AMOEPHOPHALLUS 



THE BULB BOOK 



AMORPHOPHALLUS 



chrome-yellow flowers, sometimes 

 crimson and yellow, and sometimes 

 all crimson, produced in June, July, 

 and August. Madagascar. 



A. Cardamomum. 8 ft. high. 

 Flowers brownish. August. East 

 Indies. This species yields the 

 round Cardamoms of commerce, the 

 true Cardamoms being obtained from 

 Elettaria Cwdamomum which see. 



A. Granum-paradisi. Popularly 

 known as "Grains of Paradise" or 

 "Guinea Pepper," is a native of W. 

 Africa. It grows about 3 ft. high; 

 has elliptic, lance-shaped leaves, red 

 stems, and white flowers tinged with 

 yellow and rose, in March or April. 

 (Bot. Mag. t. 4603.) 



Other species are A.Danielli^it., 

 red; A. hemisphcericum, 12 ft. high, 

 with leaves H ft. long, green above, 

 claret-red beneath; flowers red and 

 yellow, surrounded by large dull red 

 bracts (Bot. Mag. t. 7592); A. 

 Melegueta, 1 to 2 ft., pale pink; A. 

 platyandrum, 6 to 8 ft., dark red with 

 a yellow lip; A. trilobum, 2 to 3 ft, 

 deep red and yellow ; and A. sceptrum, 

 5 to 6 ft., bright rose-purpleall from 

 W. Africa. 



AMORPHOPHALLUS (amorphos, 



deformed ; phallos, a mace ; referring 

 to the misshapen barren appendix 

 of the spadix). Nat Ord. Aroideae. 

 Extraordinary looking herbaceous 

 plants, sometimes of great size, with 

 large, roundish, flattened tubers, from 

 2 to 5 ft. in circumference in some 

 species, and natives of Tropical Asia, 

 Tropical Africa, the Malayan Archi- 

 pelago, and the Pacific Islands. 

 From each tuber a solitary leaf with 

 a stalk from 2 to 10 ft. high usually 

 arises, and in some species this is 

 large enough to cover an area 45 ft. 

 in circumference, or roughly 15 ft. 

 across. The leaves are divided into 

 three main lobes, the latter being 



again divided and subdivided into 

 smaller segments. The inflorescence 

 consists of an aggregation of minute 

 flowers borne on a thickish, irregular, 

 club-like spadix, which sticks up 

 boldly to a height of 6 ft. in some 

 species (e.g., A. Titanum), in the 

 centre of a large surrounding cup- 

 shaped envelope called a spathe. The 

 latter varies from 8 or 9 ins. in 

 diameter to as much as 3 ft. 



From the dimensions of some of the 

 species, it is obvious they can only 

 be grown in establishments having 

 plenty of accommodation under glass. 

 On the whole they are scarcely plants 

 for the ordinary stove or warm green- 

 house, and can only be regarded as 

 remarkable vegetable curiosities, 

 quite appropriate in such places as 

 the National Garden at Kew, where 

 even the putrid odour that arises 

 from the inflorescence of many can be 

 tolerated during the period the plants 

 condescend to bloom. 



To grow the plants successfully, 

 a stove or warm greenhouse tempera- 

 ture (60 to 65 F. minimum in 

 winter), is necessary, accompanied 

 with plenty of moisture during active 

 growth in spring and summer. The 

 tubers should be potted in rich turfy 

 loam, leaf-soil, and a fair sprinkling 

 of coarse silver sand. In addition 

 to liberal supplies of water when 

 growing, the syringe should be freely 

 used in the mornings and late in 

 the afternoons. As the leaves die 

 down the supply of water should 

 be gradually lessened, and when the 

 tubers are dormant, they may be 

 left in the soil without further 

 moisture until growth recommences. 

 Propagation is practically out 

 of the question with many, if 

 not most, species ; and the plants 

 can only be secured by importing 

 the tubers or seeds direct from their 

 native habitats. 



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