Sauromatum venosum

From: "David Constantine" <drc at globalnet.co.uk> on 1997.10.08 at 13:16:26(1405) Leaf number of Sauromatum venosum I wonder if members saw the article on Sauromatum venosum by Henry Noltie (RBG Edinburgh) in the June 1997 issue of The New Plantsman (volume 4 part 2). In common with many authors (e.g. Polunin and Stainton, 1965; Bown, 1988; The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening, 1992; Mabberley, 1997) Noltie states plainly that " each corm bears a single leaf ". In contrast, Mayo et al. (1997) comment that leaves of Sauromatum are " usually solitary, rarely up to 3 ". In my own experience of growing the plant outdoors, (Somerset, UK), isolated cormels do tend to produce a single leaf in their first year but by the second year two leaves are quite normal and subsequently three leaves are not very unusual. In relatively impoverished cultivation conditions, as in the small pots used in the Alpine House at RHS Wisley (Surrey, UK), a solitary leaf may indeed be normal even with old corms. However, given a free root run in ordinary garden soil the plant grows very much larger. Not having seen the plant in the wild I am unable to comment on the situation in nature. I should be interested to know others' experience of the plant in cultivation. I have been growing the plant for many years and have found it to be sufficiently hardy outdoors in Somerset that I no longer bother to lift corms in autumn. My plants flower regularly but have never produced viable seed possibly because of their clonal nature. I would like to get hold of the other Sauromatum species, S. brevipes. Does anyone know a source? References Bown, D. (1988). Aroids. London: Century Hutchinson. ISBN 0 7126 1822 8 Mabberley, D. J. (1977). The Plant-book. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0 521 41421 0 Mayo, S. J., Bogner, J. and Boyce, P. C. (1997). The Genera of Araceae. London: RBG Kew. ISBN 1 9003747 22 9 Polunin, O. and Stainton, A. (1984) Flowers of the Himalaya. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0 19 217623 4 The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. (1992). Editor-in-Chief A. Huxley. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 0 333 47494 5 To the editors: I am new to the list and would appreciate knowing if there is an archive of postings that I can look at. Thank you. Also, what is the significance of the password? David Constantine +More Somerset, UK

From: Krzysztof Kozminski <kk at netgate.net> on 1997.10.08 at 18:05:30(1408) On Wed, 8 Oct 1997, David Constantine wrote: > I wonder if members saw the article on Sauromatum venosum by Henry Noltie > (RBG Edinburgh) in the June 1997 issue of The New Plantsman (volume 4 part > 2). In common with many authors (e.g. Polunin and Stainton, 1965; Bown, > 1988; The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening, 1992; Mabberley, 1997) Noltie > states plainly that " each corm bears a single leaf ". In contrast, Mayo > et al. (1997) comment that leaves of Sauromatum are " usually solitary, > rarely up to 3 ". Mayo is right. Mature Sauromatum can easily have two or three leaves (see http://ng.netgate.net/~kk/Araceae/Sauromatum/venosum.html). Last year, I wondered about the number of leaves in Sauromatum myself, and several people on this list confirmed that multiple leaves are common. > I have been growing the plant for many years and have found it to be > sufficiently hardy outdoors in Somerset that I no longer bother to lift > corms in autumn. Sauromatum is much hardier than some bulb suppliers would make you believe (I've seen it rated in an otherwise very reliable catalog as US zone 9 (low temp 20F == -7C). In fact, it has survived in the US zone 6 (low temp -10F == -23C). > I would like to get hold of the other Sauromatum species, S. brevipes. > Does anyone know a source? Yeah, I'd like one, too :-) +More ==================== Krzysztof Kozminski kk@netgate.net http://www.netgate.net/~kk/

From: Rand Nicholson <writserv at nbnet.nb.ca> on 1997.10.08 at 20:02:03(1409) >several people on this list confirmed that multiple leaves are common. >Sauromatum is much hardier than some bulb suppliers would make you believe >(I've seen it rated in an otherwise very reliable catalog as US zone 9 >(low temp 20F == -7C). In fact, it has survived in the US zone 6 (low >temp -10F == -23C). I leave mine outside in large pots or containers, right up until the tops are knocked down by a hard frost (they turn to mush, overnight). After a day or two if there is no rain, I dig them up and store them dry. Three leaves are not a regular feature, but not uncommon for a well grown, fat tuber, in my experience. Sometimes the little tubercles, or offsets, will put up three leaves, one after the other. By the time the third leaf is out, the first has (usually) gone by and the second is showing signs of stress. Kind Regards, Rand +More Rand Nicholson New Brunswick Maritime Canada, Z 5b

From: newton at cin.net on 1997.10.09 at 02:51:41(1410) I also confirm multiple leaves. For years mine have had 1,2 & 3 all at once or one after another. I have never seen 4 leaves. Big tubers or small doesn't seem to make a difference. Most of mine are now going dormant and I have cut back on water. I will be digging them up in a couple weeks for storage here in zone 4. Tim +More Greenhouseman-wanna-be Rand Nicholson wrote: > > >several people on this list confirmed that multiple leaves are common. > > >Sauromatum is much hardier than some bulb suppliers would make you believe > >(I've seen it rated in an otherwise very reliable catalog as US zone 9 > >(low temp 20F == -7C). In fact, it has survived in the US zone 6 (low > >temp -10F == -23C). > > I leave mine outside in large pots or containers, right up until the tops > are knocked down by a hard frost (they turn to mush, overnight). After a > day or two if there is no rain, I dig them up and store them dry. Three > leaves are not a regular feature, but not uncommon for a well grown, fat > tuber, in my experience. > > Sometimes the little tubercles, or offsets, will put up three leaves, one > after the other. By the time the third leaf is out, the first has (usually) > gone by and the second is showing signs of stress. > > Kind Regards, > > Rand > > Rand Nicholson > New Brunswick > Maritime Canada, Z 5b >

From: "Bonaventure W Magrys" <magrysbo at shu.edu> on 1999.07.12 at 04:20:24(3492) Help, I think I have some young voodoo lilies (Sauromatum venosum) sprouting up in my Arisaema area. They have been growing bordering this area of Arisaema for extra shade. A warning to anyone - do not ever let your Sauromatum mature and disperse seed. Also it is very difficult to screen out from the soil all offsets that break off the parent bulbs when they are dug out. I think also that squirrels may dig them out and disperse them, they are now in all my beds, or maybe its goblins they attract, it looks it! Anyway my question is how do you tell a small plant apart from Arisaema flavum - which has similar leaf shape? The Sauromatum stems have none or very subdued mottling when grown in shade. Or A. tortuosum, which as I recall last year was mottled and looked very much like it. I have to wait till my small definite tortuosums finish leafing out for comparison this year. Also some plants are definitly flavum and have metal, not long gone plastic labels from last year, but still look almost indistinguishable from small voodoo plants. But others I'm not sure of and I dont want to weed out the wrong thing. Is there a sure fire way to tell other than waiting for them to get really huge and then bloom? How long for Arisaema triphyllum x nepenthoides seed to germinate? Bonaventure Magrys +More Elizabeth, NJ Zone 6

From: Bob Burns <bobburns61 at yahoo.com> on 1999.07.13 at 16:35:07(3497) This is just an idea, maybe someone else can confirm or refute it; but I would suspect that the Sauromatum, being subtropical in origin, will likely retain its foliage throughout the summer, whereas the Arisaema (here I'm thinking of the native Arisaema), grows up in the spring and is often dormant by mid-to late summer. If the small plants seem to go dormant in two distinct groups, one later than the other, this might be a way to tell them apart. +More _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com

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