08/17/2026
Funny reel but serious message. Lineage matters. 🌱
And maybe that’s why I care so much about knowing where my plants come from.
I grew up Mexican in a society that sometimes made us feel like the easiest way to fit in was to erase pieces of where we came from. Speak less Spanish. Americanize yourself. Don’t be too Mexican.
But as I got older, I realized the things I was taught to quiet down were the exact things I should’ve been proud of.
That’s why lineage means something different to me now.
Take Anthurium carlablackiae. It isn’t just another dark velvet Anthurium with a pretty name. It has an origin, a documented history, and a name honoring Carla Black, the horticulturist who first collected it in Panama.
And when we talk about specific Carlas in cultivation, knowing the parents, the breeder, and the provenance matters too.
A name tells you what it is. Lineage tells you where it came from.
Funny how plants keep teaching me lessons I needed outside of plants.
I know where I come from now.
I’m proud of where I come from.
And I refuse to erase my lineage just to make somebody else comfortable.
Plants or people — know your roots, mi gente. 🇲🇽🌱
— The Pon Don
