Arisarum proboscideum

From: "Carlo A. Balistrieri" <cabalist at facstaff.wisc.edu> on 1997.03.05 at 14:56:42(456) Is anyone out there growing Arisarum proboscideum? I picked some up last year and am not sure it is still with me (although it was wintered under cover). I haven't rooted around in the pot for it but it doesn't look too promising. In fairness to whatever skill I might have as a grower the tubers were pretty small (more like little rhizome cuttings--I know, excuses, excuses!) I'm interested in the experience any others have had with it. Tell me how to do it right. Carlo +More Carlo A. Balistrieri, J.D. Email: CABalist@facstaff.wisc.edu P.O. Box 327 Ashippun, WI 53003-0327 U.S.A. Voice: 414.569.1902 Telefax: same number, please call ahead.

From: Nick Turland <N.Turland at nhm.ac.uk> on 1997.03.05 at 19:14:43(458) >Is anyone out there growing Arisarum proboscideum? I have a clump growing in a pot here in London, and it came up (leaves, so far) about three weeks ago, after the sub-zero weather finished. Nick. +More Nick Turland, Department of Botany, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK Telephone/voicemail: + 44 171 938 8803 Fax: + 44 171 938 9260 Email: n.turland@nhm.ac.uk

From: "Jack Lambert (RJL6)" <rjl6 at cornell.edu> on 1997.03.06 at 04:29:36(462) >>>>>Is anyone out there growing Arisarum proboscideum?<<<<<<< You don't cite your zone, Carlos, but the Arisarum doesn't emerge here (Ithaca, N.Y. Zone IV B) until May. As Nick notes, it keeps its head down until after the frost. It has been in the yard for at least 20 years and the worst damage that has been inflicted on it has been the result of my poking around in it, tweeking out the Anemone nemorosa which impinge. No, don't poke around in those pots. It is easy to damage the growth tips. Just keep the faith up and the hands off. Nina Lambert

From: "Mr R.a McClure" <Rob.McClure at sci.monash.edu.au> on 1997.03.06 at 14:59:50(465) > Date: Wed, 05 Mar 1997 09:53:28 -0600 > From: "Carlo A. Balistrieri" > Subject: Re: Arisarum proboscideum > To: rob.mcclure@sci.monash.edu.au +More > Reply-to: aroid-l@mobot.org > Is anyone out there growing Arisarum proboscideum? I picked some up last > year and am not sure it is still with me (although it was wintered under > cover). I haven't rooted around in the pot for it but it doesn't look too > promising. In fairness to whatever skill I might have as a grower the tubers > were pretty small (more like little rhizome cuttings--I know, excuses, > excuses!) I'm interested in the experience any others have had with it. Tell > me how to do it right. > > Carlo > Carlo, Shame on you ! How can you lose a mouse plant ! (Please no cat jokes) I grow mine easily and they multiply well by : .....pot the long tubers only about 1'' below the surface. .....keep the pot dry when dormant ( summer-autumn here ). I keep mine bone dry. .....they seem to flower better when crowded, so I don't repot often. .....light shade seems to suit them. .....water and feed as normal when in active growth. .....aphids really like them too ! Good luck. Cheers, Rob. jokes). Rob.McClure Dept.of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Monash University, Clayton 3168 AUSTRALIA. Phone:(03)9905.5625 Fax:(03)9905.5613 e-mail: Rob.McClure@sci.monash.edu.au

From: "Carlo A. Balistrieri" <cabalist at facstaff.wisc.edu> on 1997.03.06 at 18:07:18(468) Thanks Nina et al, My plants were wintered indoors and thus zone is not a major concern (although I'm thrilled to hear that you are successful with A. proboscideum in 4B; it should do just fine here then (4B-5A). This is the coldest I've heard it will take; most catalogues suggest 6-7!). I just expected that indoors, I'd have seen something by now. I'll wait it out as you suggest. Carlo +More Carlo A. Balistrieri, J.D. Email: CABalist@facstaff.wisc.edu P.O. Box 327 Ashippun, WI 53003-0327 U.S.A. Voice: 414.569.1902 Telefax: same number, please call ahead.

