Philodendron Birkin
Description
Philodendron Birkin in a 6" pot
The Philodendron birkin is a rare gorgeous houseplant with dark green leaves, variegated with a light white yellow pinstripe pattern. As the plant matures the variegation becomes brighter. It’s a short non-vining philodendron with a nice upright habit. This attractive houseplant is easy to grow and prefers bright, indirect light or a partially sunny window, but no direct hot sunshine.
Tropical philodendron birkins come from the Araceae family. The way that Birkins came to exist is a cool story, too. Birkins do not exist in the wild and came to be because of a rare mutation in the Philodendron Rojo Congo. It was a spontaneous chimeric mutation, which is when a cell mutates near the apical dome, whereby all other cells replicate the mutation.
The leaf was separated off the mother plant and propagated. Unlike many other variegated plants, the propagation was surprisingly stable, meaning it retained its cool variegated patterns.
Now, all new Birkin plants are produced via tissue culture. Birkins have the ability to revert back into a Rojo Congo or possibly mutate again. Although Birkin leaves are typically green with white pinstripes, they have also been known to grow red and cream colored leaves.