[Aroid-l] Dracontium prancei question

From: ju-bo at msn.com (ju-bo at msn.com) on 2007.11.25 at 19:08:13(16725) To: Discussion of aroids (aroid-l at gizmoworks.com) Security scan upon download Trend Micro ? logo Attachments: ATT00001 (0.1 KB) Dear Dan, Send us a pic. of the inflorscence and we`ll give you an opinion of it`s ID. To give a simple answer to your involved question, I don`t believe that the plant will bloom if kept/grown as an evergreen for the 12 months of the year. Many plants need the ''stimulus'' of a dry dormancy to induce blooming. It might be that the ''dry'' season tells the plant that all is NOT well in its surroundings, and so induces a bloom/reproduction. If it has water all year, all is well, so why not just grow new leaves, and increase the size of the corm. But IF it becomes dry!---you go dormant, and when the ''rains'' start again, produce a bloom, set seed (all other plants of this species in the vicinity will ALSO be blooming after the dry season!!) and reproduce! Dormancy might also induce the "mother"-corm to produce the little bulbils/mini-corms on top of the main corm. The Best, Julius +More >>Hi All, I have a simple question about Dracontium prancei and that is whether it only flowers after a dormancy? I got one of these beauties 3 years ago from a reliable Aussie source (he can volunteer his name if he wishes) and it bloomed the first year I had it before growing a petiole several months later. Since then it has been evergreen and has actually proven to be a fantastic member of the genus even for a northern gardener growing it indoors for the winter (something that can not be said for many other species I am afraid to say). It has only ever had a single petiole at one time, with the old petiole dyeing away after the new one gets completely developed (if you count that as 2 petioles then so be it, but I personally do not). A new petiole is now developing and it looks like it will be nicely taller than the old one which was approximately 1.5 m tall (~4.5 feet). When I repotted the plant while in growth a year ago the tuber was approximately 7-8 cm in diameter. It has never produced any offsets and that is OK by me as long as momma continues to do well. I have no intention of allowing this plant to go dormant, but am curious if this is the only way to get another influorescence?? Since getting them out of dormancy is the tough part for me and the petiole/leaf is more inspired than the influorescence I ask more out of curiosity rather than this being something I will put into practice. Thanks, Dan Dan Devor Gibsonia, PA (zone 6a)<<

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