Aroids (the family Araceae)

[Darren]

Amazingly we had some sunshine today and I was home to enjoy it.

I confess this plant of Arisarum vulgare has had several stays of execution when space has been short but it looks good today so I may have been a bit harsh previously. The contents of the 30cm pot are now a congested mass of rhizomes with barely room for compost. It gets the lazy treatment at repotting, I just tip out the top bit of compost and replace it. The plant seems to like this and has only flowered well with this treatment.

[Maggi Young]

A fine example of the "treat 'em mean" school of gardening, eh, Darren?! Seems to be working well.... and how good is it to have a display like that half way through November? 

[Darren]

Was enjoying the sun on my back too Maggi! Of course if I turn to face the other way I get to see the Massonia plunge at it's best at the moment too. (You will see a few strays at the base of the Arisarum pot - they are taking over here).

I'd love to take it to our group meeting on thursday but I'm on the bus this time and it isn't practical to cart it, plus I'd have to disentangle it from the Tropaeolum.


I'm going to try the mean approach with Biarum too, largely because I'm bored of waiting years to see a flower on some of them and feel they no longer deserve the TLC they have had up to now.

[Lesley Cox]

I'll try that with Biarum davisii. Never flowered yet but I assumed we didn't have enough heat in the summer. Maybe the compost's too good.

[Darren]

davisii is one of the failures here too Lesley. I had read somewhere that they like deep planting and little disturbance so I reckon it is worth a try.

[kiwi]

One of my favourates, Arisaema speciosum. More Arisaema to come when I sort out my photo library!

[Lesley Cox]

This is very good Doug. I used to have it but it died through successive drought seasons. I bought a new one, quite a large tuber at the NZAGS show this year. The leaf is great but no flower yet. Maybe next year (send in the clowns).

[Kees Jan]

Who can help me with an identification of this Biarum, photographed N Morocco, late October?

[Gerdk]

Kees Jan,
Sorry - can't help - but want to add a question: Did you see/photograph autumn flowering daffs in North Morocco?

Gerd

[Kees Jan]

Yes, cavanillesii, elegans, viridiflorus and papyraceus

[Maggi Young]

Yes, cavanillesii, elegans, viridiflorus and papyraceus

 Oooh! Can you guess what the next question is??? 

[Maggi Young]

 and as if by magic.......
.http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=4631.new;topicseen#new
Thanks, Kees!

[Kees Jan]

Eh....   I just posted some in the Narcissus department  

Here is another picture of the Biarum, showing the flowers. Does this help? I think there are two autumn flowering Biarum's known from Morocco. B. tenuifolium and B. dispar. Not sure if this one fits in any of those two though.

[Paul T]

Kees,

I don't know my Biarum particularly extensively, but have flowered the two that you mention.  From proportions, I would be guessing Biarum dispar.  It always flowers here for me completely naked of leaves, whereas the tenuifolium the one time I flowered it already had developing leaves.  The tenuifolium I think also had a much longer flower than the dispar.  Your flower is pretty much the same proportion as my dispar, although mine is much darker in colour (grown from seed from a seed exchange a number of years back).  I find that the dispar is the easiest flowering of any of my Biarum, flowering every year and well.  From the original seed all the plants were similar in flower shape and colour, with one plant having just slightly bigger flowers but having leaves twice the size of the others and having markings on the leaves.  These plants are my only example of the species.

[Kees Jan]

I also thought B. dispar would be the most likely candidate, but the colour is unusual...