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Aroid is the common name for members of the Araceae family of plants, sometimes known as the Philodendron or Arum family. The sometimes beautiful and sometimes bizarre combination of spathe and spadix known as the inflorescence, and sometimes referred to as a "flower", is a distinguishing feature of all aroids.

Arisaema sikokianum is an unusual plant. The Dutch name of "Jan in the pulpit" is very descriptive. It flowers in April to May. As is easy to imagine by just looking at the few photos here, it doesn't take too much arm twisting to start collecting arisaema! Since about 2005 they are starting to appear more frequently in the better garden centres and nurseries although prices for choicer varieties such as Arisaema sikokianum certainly don't come in the "cheap" category. To introduce you to a good Dutch supplier, may I suggest that you click onto www.perkgroen.nl/aronskelken.html.Here at Op de Haar, I've tended to focus on the varieties which produce really big leaves once the flowering is finished and which can also be left in the ground for the winter.

Sauromatum nubicum

The last winter of 2008/9 ended with a prolonged cold spell and, without special protection, I found that Sauromatum nubicum, seemed to suffer no setbacks. Sauromatum or Typhonium nubicum is in a spot in the garden which seems to cool excessively during clear winter nights but the two clumps of plants pushed out of the soil in mid-March as if we had just had another very mild winter. This location also gets full sun in summer and can get bone-dry. So, here you have an arisaema variety which manages very nicely in positions which would literally be fatal to many of its woodland brothers and sisters. Sauromatum nubicum soon forms a good clump with large-leaved plants up to 1m high - a sort of hosta on growth hormones! It can be easily grown from seed which pushes out of the ground as a sinister, black sausage-like lump after the plant has died back for the winter. If you don't watch carefully, the black colour is such a good camouflage against the earth that the composite seed pod can just collapse and tiny plants can then appear much in the same way that clusters of helleborus seedlings appear beneath the mother plant. Similar lessons apply - if you don't want to risk the seedlings being smothered out, transplant them into pots as soon as you can.

A preferred and controlled alternative is to plant the seed into trays and go from there . A technique which works very well for me involves washing the pulp off the ripe seed heads in a sieve and sowing the 2mm diameter seeds onto seed/potting compost under a layer of vermiculite; germination is as good as 100% in spring. In fact, I had so many of the things in 2008 that even after selling and giving them away I have planted out several clumps around the woods to see how they develop in contrasting environments.

My original plant came from De Groene Toko nursery here in Beesd, Netherlands which I have just referenced and he first obtained the plant by mistake in a shipment as his website reveals. It apparently originates from the cool foothills of the Himalaya. From the point of view of the gardener, it is a spectacular plant, tolerant of sunny and dry conditions, easy from seed and winter-hard.

Moving on to my other giant aroids the garden, Arisaema speciosum "Himalyan Giant", I planted them rather close to the house in a shaded bed about 3m from the window of a room where we have a TV set. In short, in a place where I unfailingly look at them practically every day. These really were an experiment because the plants are noted in the literature as being at best half-hardy. Arisaema speciosum hails from the central/eastern Himalaya and again it came through the winter of 2008/2009 without any problems.

Another large leaved aroid is Sauromatum venosum ( syn S.guttatum) and is somewhat smaller than "Himalyan Giant". It is described in Deni Bown's classic book " Aroids" as a tropical to sub-tropical specimen found in a broad band from S. Asia, Arabian peninsula through to Africa. My specimens came to me from René Zijerveld in the form of 5 small corms about 4 years ago which I put out as a planting in front of the Arisaema speciosum. They had a rough start because a mole decided to plough it's way through them at intervals ( and still does) and stems are broken to say nothing of what might happen around the roots. Anyway, I never expected these to survive the winter but, to date, they have. They start into growth much later than either Sauromatum nubicum or Arisaema speciosum and it isn't until early June that they let me know they are there - well, they are sub-tropical. I have to confess that their flowering clearly failed to impress me because I can't recall it ! However, they did flower because , much in the manner of S.nubicum, red-coloured seed heads pushed out of the ground in October. Taking the literature winter hardiness data at face value, I would think it is rather risky to leave these outside in the hope that they will germinate to produce new plants although I have done just this . Nothing ventured, nothing gained ! In 2008 I did sow the seed in a tray and germination was no problem. I suppose that one very clear message from my story is that the three large aroids I've talked about here are very easy to bulk up from seed if any professional nurseryman feels it is worth his or her while - I don't believe that any plant grower's rights (can) apply to these species (?)

Arisaema erubescens
Arisaema costatum leaf and flower

 

Arisaema thunbergii

Arisarum proboscideum

In contrast to the large leaved aroids, this tiny weirdo originates from Italy and Spain. At first sight you see only a low ground cover of arum-like leaves that slowly spread over the years and emerge each spring and disappear as summer advances. Only when you lift a leaf and are confronted by the flowers hugging the ground does the reason for the plant’s name become clear.

The following links provide a good start for the enthusiasts.

 

• http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/ArisaemaSpeciesFour
• http://botu07.bio.uu.nl/arisaema
• www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/
• www.degroenetoko.nl

People wishing to take the love affair to very deep levels can do no better than get hold of Guy and Liliane Gusman's book "The Genus Arisaema", Timber Press, ISBN 3-904144-91-X. For a complete reveiw of the field, Deni Bown's second edition of "Aroids - plants of the arum family" from Timber Press, 2000, ISBN 0-88192-485-7 is an excellent and very readable work.