Arum italicum in N. Cal.

From: "Julius Boos" <ju-bo at msn.com> on 1997.03.26 at 01:43:32(538) Hello All !!-- A question- does anyone know if Arum italicum is naturalised in N. california? I received photos from a friend that match the illus. in Peter Boyce's WONDERFUL work,"The Genus Arum"[isbn# 0 11 250085 4]. +More It looks to be an impressive and quite beautiful subject with attractively viens in its sagittate leaves. Please let me know if anyone out there has any info. Thanks,--------- Julius. ju-bo@msn.com

From: karenp at sybase.com (Karen Paulsell) on 1997.03.26 at 03:38:52(539) It seems to be 'naturalized' around my N. Oakland neighborhood, that's for sure! I have clumps of it here and there in my garden beds, as do various neighbors. There seems to be a bit of variability in coloring, with some having very little white in the leaves, and others having quite attractive veining. Right now, mine have big splendid leaves, no signs of spathes. It shows up more in places that get moderate watering. I haven't really noticed its spontaneous appearance in the more xeri-scaped spots, unwatered yards, etc. I guess my vague impression is that the big orange berries take too long to ripen and thereby spread quickly without supplemental water during the long dry season. Could happen, perhaps, in wetter places, but they drained and filled most of those in the East Bay a century ago!

From: "Julius Boos" <ju-bo at msn.com> on 1997.03.26 at 15:07:20(541) ---------- Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 1997 10:38 PM To: Julius Boos +More Subject: Re: Arum italicum in N. Cal. It seems to be 'naturalized' around my N. Oakland neighborhood, that's for sure! I have clumps of it here and there in my garden beds, as do various neighbors. There seems to be a bit of variability in coloring, with some having very little white in the leaves, and others having quite attractive veining. Right now, mine have big splendid leaves, no signs of spathes. It shows up more in places that get moderate watering. I haven't really noticed its spontaneous appearance in the more xeri-scaped spots, unwatered yards, etc. I guess my vague impression is that the big orange berries take too long to ripen and thereby spread quickly without supplemental water during the long dry season. Could happen, perhaps, in wetter places, but they drained and filled most of those in the East Bay a century ago! Dear Karen, Thanks for taking the time to reply. My friend in Mac Kinleyvill,Ca. 95519, has them growing in her neighborhood. P. Boyce, in his fantastic book on the genus mentions that it's in Argentina, S.A., but does not mention it being in the U.S.. Have you seen the book? Beautiful paintings of many species; a work of art, really! Thanks again for your input. Reguards, Julius.

From: "Julius Boos" <ju-bo at msn.com> on 1997.04.10 at 00:35:03(595) ---------- Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 1997 7:14 PM To: Julius Boos +More Subject: Arum italicum in N. Cal. >From: "Julius Boos" >Subject: Arum italicum in N. Cal. >Sender: aroid-l@mobot.org >Date: Tue, 25 Mar 1997 19:45:33 -0600 > > Hello All !!-- A question- does anyone know if Arum italicum is > naturalised in N. california? I received photos from a friend that match the > illus. in Peter Boyce's WONDERFUL work,"The Genus Arum"[isbn# 0 11 250085 > 4]. > It looks to be an impressive and quite beautiful subject with attractively > viens in its sagittate leaves. Please let me know if anyone out there has > any info. > Thanks,--------- Julius. ju-bo@msn.com > Julius - Arum italicum, A. palaestinum, and perhaps other winter growing species grow very well in our area. Dracunculus vulgaris also does quite well. At a local public garden, where I volunteer, there are a number of A. italicums all over the place, with the variation that might be expected from self-sowing (most are the variegated types, but this varies considerable in intensity and attractiveness). When I originally joined AROID-L, and heard about all of the amazing Arum species I'd never even contemplated the existence of, I wondered if there mightn't be a place for an Arum collection garden here in the Bay Area (it was discussed on the group as well). Someday, when a save up a few more bucks, I'll have to buy your book and research this more carefully. If there is ever anything you need to know about Arums in our area, please let me know. I'm seeing a friend tomorrow who propogated various bulbous plants from seed, and Arums are certainly no stranger to him. Sean A. O'Hara sean.ohara@ucop.edu 710 Jean Street http://www.dla.ucop.edu/sao Oakland, California 94610-1459 h o r t u l u s a p t u s (510) 987-0577 'a garden suited to its purpose' * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Ask me about the worldwide Mediterannean gardening discussion group Dear Sean, Thanks for the info. on Arums in California--I had thought that I was on to something, and maybe I am as I cant find a note in the literature on any Arum being naturalized in the U.S.A.; Boyce mentions A. italicum in Argentina. Maybe it is worth a note in Aroidiana. I have to think about it. Thanks again. Julius. ju-bo@msn.com

