Aroids (the family Araceae)

[Paul T]

Howdy All,

I figured there mightt be sufficient interest to make a topic of this for those who are into the Arum family.  I don't think I am doubling up on another thread somewhere am I?  If so, please let me know and I can post pics there.  Lots of Arisaemas, Pinellias, Dracunculus, Arums in flower, bud, or just finished here. 

To start the ball rolling.....


This is the leaf of Pinellia cordata.  Very, very pretty leaf, best displayed in a pot so that you can see the leaf drooping down over the side.  Flower is much smaller (you can sort of see one in the top left of the pic) than P. tripartita and P. pedatissecta but relatively similar to P. ternata.  The leaf is the main thing to grow this species for, as it is very noticeable.  Let me know if there is interest in seeing other pics of the aroids I've had flowering this spring.

[ashley]

Yes please Paul. 

[SueG]

Please put them up
Sue

[Paul T]

Ashley and Sue (and others who're reading),

Here's a  few of my aroids.  Not all of these have flowered this year (has been a hard spring and very dry here) so I've retrieved photos from previous years.  The Helicodicerus and Dracunculus are yet to flower this year, with the former already in bud and about to open and the latter still not quite sure whether it feels like it or not.    Hoping, hoping!!

Anyway, to the pics.....

I'll start with some Arisaema


This wonderfully twisted flower is Arisaema ringens.  Very cool, from whichever angle you look at it.  This side shot shows how it twists in on itself.  This is in flower at the moment, and Yes it is that glossy.


This is a darker flowered form of Arisaema triphyllum, which hasn't even surfaced for this year as yet.


Arum hygrophyllum


Arum orientale using a flash to show the colour intensity.


This is a variegated (or "silver leaf") form of Arisaema amurense I think.  Very nice leaf to it, well worth growing for that reason alone.


Dracunculus vulgaris is one of the aroids that stinks (unlike those I've posted above) and is in full bud right now and waiting to open.


Helicodicerus muscivorus is supposed to stink most dreadfully but either mine don't, or else for some reason I can't actually smell it.  I have no problem smelling any of the other aroids stench, so I am guessing that for some reason mine just doesn't produce the pong like it "should".  The flies are still attracted, so there is something produced, but nothing much to my nose.  From how bad I have heard it should be I am rather glad it doesn't to be honest!!    Things like Arum dioscoridis and Typhonium brownii are quite bad enough thank you very much.

This is just a small selection of some of the species and genus that I grow.  Happy to post more if wanted, so if you have any requests let me know. 

[Maggi Young]

Keep it up, Paul!
 One of the resaons I like aroids ( in spite of the pong) is their almost infinite variety of leaf shapes and colours as well as the great flowers.....glossy, velvety... all  kinds of everything

[ashley]

Thanks very much Paul.  I'd certainly like to see any more you have. 

A. hygrophyllum also does well here and has no problem with Irish winters, but I don't grow any of the others   
Although it's found in Lebanon & Syria do you (or anyone else) know whether its range extends across North Africa too?

[SueG]

Paul
Do you grow any of the Biarums? I've a few but they are more holding onto life than looking happy, so I must change what I do I think.
Sue

[mark smyth]

Paul have you got a new camera?

[Paul T]

Sue,

Yep, I grow a few Biarums, not flowered all of them though only a couple.

Mark,

Not in more than a year (I think that's how long it was?).  Why?

I took a few more picsof Arisaema in flower today, but not uploaded as yet.  Still have a lot of pics around that I've never sorted and named properly, so I know there are other aroids in that lot that I haven't posted pics of here yet.

[Lesley Cox]

I posted a couple of pics of Arisaema sikokianum on the Southern Hemisphere thread a few days ago and here are a few more. The sikokianums have all been broken off in today's very strong and cold wind. Dammit.


For some reason A. ciliatum is both flowering without its leaf and has it's tail in the air instead of down the front. The leaf usually overtops the spathe and is made of a dozen or so leaflets. I love the elegant pinstriped look of this species. For comparison, here it is last year.

Same plant in same pot, photographed in same place, just at a different time of day, hence the shadows in the second pic.


Arisaema taiwanense also has a lovely leaf and drops of water are suspended from the threads on a damp day.
The stems are beautiful too and in this respect, every species is a little different.



I grew this from seed as A. sikokianum but it may be A. peninsulare. Not so spectacular as many but I like it very much especially with light through the spathe.

[Rogan]

Can I slip in a picture of the prettiest and most sweet smelling of all? It has just produced its first flowers of the season - I just LUV it! For the first time ever my plants decided to produce seeds last year (this is not really Arisaema country) and now I have a pot full of healthy seedlings to worry about  Arisaema candidissimum:

[Maggi Young]

Thanks, Rogan for a sweetly scented one! Strangely,none of our Arisaema candidissimum flowered this year. No idea why... we'll see what happens next time.

[SueG]

Mine too missed flowering this year - perhaps something was different last year?
Sue

[Maggi Young]

That's interesting, Sue... can we blame the weather again?  Maybe its an esat coast phenomenon... any other comments from those of you with flowers?

[Gerdk]

Maggi,
Flowers of A. candidissimum here (near Cologne) as usual. Never had problems with this species.
Gerd