From: IntarsiaCo at aol.com on 1997.08.09 at 15:03:21(1028) Several years ago,from a seedling sale, I received a small plant of this that has yet to bloom for me. This year it has put on much new growth (I fed it) and has formed "bulbils" at the axis where the leaves join the stem. Does this sound like the above named plant and how do I handle the "bulbils"? I would like to pot some up for next weeks seedling sale. Any help would be much appreciated. +More Mark Mazer Gaylordsville CT Zone 5

From: Don Burns <burns at mobot.org> on 1997.08.09 at 20:54:55(1029) > Several years ago,from a seedling sale, I received a small plant of this that > has yet to bloom for me. This year it has put on much new growth (I fed it) > and has formed "bulbils" at the axis where the leaves join the stem. Does > this sound like the above named plant and how do I handle the "bulbils"? I > would like to pot some up for next weeks seedling sale. Any help would be > much appreciated. +More > Mark Mazer Gaylordsville CT Zone 5 Mark, There has been no comment on your question yet so I am tempted to throw in mine with a qualifier. I know nothing about A. proboscideum but what I have read, and have never seen the little plant. In all that I have read there has been nothing mentioned about bulbil production. Much is mentioned, however, about the curious infloresence that has a long tail resembling that of a mouse, thus the common name "mouse plant". But then you have yet to see an infloresence. Your description leads me to believe that this plant has a single "stem" (petiole) with multiple leaflets growing at the end of that stem, with the bulbil growing at the axis point where each leaflet comes together. You mentioned bulbils (plural). Are they all growing at the same point, or are they at the intersections of other leaflets? >From the few photos of A. proboscideum that I have, it appears that the plant bears multiple leaves, each on its own petiole and each growing directly from the tuber. But your brief description of a single stem (petiole) with multiple leaflets sounds more like Amorphophallus bulbifer or muelleri, both of which produce bulbils. Now that I have stumbled around guessing, is there an expert opinion in the house? Don Don Burns Plantation, FL USA Zone 10b

From: Greg Ruckert <greg at ezi-learn.com.au> on 1997.08.10 at 00:16:37(1031) At 10:04 AM 8/9/97 -0500, you wrote: >Several years ago,from a seedling sale, I received a small plant of this that >has yet to bloom for me. This year it has put on much new growth (I fed it) >and has formed "bulbils" at the axis where the leaves join the stem. Does >this sound like the above named plant and how do I handle the "bulbils"? I >would like to pot some up for next weeks seedling sale. Any help would be >much appreciated. > Mark Mazer Gaylordsville CT Zone 5 Hi all, Certainly not an expert but as this is one of my favourite non-Arisaema thought I would have a go. Could we have a more complete description of the leaves please. I have grown and flowered this species for a number of years (must get some pics on the web page). I would strongly agree with Don that this is not a bulbil-forming species. Mine are all stoloniferous and have just leafed up (so am surprised that anyone in the northern hemisphere would have it in leaf now). I find that it flowers well if given enough water. The leaves should be a plain dark greem colour. Could I go further and suggest that this is more likely to be a Pinellia cordata (wild guess without a good description of the suspect). As for the seedling sale - don't do it. There is nothing more frustrating than buying incorrectly named plants. My ultimate preference is not to distribute material unless I can confirm its name. See if you can get hold of a back issue of "The Kew Magazine" which had a lovely (the best I have seen) write up on the genus. I can't remember which issue it was in. {Rob McClure might be kind enough to look it up and post it for me} Now that we are on the matter of Arisarums..... As well as Arisarum proboscideum I have the mottled leaf Arisarum vulgare. I also have a plain green leaved version of Arisarum vulgare which I have not seen written up. I desperately want to get hold of Arisarum simmorrhinum. Can anyone help?? I know that it is available in the UK from Monocot Nursery. Do any members of Aroid-L grow this? Kind regards, Greg Ruckert +More 47 Allinga Avenue Glenside 5065 South Australia Phone 61 8 83795123 Fax 61 8 83642003