From: hallsa at sirius.com (Steve Hall) on 1997.04.10 at 19:50:34(601) Julius, Sean and Fellow Aroiders, Having read the posts inquiring about Arum italicum naturalising in N. California I recently went on a field trip to Golden Gate Park to see if I could find any. Much to my surprise I found Arum italicum naturalising in several places in the Rhododendrom Dell, and within the Arboretum. I found both varigated and non-varigated species. In some places there were patches that were several feet in diameter. Last week I happened to be back in the park and I went to the Rhododendrom Dell to check on the A. italicum. They were in various stages of blooming and some even had very well developed heads of bright green fruit. This may be ho-hum news to some of you, but I consider myself an aroid neophyte so being able to spot one in the wild, besides the ubiquitous cala lily, was exciting to me. Steve Hall

From: SNALICE at aol.com on 1997.04.11 at 13:48:10(604) Steve, Isn't it exciteing? I know exactly what you mean! Other than callas and anthuriums ( which I had no idea were something called Aroids) I had never seen one before and wouldn't have recognized one if I had, but after sightings on the Aroid pages, I spotted a bloom in an unexpected place, (in a yard, in the grass, at the edge of the pavement, in my very neighborhood!) and immediately recognized it as an Aroid, and with Julius' help, I found that Arum italicum was my first discovery off the net. Fortunately for me, the people were glad to have some removed, which I obliged, and in spite of the shock, they appear to be developing seed, even though after transplanting them the spathes have shriveled up around the spadixs (unless this is normal), and most of the leaves are still lying on the ground! This Aroid REALLY wants to survive. These are the non-variegated variety. I haven't had the opportunity to see a variegated one yet. May your next exciteing discovery be Deni Bown's book on Aroids! ( If you haven't discovered it yet). Sue Zunino

From: hallsa at sirius.com (Steve Hall) on 1997.04.11 at 15:27:32(605) Sue, Regarding finding arum italicum in the wild you wrote: > Isn't it exciteing?.... +More Yes, I couldn't agree with you more! >May your next exciteing discovery be Deni Bown's book on Aroids! ( If you >haven't discovered it yet). I've got a library copy of her book which I keep renewing every month. So far I haven't had luck in finding my own copy but I will keep trying. On another subject, I am just dying to try and grow some arisaema and I was wondering does anybody have experience growing any of these plants in N. California? The microclimate in my backyard tends to be sort of woodsie, ie, lots of shade, with bright filtered light. No area of the yard gets more than 3 hours of direct sun. Fuschias and camelias thrive in my backyard. I currently have a Dracunculus. vulgaris in bloom too! From what I've read it seems that arisaema could stand a chance of surviving in these conditions. Am I correct or totally off base? Steve Hall

From: Nick Turland <N.Turland at nhm.ac.uk> on 1997.04.11 at 18:55:02(606) Dear Aroiders, I'd just like to say thanks for your news on the white Dracunculus and Arum seed collections from Crete. It's good to hear that they are doing well! Nick.

