International Aroid Society

Dan-

I=92m glad to hear you will be joining the IAS. When you sign up, you can specify membership for the 2011 year if you would like. If you have any problems, let me know. You can contact me personally at zach@zachandchristie.com.

Zach DuFran

From: aroid-l-bounces@www.gizmoworks.com [mailto:aroid-l-bounces@www.gizmoworks.com] On Behalf Of Daniel Devor
Sent: Saturday, October 09, 2010 11:05 AM
To: Discussion of aroids
Subject: [Aroid-l] Dracontium sp ID please

Hi All,

I''ve just been fortunate to have a lovely Dracontium bloom that I got from a fantastic person earlier this spring and I wanted to share and try to get a positive ID if possible. My notes say that this was originally collected in Peru, but sometimes my notes are not all that wonderful to be perfectly honest!

As you can see, the spathe is wonderfully colored and mottled, the petioles are present at blooming (the one emerged at the same time as the influorescence) and have fairly large "thorns" compared to my other species. It is 20 inches (~51 cm) from the soil to the base of the spathe and the spathe itself is 12 inches (~30 cm) tall. The spadix itself is very small and if need be, I will try to get a picture for an ID.

You can also see the pics at the following link: http://s18.photobucket.com/albums/b124/TreasuredBotanicals/Dracontium/

I also have an influorescence on my Dracontium amazoense emerging so if there is any advice on collecting pollen I could always try for an unusal cross.

I have had many great e-mail discussions with a few of you on the forum over the years about Dracontium and I appreciate all the advice you have given me that has allowed for a small amount of success on my part. While I do not have a greenhouse, they seem to do OK for me in my bathroom window on a heat mat for the winter (8 months) as they get a nice blast of humidity once a day. It has been a great spring through fall for me with my Dracontium as I have had 4 species bloom, including these two. I have a few other no-ID plants which I'm sure are large enough to bloom in the next year so maybe I will get lucky with a few others in the year to come!! If anyone has any tubers that they are willing to sell to feed my love of this genus please let me know.

Looking forward to hearing what the experts think.

Good growing all,

Dan

Gibsonia, PA

p.s. By the way, I have finally decided to join the IAS so I can read some of the journal articles on-line, but I want to know if I join now do I get all the benefits through the end of 2011 or just through the end of 2010? I have gotten some conflicting information from personal communications compared to what it seems to say on the web site. Thanks for help in clarifying this.