Konjac VooDoo Seedpod???

Never saw anything quite like this before - I have had Konjacs for a long time, this one belongs to a friend. Is this really a seedpod. This thing is larger than a golf ball. I'm thinking she should leave it alone till it starts to dry - then pop it open and see what's inside.
I had a huge knojac this year, no bloom, but it was over 3ft tall with several little ones around the root. One day I found it and all the little ones chopped off at groud level - perhaps a hungry rabbit or possum??

Is this firmly attached to the spathe?

It should be less globe shaped with the berries pointing out wards but I guess anything is possible. If the female flowers are pollinated they form round the base of the spadix inside what is called the female floral chamber. In most cases the spathe would have dropped off by now leaving the berries exposed. It takes months for them to form.

I just sent a note to a botanist in Malaysia and asked what color the berries should be. From memory alone they should be red.

You should have seen an inflorescence similar to this one. This was large so your's could have been smaller. The female flowers and berries would have formed down inside the floral chamber and by now all you should see is the loser spadix surrounded by the infructescence (inflorescence with berries).

Steve

If this is an infructescence (group of berries with seeds) it does not appear to match the scientific description. The new Araceae of China written by botanist Pete Boyce and others just went on-line today so I was able to grab this information on Amorphophallus konjac. This is technical so please forgive it is difficult to understand.

"Berries glossy, at first bright green, turning pinkish purple and finally deep blue, rounded or oval, ca. 1 × 0.8–1 cm, 2-seeded. Seeds oval in longitudinal section, flattened on one side, ca. 8 × 6 × 4 mm; testa black, moderately glossy, minutely rugulose. Fl. Apr–Jun, fr. May–Jul.

Crush a berry and see how many seeds are inside, it should be two but that changes in some cases.

I am still awaiting a response from Pete Boyce and will post his note when I receive it. The new English version of the Araceae treatment of the Flora of China is now on line at:

http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/mss/volume23/Flora_of_China_Vol_23_Araceae.pdf

this is over 70 pages long and is written in scientific language but can be valuable to anyone that loves Amorphophallus, Alocasia and other species of aroids that live in the warmer regions of China. You will need a botanical dictionary!

Steve

That is an infructescence of Sauromatum venosum, which is also commonly referred to as a "Voodoo Lily". For me, both the morphology of the structure and, more importantly, the spotted petiole and peduncle are conclusive for Sauromatum venosum. The reference Steve posted lists this plant and many others. I can state categorically that the infructescence is not that from a Konjac.

LariAnn
Aroidia Research

Thanks for the ID LariAnn, I've never grown Sauromatum. I have a greenhouse full of them and related plants right now because I'm temporarily housing a bunch of plants for another grower that just moved from California to Kansas.

You brought up a great point that all growers should know. Many plants are called Voodoo lilies due to the splotching on the petioles. Growers often assume they are getting an Amorphophallus konjac but there is no good way to know which species you bought unless you have been trained to recognize some of the aspects of the tuber. That can often also be difficult.

If the person is selling a Voodoo lily and you want A. konjac ask before you buy. Most are very neat plants but unless you know how to recognize the particular compound leaf you may be surprised later. once you see the inflorescence or infructescence. An infructescence for those that don't know is simply a pollinated and developing group of berries containing seeds. Those berries often change colors as they mature.
Steve

This message was edited Jul 29, 2010 4:48 AM

This past winter my 13 pounder bloomed, here what the flowers looked like.

And the whole unit:

Beautiful! Here is the only bloom I have had, 2 years ago. more orange and brown than your pretty red one. Didn't have a seed pod tho. Maybe I chopped it off before it formed??

This message was edited Jul 30, 2010 3:04 PM