[epiphyte]

Anybody know the ID of this Dischidia happily growing on my tree here in Southern California?


NOID Dischidia by epiphyte78, on Flickr

 

[Frogtofall]

Without a flower shot, its impossible to say. That being said, it closely resembles D. cleistantha based on growth and leaf structure. When it blooms, get a photo and I can most likely confirm its identification.

 

[epiphyte]

Thanks! I googled it and the flowers look exactly alike. It's blooming right now but I thought those were just the buds.

Given how well it's doing on my tree, I'm rather surprised that it's from the Philippines. Did a quick search and this is all I could really find in terms of habitat info...

Dischidia cleistantha is endemic to the Philippines. Its presence on the northern island of Luzon and the southern island of Jolo suggests a distribution throughout the archipelago. The available collection information indicates a lowland and coastal species. It has been collected from trees on the sea coast (Fox 9073), in a mangrove swamp (Barbone t al. 2089), and on a riverb ank (Ramos & Edano 75232). - Dischidia cleistantha (Apocynaceae, Asclepiadoideae): A New Philippine Endemic

Maybe you have to be a pretty tough plant to grow epiphytically on mangroves. Myrmecophila are often found in Mangroves and they also do quite well for me.