Hi Everyone,
It would be highly unlikely that Lowes actually did have the real N. morganiana. I believe Joe Griffin said that they would have to have cuttings, which would be unlikely because Lowes purchases their plants from large suppliers who mass produce one plant from tissue culture (like N. ‘Miranda’, ‘Gentle’, ventrata, and Coccinea). Because of the time it would take to grow out the morganiana, cut it up and distribute it to Lowes, that plant would not be worth the cost. It is not a particularly fast grower, and does not produce multiple growth points, I have seen cuttings take a decade to become plants!
Here is a photo of the real N. morganiana, obtained from Longwood Botanical Gardens. It is a cross name, but there is only one surviving plant left, and it is a female.
It has an interesting history if anyone wants to know.
James Taplin made the cross in 1881 at the Such nursery in the US, it was a gift to Mrs. Morgan. The hybrid is hookeriana x mirabilis – which is the reciprocal of Coccinea and wrigleyana (mirabilis x hookeriana). The plant flowered as a female. Mrs. Morgan sold the plant to the Veitch nurseries and made its way across the Atlantic to England. Veitch subsequently sold cuttings to American collectors and N. morganiana made its way back to the US. These plants are all from a single surviving cultivar. All true N. morganiana is a vegetative propagation from Mrs. Morgan’s plant in 1881!
Lowes does not sell this plant, nor do the wholesale suppliers. Lowes does not purchase plants from individuals, they order wholesale in large numbers. Purchasing for Lowes is done out of a central office, they have “buyers” that do this. Individual stores only report inventory levels.
Tre, please post a pic of your morganiana. Since you are selling cuttings and distributing this plant to other people as morganiana, and we know you only want correct labels and information, we thought we might be able to properly id these plants (even though others might have told you that it was morganiana). This plant would not be easy to take cuttings from and grow out fast to a larger size.