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When I was young (that period when pocket money played a greater part in my life than sex) I used to buy corms of the Voodoo Lily from Woolworths
and sit them on a windowsill where they would sometimes flower without further attention. It was unusual behavior, but it didn't inspire me to grow Colchicum
for example, which will do the same! This one is offensively smelly, and that was the major attraction. In recent years I have grown a lot of tuberous aroids and so it seemed only right to revisit this old friend, now grown terribly trendy again, though far less easily available. The first corms I bought in Woolworths were labelled 'Arum'. In recent years it has grown fairly well in the garden. The Pacific Bulb Society says: "Sauromatum venosum is from the Himalayas and southern India. It has a twisted yellow to brown spathe that is spotted deep red or purple internally with a long-protruding, tapering, greenish or maroon spadix. This plant is dormant in winter and flowers in early spring. The Tropical Britain website says: "Native to a wide geographical region from Africa across to China, this stunning aroid is one of the hardiest of all the exotic aroids and with good drainage, will thrive in most British gardens in a warm sunny spot. A very tropical-looking aroid, it has extravagant exotic foliage - mid-green with a slight blueish haze - that is highly phototropic leaning dramatically towards the direction the light is coming from. In the late spring/early summer, the Voodoo Lily's extraordinary inflorescence, like some glossy grey-purplish-black horn, pokes out of the ground, growing rapidly, almost visibly, and it doesn't stop growing until it is about 2 or more feet tall, when, with its elongated poker-like tip and bulbous egg-timer shaped base, all resting on a short white lilac spotted stalk, it looks not unlike the horns of some emerging subterranean devil. A large clump of these is particularly effective. As the spathe unfolds it reveals an intense black spadix which remains prominently and suggestively erect like a sinister black antennae while the spathe continues to fold back, displaying its internal pattern of rich purplish brown and pus-coloured yellow with a distinctly velvet sheen. The spathe continues to unfurl over several days until it rests flaccid like a long mottled tongue, emitting a delightful fragrance which some people unkindly liken to rotten flesh but I personally think is more a strong melange of curry plant and fecal matter. After flowering, large clumps of dark purple seeds form, held aloft above the ground. |
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| 31st August 2008 | ||
