27G 



AMORPHA 



AMORPHOPHALLUS 



v;iriablo species; of tlie iiumy varieties, the follouiiif; are 

 pn.>b;il>ly the most important: V'ar. croceo-lanata, 

 Nlouillet. (A. croceo-liiiiala, Wats.). Covered with yel- 

 lowish brown pubescence. W.D.B. 2: 139. Var. 

 albifldra, Sheldon. With wliite Hs. \ar. casr&lea, 

 Mouillel". With pale blue fls. Var. pendula, Dipp. 

 (A. pimliita. Carr.l. Witli recurved or pendulous 

 branches. \ ar. hilmilis, Sdineid. t.l. hiunilis, Tausch). 

 Low form with smaller and narrower Ivs. B.M. 2112 

 (as A. nana). Var. crispa, Kirchn. Lvs. with crisp 

 margin. 



tennessensis, Shuttlw. Shrub, 5-20 ft.: lvs. 6-8 in. 

 long; ll'ts. l;?-.^"), elliptic-oblong to oblong-ovate, 

 J'4-?4in. long, obtu.se: spikes clustered, to 6 in. long; 

 fls. violet-purple: pixls slender, glandular. Tenn. 



BB. Calyx with alt the lobes rery shallow and rounded: 

 pod straight on the back: young growth glabrous, 

 bloomy and purplish. 



glabra, Poir. (.4. montdna, hoynt.). Glabrous shrub, 

 to 6 ft. high: branches purplish: lvs. 3-0 in. long; Ifts. 

 9-19. ovate or oval to oblong-ovatc, 1-2 in. long, 

 ■obtu.<e, rounded at the base: spikes clustered, 2'2-6 in. 

 long; fls. blue: calyx-lobes very short and obtuse: pods 

 nearly straight on the back with few glands. Spring. 

 N. C. to Ga. and Ala. 



.-1. califdrnica, Xutt. .Allied to A. frutico.sa. Only very young 

 branches pubescent: Ifts. 11-17, oval to elliptic-oblong, obtuse, 

 broadly cuneate at the base: spikes 2— t, to 12 in. long. Calif. — A. 

 eali/Ornica, Hook. & Ath.^A. hispidula. — .4. caTolinidnat Croorn 

 (A. glabra, Boynt., not Poir. ). Allied to A. fruticosa. Lfts. numer- 

 ous, elliptic-oblong, about '.2in. long, glabrous: racemes several, 4-8 

 in. long: pods nearly straight on the back. Summer. N. C. to Fla. 

 — A. i/labra, Boynt, not Poir.=.\. caroliniana. — A. hispidula, 

 Greene (A. californica. Hook. & .\rn., not Nutt.). Allied to A. 

 fruticosa. Branchlets and petioles with prickly glands and pubes- 

 cent: lfts. 17-2.5, ovate to oblong, villous; spikes solitary, to 7 in. 

 long; pods very glandular. Calif. — .4. Ixvigata, Nutt. Allied to \. 

 fruticosa. Glabrous: lfts. 9-21, remote, elliptic to elliptic-oblong, 

 obtuse or emarginate, cuneate at the base, 1-1 5i in. long.: racemes 

 solitary or several, to 12 in. long: pod straight on the back, very 

 glandular. Spring. Ark., Texas. Var pubescens. Gray (A. texana, 

 Buckl. ). More or less pubescent. Texas. — A. microphylta, Pursh 

 (\. nana, Nutt.). One ft. high: lfts. small, '2in. long, crowded, 

 glandular beneath: spikes usually single. From Minn, and Iowa 

 west to Rocky Mts. — .4. montniw., Boynt. ^A. glabra. — .4. nana, 

 Xutt.=:A. microphylla: see also A. fruticosa, var. humilis. — A. 

 paniculdla, Torr. & Gray. Shrub, to 12 ft. high; grayish tomentose; 

 ifts. 11-17, ovate-oblong or elliptic-oblong, 1-2 in. long: racemes 

 long and slender, panicled. Texas, — .4. pubescens. WiIld.=A. her- 

 bacea. — A.pitmila, Michx.=.\. herbacea. — A. texana, Buckl. =.\. 

 Isvigata var. pubescens. — .4. virgala. Small. Allied to A. fruticosa. 

 Perennial, 2-(J ft., sparingly brancheti; lfts. broad, coriaceous: spikes 



single or few. Southern states. 



Alfred Rehder. 



AMORPHOPHALLUS iCJreek-made name), ^raeea'. 

 Giant aroids from the eastern tropics, grown as curiosi- 

 ties in hothouses. 



Leaves ample; petioles smooth or warty and variou.sly 

 spotted; blade ample, 3-parted, the divisions pinnatifid: 

 spadix long; spathe (or "flower") funnel- or bell-.shaped 

 at the ba.se, springing from ihe great bulb-like tuber in 

 advance of the lvs., the latter usually pedately com- 

 pound: differs from .Vnim and related gt^nera by tech- 

 nical characters. Monogr. by Engler in De CandoUe's 

 Monographise Phanerogamarurn, Vol. 2, 1879. 



