outdoors in indirect light. Both have lobed green leaves and are climbers.

They also have their differences, primarily in the texture of the leaf stalk, also called petiole. The pedatum variety has a smooth green petiole, while the squamiferum cultivar has fuzzy, red stems. The leaves of these two varieties also differ in........

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