On the left Hemigraphis Repanda is what it says on the invoice. Let me say first of all that to even have that information is notable. I bought the plant at a nursey in Yong Peng about an hours drive away but so worth it for that very reason - they name their plants on the invoice and they also have a couple of people there that are really knowledgeable.
I actually bought a similarly named Hemigraphis Repanda from them a while ago which compares exactly to the images you would find if you google the name to find a distinguishing trait of purple coloring to the underside of the leaves. The leaves of this plant are minus that, completely green and smaller and much finer. It must be some variation of it.
The plant I purchased earlier has since died, quite probably because this area was much less shaded than it is now. This plant on the other hand is thriving. Its doing well enough for me to have divided it into 2 other pots and even give a small pot of it away as a gift. Its dense bushy, grassy features looks superb tumbling over the edge of a pot.
On the right is Osmoxylon Lineare. Unlike the Hemigraphis above which is rare to find, this plant from the Aralia family is a very common planting especially in public spaces. It's new to this verandah area but not new to the garden as I had it over in the Tropical Potager when I first got it quite a few months ago. Its in a pot and seems to get quite easily stressed when dry, so the spot I had it in which is sunny and more likely to be subject to neglect from lack of watering wasn't a good fit. Here, it enjoys the cooler shade and being right near my front door, I can immediately spot it's drooping leaves if we've had a dry spell.
Both plants are native to Malaysia which is one of the themes here on the verandah and the challenge of maintaining that theme is pretty much described above: hard to identify plants to establish that they are native or they are so commonplace that I wonder if I really want to have them here. The latter issue arises because of the huge of amounts of public planting, particularly on newly minted property development that just slaps down the same old plants everywhere. The lady palm, Rhapis excelsa, is another plant with this problem which I also have here but in context, they both add to a story of variety in shape and shades of foliage that I'm trying to achieve.
