Help identifying tropical house plant?

I recently received a really cute plant for my office desk, but I am can't seem to identify it to determine how to care for it. I took it to a green house and their guess was it is either a Goldfish Vine (Columnea hirta) or a Lipstick plant (Aeschynanthus radicans). I know it is a tropical plant, and it's very young. (It's only about 4 inches tall.) The leaves are one solid shade of green, similar to the deep shade of grass. There is no visible veining on the leaves aside from the center crease and the leaves feel thick, not so much as a succulent but close.





Any suggestions?

Help identifying tropical house plant?
What you have is a relative of the African violet. It is in the plant family Gesneriaceae. Besides African violets there are also Gloxinias and Streptocarpus.





The "goldfish plant" is a species of Nematanthus. It has thick succulent leaves with waxy green tops and transluscent bottoms. The flowers are orange and actually the shape of little goldfish. There's a mouth at the end, but no eyes or fins. The plant is a little bush with woody stems. It is a tropical plant and frost will kill it. Even though it has thick leaves, it needs moist soil most of the time. The best way to water a plant is to sit it in the sink and let the water run out the bottom of the pot. If it stays permenantly in a shallow dish, it is best to water it with distilled water. Plants in dishes are not happy with water from a water softener because it has too much sodium. Hard tap water will leave calcium deposits behind. Feed it a water soluable fertilizer like Miracle Grow.





Aeschynanthus and Collumnia are far larger plants and best suited to grow in hainging baskets. The leaves are thinner and the stems far longer. The flowers are tube shaped and red. Many Columnia hybrids are also yellow or orange. These two species can be treated like Nematanthus. All three plants are related to African violets.
Reply:Roger's b.s.ing you. There are many plants that fit this description. You need to take a digital photo and post it online using Tinypic or Imageshack, then you can copy and paste a shortcut for us. That's the best way to get a good identification.
Reply:I think it could be a lipstick plant. Try putting some eyeshadow next to it..
Reply:Visit this site. One can register for free and get advice. It also has a large database that can be consulted.


http://davesgarden.com/





This is another good site; from the Univ. Brit. Columbia:


http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/forums...
Reply:Nematanthus Glabra "goldfish plant" looks like a Columnea but is not. Got the tag in front of me. I am plant purchaser for a couple of nurseries