Amorphophalluses are propagated by offsets of the 

 tubers. These offsets are miniature tubers which grow 

 out of the parent tuber. Thej- are taken off at the time 

 of potting, placed in pots just large enough to accoimno- 

 date them, in a soil composed of loam, lc>;if-mold and 

 sand in about equal proportions and kept in a tfinptra- 

 ture of 6.5' to 70". They are rarely, if ever, propagateij 

 by seeds in northern gardens, and for this rc:isoii, 

 together with their disagreeable odor when in flower, 

 they are not commonly grown. The flowers are like a 

 huge calla except that the spathe and spadix are of a 

 dark chocolate color. The odor is supposed to attract 

 carrion-loving insect.?, which pollinate the flowers in 

 their native home and bring about the production of 

 see*!?. Towarfls the end of .March the plants should be 

 taken from their winter quarters and placed on the 



IQO. Flower-stem and 

 bit of leaf of Amorpho- 

 phallus Rivieri. 



stages of a moderately warm greenhouse and kept 

 moist, where, if the tubers are strong enough, they will 

 soon flower. The leaves begin to grow immediately 

 after the flowering season. 'Foward the end of May, 

 they should be planted out in the open ground, or they 

 may be usetl in subtropical bedding. 

 Plants should be lifted in the fall, 

 before frost, and potted in any 

 good, rich soil, and placed in a 

 warm greenhouse to ripen off the 

 leaves, after which they may be 

 stored away under the greenhouse 

 stages, or in any convenient place 

 where the temperature does not 

 fall below 50°, giving just sufficient 

 moisture to keep the tubers from 

 shriveling. (E. J. Canning.) 

 Rivieri, Dur. Devil's 

 Tongue. Snake Palm. 

 Fig. 190. Scape (sent up 

 in early spring) preceding 

 the lvs., 3-4 ft., dark-colored 

 and speckled with light 

 red: If. often 4 ft. across, 

 pedately decompound, the 

 petiole mottled, standing on a 

 stalk like an umbrella: spathe 

 rosy, calla-like, with a long-pro- 

 jecting and slender, dark red, 

 slightly curved spadix, the whole 

 "flower" often measuring 3 ft. 

 long. Cochin China. R.H. 1871, 

 p. 573. Gn. M. 5:2:32. G.W. 14, 

 p. 173. V. 7:1113.— The best- 

 known species in American gar- 

 dens. Has a strong and disagree- 

 able odor. 



campanulatus, Blume. Sx.'iNLEy's Wash-Tub. Scape 

 lower (2 ft. or less); spathe nearly or quite 2 ft. broad 

 and 15 in. high, with a horizontal, spreading fluted 

 border (not calla-like), red-purple on the margin and 

 grayish, spotted white lower down, and becoming 

 purple in the center; spadix 10-12 in. high, the purple 

 top enlarged and convoluted: If. much as in A. Rivieri: 

 tuber weighing 8-10 lbs., shape of a flat cheese. An 

 old garden plant from E. Indies. B.M. 2812 (as 

 Arum campanulatum) . F.S. 15: 1602-3. G.C. 1872: 

 1720, 1721; IIL 5:755. G.W. 13; p. 9. 



giganteus, Blanc. "Fl. larger than .4. campanulatus 

 (often 2 ft. across) and much more pleasing in color, 

 shading from deep red to cream-color toward the 

 center. The club-shaped spadix is dark maroon, with 

 yellow and red base. After flowering, the foliage-st. 

 appears, — -a stout st. of deep green color, mottled with 

 graj'. After growing at the rate of several inches a da}', 

 it expands into a large palm-like If., of a rich, dark green 

 color, often mciisuring 5 ft. acro.ss." Blanc, 1892, 

 received "under this name from India." A, campan- 

 ulaiusi'?). Probably not the A. giganteus of Blume. 



simlense, Blanc. "Fl. 15 in. long, the inside of 

 peculiar golden color, spotted purple; the back is 

 metallic brown. Fine palm-like foliage." The cut in 

 Blanc's catalogue shows a spathe produced into a long 

 foliaceous summit, and a long, slender, recurved spadix. 

 Probal)!}' of some other genus: perhaps Sauromatum. 



.4. AfzHii, Hort. (CorynophalluM Afzelii, Schott)=Hydrosme 

 lc;onensis. — .4. Eichteri, Hook. f. Spathe 2 in. across, purple and 

 white: spadix .5 or 6 in. high, thick, brown: If. single, much divided. 

 W. Afr. B.M. 7091.— .4. Ellidttii, Hocjk. Spiithn short and broad, 

 dull pink with pale green spots: lvs. tripinn.-itilid, IS in. broad. 

 B.M. 7.'I49. — A. Lacoiirii, Linden. (Pscmiloiiranontium T.acourii, 

 N.E.Br.). Petioles barred with yellow; blades much cut, green, 

 spotted white. Cochin China. l.H. 25:316. — .4. leoninsis, Lem. 

 .Spathe <j in. long, pear-shaped, the tube bell-shaped, white, dilated 

 into the dark purple limb which is striped and spotted with white; 

 lvs. about 1 ft. wide, tripinnatifid. B. M. 77*iS. — .4. Leitpoldiinus, 

 Nichols. (Hydrosme t.ecjpoldiana. Mast.). Spathe reddish, long 

 acuminate on one side, with undulate margins; spadix 2-,'J ft., terete. 



