I got this plant from a friend in NC last season. Does anyone have any idea what variety it might be? It has black specks on the stems.....and the leaves form a 1/2 circle kind of shape. The plant only grows about 2 feet maybe. The bulbs/corms multiply and grow quickly. My largest one bloomed for me this year, but I never got a pic of the bloom. Any help is appreciated! Thanks. Jenny
also posted in the ID forum
Sauromatum venosum which I believe they now put it in the Typhonium group again the botanist have changed their mind about 10 times with this one but is best known by the name above.
Thanks for the info. I've done a google search, and it does indeed look like the plant you named. But I am confused.....is this an amorphophallus? Or something else totally? Thanks! Jenny
I have to agree with Brian. The foliage and markings on the stems look indentical to my Sauromatum venosum. No, it's not an amorphophallus, but they belong to the same family Araceae.
How large was your bulb before it bloomed? Reason I ask is my bulb is now 3.5" across and 2" thick. Any chance this might bloom next year?
--Emily
They are at least two forms of this species. I have both one has lots of spots on the stems gets about 3 ft tall the other one gets few spots on the stems and can get about 4 to 5 ft tall and a much larger leaf. These are in the araceae family this is part of a small side group of aroids off the group typhonium which they keep getting removed and put back in its group. The typhoniums are similar and I have a few that look very close to this but the flowers to me look a lot different visually. Typhoniums are usually smaller and the blooms are fairly dark red and very smelly. Though this has a smell typhoniums I can usually tell apart just from smell alone. Hard to describe guess I have grown them long enough to know the difference.
Hi Emily. I would think that yours would bloom next year. Mine was probably close to that size when I planted it this spring. Just remember, the bloom comes before any leaves. I sure wish I would have gotten a pic of mine when it bloomed. Very interesting. :O) Jenny
Bloom before any leaves... I'll have to keep an eye on it next year so I don't end up with a really stinky basement. When do these guys usually bloom?
They are hardy to zone 5 possible 4 if mulched
I'm thinking mine bloomed in late April/early May.
Jenny
here is the bloom
another pic of the flowers they are usually about 1 to 2 ft tall. I may be I have Sauromatum guttatum as species name they probably have changed that also a few times.
i saw this posted over in the id forum and i took a stab at identifying it as Hydrosme Rivieri. my question for bwilliams if you're still out there, is, does this genus still exist? i couldn't find any other info on it. i was using Tropica, 1992 edition. thanks, debi
This term Hydrosme Rivieri was used long before I even starting to think about plants. This is the old name for Amorphophallus Konjac. I do remember it being called amorphophallus Rivieri and sometimes it can still be found under this name. I am not sure were the Hydrosme came from. I may have to ask a expert on this one. Tropica is a great book but it has been out of date for sometime. I still use it to ID a few things but most of it has been changed so much and some were wrong from the start. Still it's possible the best thing most people can go by. If you are really into aroids. I would suggest looking into the aroideana at off the aroids society website. They are great books full of info and pictures of plants you never new exisited. I still look through them at plants I long to find.
thanks, i was just curious. i still refer it to it from time to time, but not solely. i don't have a particular interest in aroids, my interest was sparked purely from being nosey about all things plants! debi