From: grsjr at juno.com (George R Stilwell, Jr.) on 1997.04.12 at 19:48:40(607) Steve, Arisaema should thrive as long as you have a cold period of a month or so. The temperate species seem to need this to do well. Ray +More GRSJr@Juno.com

From: "Julius Boos" <ju-bo at msn.com> on 1997.04.12 at 20:01:58(608) ---------- Sent: Friday, April 11, 1997 9:48 AM To: Julius Boos +More Subject: Re: Arum italicum in N. Cal. Steve, Isn't it exciteing? I know exactly what you mean! Other than callas and anthuriums ( which I had no idea were something called Aroids) I had never seen one before and wouldn't have recognized one if I had, but after sightings on the Aroid pages, I spotted a bloom in an unexpected place, (in a yard, in the grass, at the edge of the pavement, in my very neighborhood!) and immediately recognized it as an Aroid, and with Julius' help, I found that Arum italicum was my first discovery off the net. Fortunately for me, the people were glad to have some removed, which I obliged, and in spite of the shock, they appear to be developing seed, even though after transplanting them the spathes have shriveled up around the spadixs (unless this is normal), and most of the leaves are still lying on the ground! This Aroid REALLY wants to survive. These are the non-variegated variety. I haven't had the opportunity to see a variegated one yet. May your next exciteing discovery be Deni Bown's book on Aroids! ( If you haven't discovered it yet). Sue Zunino Dear Sue, I had a moment, so here goes--- I believe that the A. italicum that you found are what are considered the "varigated" types- in Boyce`s book he explains that there is a variety with solid green leaves, and another with green leaves with lighter viens, and this is the one in the photos that you kindly sent. The withering of the spathe and development of berries is normal, and may not be caused bt transplanting. Maybe you could follow Steve`s example and find Bown`s book in a nearby library! I believe you can even request a special inter- library transfer so that you can recieve a book. Give it a try! Sincerely, Julius

From: SNALICE at aol.com on 1997.04.13 at 05:41:23(610) In a message dated 97-04-12 16:37:16 EDT, you write: << Dear Sue, I had a moment, so here goes--- I believe that the A. italicum +More that you found are what are considered the "varigated" types- in Boyce`s book he explains that there is a variety with solid green leaves, and another with green leaves with lighter viens, and this is the one in the photos that you kindly sent. The withering of the spathe and development of berries is normal, and may not be caused bt transplanting. Maybe you could follow Steve`s example and find Bown`s book in a nearby library! I believe you can even request a special inter- library transfer so that you can recieve a book. Give it a try! Sincerely, Julius >> Julius, This is good to here about the spathes withering around the spadixs, because I thought that the withered spathe might cause the spadix to rot (which one did), but three are developing one inch areas of seeds at the bases. The one that rotted was totaly wrapped in a blanket of dead nats inside the withered spathe. Bown describes A.italicum as having "white veined winter foliage". There is no photogragh of it, so I can't compare visually. Tell me if I'm correct. Plan A: If italicum goes the winter without freezing, it would still have leaves, and the veins would show whiter, but they die back here so I might not see this? Plan B: I notice that they are slightly lighter than the leave's surface, is this considered white? I called the Humboldt library today and found that not one Humboldt Co. library has Bown's book, and never did have it! I was really surprised! I then called Humboldt State University's library and found that they had Bown's book for student study, but is on reserve, so I got to check it out for one night. I have to have it back tomorrow at 12:00 PM. I forgot to ask if I could renew the checkout, but will ask tomorrow. So I have a lot of studying to do tonight and it is now 9:00 PM! Do you think there is enough demand for Timber Press to release another copy yet? It seems like the whole world is looking for this book! Thanks for the help, Sue

From: hallsa at sirius.com (Steve Hall) on 1997.04.14 at 18:30:35(614) >Arisaema should thrive as long as you have a cold period of a month or >so. The temperate species seem to need this to do well. > >Ray +More Ray, How cold is cold? It rarely freezes in San Francisco however, we usually get a few days during December and January when the temperature is in the mid thirties (Fahrenheit). Steve

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