Uh-Oh....... maybe a refit to the S.S.S.S.?

Thanks everyone for the input. It sounds like the consensus is the S. masoniana is the correct species name, but that whether S. 'Congo' = S. 'Mason's Congo' is unclear, as is the issue of whether this is one of the very large growing varieties/clones. Someone please correct me if I got any of this wrong. Obviously it needed a new pot. I'm not sure if this was wise or not, but I gave it nine new pots. I should have paid more attention during the process as to exactly how many plants it appeared to be. It was clearly more than one plant, put together in the pot. That is what I expected. I assume the rhizome piece (lower left) might eventually form a new plant. This has been lying dry for a couple days. I'll add soil and follow its progress as well. I'm essentially going to leave these alone for a few months and see what happens. I gave a couple larger pots, but I don't have room for a lot of big pots. I haven't watered them yet, and I assume I should approach watering cautiously, particularly while it's cool. My growing area is highly protected and so far is frost-free, even during the freezes which hit California in January. Based on very limited local damage it's clear that I'm actually in zone 10, probably 10a. I'm fairly near the Bay and also at the base of the hills, which creates an interesting microclimate. So I'm going to keep the plants outside, once the current period of 50s/30s passes. It should be mostly 60s/70s and 40s at night for the next couple months, warming up mostly to the 70s/50s in the summer. I assume this is a favorable climate for these guys. Half of my small growing area is rain protected, and I'll put them there. It might be fun to stick one in the ground, but my space is limited (and it's probably not wise to do that while it's still the rainy season).

Nice job, I posted over on the oldhouse forum. I want to know more info about the rest of the project and look forward to seeing the progress.

Antiquesiluver - I used some tricks for the staining and floor laying. I didn't really stain the pine. After the dirt and paint was removed, and the old crusty varnish scraped off, it was the color you see on most of the board area. It got a scuff sanding and a light "whoosh" of stain to even out the color. (like a henna rinse for a redhead, not a dye job on a blonde) You can minimize "grabbing" on pine by wiping it with mineral spirits and then the stain while it's still wet. 1 - Ignore color names, and run stain tests on the new flooring, comparing with the old floor by laying the samples on the old stuff and seeing what blends. Sand and stain just like you will for the real floor. Doesn't have to match, just blend shades and have the same undertones. For oak, it's shades of golden and reddish brown. 2 - Pick three colors that are close to a match with the existing boards. Match the darkest, medium and lightest shades. For this floor, it's Minwax Golden Mahogany, Light Cherry, and Birch. 3 - Sand and stain the individual boards before installation. About 20% darkest, 20% lightest, the rest the middle shade. This mimics the natural variability on an old floor, where different boards have reacted differently to light. I shoved several pieces together and sanded and stained them as a group, then took them apart for install. I had to plane down the strip of new oak next to the pine because it was a teensy bit higher than the pine, just enough to be annoying. The trick is to plane a taper into the top of the new board so the height change is spread across the new board, edge to edge. It's a ramp, but on a tiny scale. The trick with the toilet stack's hole is to have a long strip running across the front and back of the hole: lay the boards so you have no seams within a foot or so of the hole. Those boards start at the tub and end well past the door opening. =============== Enduring ... Clean it and RENT IT! We have a roommate arriving Friday, a grad student. All the student is looking for is clean and functional. The vanity (to the right in the pics, under the window opposite the tub) is one of those oak things with molded plastic sink/top, which we might paint or do the cheap gel-stain trick on later this year. It's in great condition, but butt-ugly and not as functional as we'd like. Long term plan is - because this is a bathroom that needs storage and counter space - to build a wall-to-wall single-sink vanity under the window with shelves and shallow drawers. The overall house is, despite the adobe walls, a very plain Craftsman bungalow, so we're sticking to that woodworking style with NM trimmings and colors. New Mexico Territorial Style ... I've always liked it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorial_architecture Here is a link that might be useful: [New Mexico Territorial Style[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/new-mexico-territorial-style-phbr0lbl-bl~l_43230)