AEISiEMA 



THE BULB BOOK 



AEISiEMA 



ARIS^MA (aron, Arum ; sana, 

 type ; in reference to resembling the 

 Arums). Nat.Ord.Aroideae.— Agenus 

 containing about fifty species of tuber- 

 ous-rooted Arum-like herbaceous 

 plants, chieflynatives of temperate and 

 subtropical Asia, a few being natives 

 of N. America, and one in Abyssinia. 

 The leaves are usually cut into three 

 main lobes, but in some cases more. 

 The oblong or inflated spathe, often 

 beautifully striped and marked, is 

 rolled round the lower portion of the 

 spadix. The latter usually bears 

 either male or female flowers, and is 

 often produced a great length beyond 

 the spathe, and in some species 

 furnished with long hairs. 



Arisaemas are not difficult plants 

 to grow. They require greenhouse 

 treatment; that is to say, if the 

 temperature does not sink below 45° 

 to 50° at night during the winter 

 months, the plants wUl then require 

 only proper treatment as to soil, 

 water, and cleanliness. A mixture of 

 loam and a little peat or leaf-soil, 

 with good drainage, suits them 

 perfectly. During active growth 

 atten^tion must be given to watering, 

 increasing or decreasing the supply 

 according to circumstances. When 

 dormant in winter the tubers may be 

 left in the old soil till growth re- 

 commences in spring. Then they 

 should be repotted, and if necessary 

 to increase the stock, the offsets may 

 be detached and potted up separately. 

 The following species are worth 

 growing in large collections of plants. 

 Most of them flower between May, 

 June, and July : — 



A. concinnum. — ^A native of the 

 Sikkim Himalayas, about 2 ft. high, 

 with solitary leaves composed of ten to 

 twelve lance-shaped entire pale green 

 leaflets radiating from the top of the 

 stalk. Spathe of the female plant 

 longitudinally striped with green and 



87 



white, and white and purple in the 

 male. (Bot. Mag. t. 5914.) 



A. curvatum (A. hdleborifolium). — 

 A Himalayan plant 2 to 4 ft. high, with 

 pedately divided leaves, and large 

 basal bracts beautifully marbled with 

 dark olive green, light green, and red. 

 Spathe green, with a cylindrical tube 

 obscurely striped with white, the 

 elliptic blade arching forward being 

 green on the inner surface and 

 brownish -red on the outer. The 

 spadix is about 1 ft. long, produced 

 into a purplish tail. {Bot. Mag. t. 

 5931.) 



A. Dracontluiu {Arum Dracontium), 

 Dragon Root. — A hardy N. American 

 species about 2 ft. high, with leaves 

 pedately divided into nine to four- 

 teen oblong lance-shaped segments. 

 Spathes green, oblong, erect, with a 

 much longer awl-shaped spadix. 

 {Bot. Reg. t. 668.) 



A. flmbriatum. — A native of the 

 Philippine Islands, about 18 ins. high, 

 having two leaves each deeply divided 

 into three smooth oval-pointed seg- 

 ments, and having stalks of a pale 

 purple rose spotted with purple. The 

 spathe is tubular at the base, spreading 

 into a broad ovate-pointed limb, 

 beautifully striped and veined with 

 white on a brownish-purple ground 

 colour. The long slender cylindrical 

 spadix is furnished with numerous 

 purple hairs. {Bot. Mag. t. 7150; 

 Gard. Ghron. 1884, xxii. 680; 

 GarUnfl. 1886, t. 357.) Fig. 56. 



A. flavum. — A dwarf Arabian 

 species, having the leaves divided into 

 five to seven leaflets. The spathe is 

 yellow-hooded, and encloses a short 

 club-like spadix. {Gartenfl. 1891, 

 578, f . 103, as A. emneaphyllum ; Bot. 

 Mag. t. 7700.) 



A. saleatum. — A native of the 

 Sikkim Himalayas, about 1 ft. high, 

 with solitary trilobed leaves,green and 

 purple-tinted spathes longitudinally 