From: grsjr at juno.com (George R Stilwell, Jr.) on 1997.08.10 at 05:31:59(1035) Mark, Did the inflorecense look like a mini Arisaema dracontium, or did it look like a brownish mouse diving under the plant with his tail hanging out? If the former, it's probably Pinellia, if the latter, the name you have is probably correct. +More Ray

From: "James W. Waddick" <jim-jim at swbell.net> on 1997.08.10 at 15:10:51(1036) Dear Mark - with apologies to Don and Greg; Even though I currently am not growing Arisarum proboscideum, I have on and off for years. Your plant does not sound much like the true species and the suggestions that it may be a Pinellia especially in regard to bulbils forming on the leaf/petiole interface. Its vigor suggests P. ternata, which should not be brought to a plant sale with a large sign saving Caveat Emptor!. We all need more info to make a determination. Best Jim W. James W. Waddick Voice: 816 746 1949 8871 NW Brostrom Rd E-MAIL: jim-jim@swbell.net Kansas City MO 64152 Fax: 816 746 1939 Zone 5/6 - +More Winter low -10°F Summer high +100°F

From: IntarsiaCo at aol.com on 1997.08.10 at 19:23:58(1038) Thank you all for your input. The plant in question has 15 or so petioles in this 2" square pot ranging from 3" in height down to 1.25". The petioles are all green. Most of the petiole are topped with three leaves, the largest 3.5" long by 1.625" wide. Some of the petioles are topped by a single leaf, some by a single leaf that appears not to have completely seperated from the two lower leaves. Many of the petioles have developed "bulbils" at the axis where the leaves join the petiole. The bulbils develop a pointy shape, from which a new leaf appears. Prior to the appearance of the new leaf, the bulbil has a brownish band midwayup the roundish part, the elongated pointy shape is streaked with fine reddish dashes or dots. I cut open the most mature bulbil with a razor this A.M. and the bulbil is cream colored inside and shows no resemblance to a flowering mechanism. I shall not offer this at the seedling sale but will bring it with me, perhaps some "Guru" will be able to ID this for me. Thanks Mark Mazer Gaylordsville CT. Zone 5

From: "James W. Waddick" <jim-jim at swbell.net> on 1997.08.10 at 21:31:29(1039) > The plant in question has 15 or so petioles in >this 2" square pot ranging from 3" in height down to 1.25". The petioles a= re >all green. Most of the petiole are topped with three leaves, the largest >3.5" long by 1.625" wide. Some of the petioles are topped by a single leaf= , >some by a single leaf that appears not to have completely seperated from th= e >two lower leaves. Many of the petioles have developed "bulbils" at the >axis where the leaves join the petiole. The bulbils develop a pointy shape= , >from which a new leaf appears. I shall not offer this at >the seedling sale but will bring it with me, perhaps some "Guru" will be ab= le >to ID this for me. Dear Mark; I place my bets on Pinellia ternata. Any takers? Someone should have experience with this in CT or New England. Get the ID confirmed before you label and donate any. Best Jim W. James W. Waddick Voice: 816 746 1949 8871 NW Brostrom Rd E-MAIL: jim-jim@swbell.net Kansas City MO 64152 Fax: 816 746 1939 Zone 5/6 - +More Winter low -10°F Summer high +100°F

From: TimothyA7 at aol.com on 1997.08.11 at 13:31:56(1040) Hi All, Arisema dracontium has bloomed and set seed here at the IAS seedling bank. Is ther enough interest for us to plant this seed? This seed came to us from a member in Italy. I suspect this is a temperate zone plant but has grow well here in our subtropical climate. Tim

From: grsjr at juno.com (George R Stilwell, Jr.) on 1997.08.17 at 03:25:10(1053) Tim, If you don't plant the seed, send it to the Arisaema Enthusiasts Group care of: +More Craig Stubbs 15 Princess St. P.O. #596 Brooklin,Ontario Canada L0B 1CO Craig runs the Arisaema seed distribution for the group and will always welcome seed. A. dracontium is native to North America from the deep south to Canada. It should do well there. Ray

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