Tuesday, March 9, 2010

The smallish Amorphophallus pygmaeus

This is one of the smaller members in a genus of giants, although it is by no means the smallest- that title falls on Amorphophallus pusillus which has leaf stem (petiole) less than 10 cm tall. This flowering specimen is about 30cm tall, which is close to the literature size of 40cm quoted by Wilbert Hetterscheid, the expert in this field.

This plant is a native of limestone hills in central Thailand. Like most Amorphophalluses, the solitary inflorescence break dormancy before the leaf and has a white spathe that wraps around the spadix. The base of the spathe is reddish and warty on the inside.

The plant can be grown on loose sterile substrates - mainly perlite and coarse hydro clay pellets for me. During the growing season, I would spray a generous sprinkle of slow release and increase water dosage for encouragement.

8 comments:

Hermes said...

I want one. What a striking spathe.

Patty said...

Beautiful flower! Thanks for posting, I feel a little smarter every time I visit your blog :)

The Style Mansion said...

Amazing picture,amazing flower

Siru said...

Beautiful picture. I like it.

Organic Gardening Plants said...

That is a wonderful photo. It certainly looks like a great flower.

Hort Log said...

like all Aroids, this is effectively called an inflorescence....ie its a collection of tiny flowers at the bottom of spadix, but what the heck, is still nice.

Cindy said...

What a lovely, delicate flower.

Susan said...

Love this flower! Wish it would grow where I live!

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