Arisaema 2011

[PeterT]

How ghostly is that wattii!   

johnw

I like It, What are it's nearest relatives and it's  requirements?

[Pascal B]

How ghostly is that wattii!   

johnw

I like It, What are it's nearest relatives and it's  requirements?

It closest relative is Arisaema nepenthoides but morphologically also has some characteristics shared with Arisaema lobatum.

[PeterT]

Thanks Pascal

[Pascal B]

I think trying to get hold of it is more of a challenge than growing it. Every time I order it I end up with something else....

[Robin Callens]

Arisaema wattii probably requires similar growing conditions as the more common Arisaemas we grow such as A. nepenthoides, griffithii-utile-propinquum, intermedium and so on. I grow these species in the most cool, damp spots of my garden in a very fertile, humusrich soil in part shade to even full shade.

[Pascal B]

Some species in flower at the moment:

A. sikokianum
A. kishidae
A. griffithii aff. group in the garden
A. (serratum) mayebarae, probably the darkest flower in the genus
A. thunbergii ssp. urashima pale form

Of A. thunbergii ssp. urashima there are actually about 8 different "green forms" of which I grow 3, this one has a white spathe tube. Of the coloured forms there are many variations, from red-brown to dark purple. The green forms usually are earlier than the coloured forms, I hope to post some of colored variations later.

[ArnoldT]

Arisaema ehimense

[Pascal B]

Arisaema engleri and one of the dark forms of A. thunbergii ssp. urashima

[Robin Callens]

A few Arisaema species from my favourite section, section Arisaema, now flowering in the garden.

Arisaema griffithii
Arisaema griffithii
Arisaema wilsonii
Arisaema asperatum
Arisaema propinquum 1
Arisaema propinquum 2

[Pascal B]

A. galeatum
A. maximowiczii purple form
A. taiwanense (silver leaved forms generally have pale spathe tubes)
A. lobatum var.
A. ringens purple
A. ghaticum (one of the smallest flowering species in the genus)

[Pascal B]

Robin, do check the shape of the appendix tip of your asperatum, if the appendix is tapering and pointed it is not asperatum. Asperatum has a rounded ("obtuse") appendix tip as clearly stated in the original description. Here is a picture of the holotype (Henry3776). Although the appendix tip seems missing, the imprint is visible which shows the correct shape of the appendix tip. A picture of asperatum can be found in the Gusman book as rhombiforme. Most likely your plant falls within the wilsonii group.

[Robin Callens]

Pascal,

My plants labeled as Arisaema asperatum have indeed a pointed spadix appendage, so according to your description they can't be asperatum. Thanks for noticing. Although I haven't yet seen species as Arisaema wilsonii, asperatum and dilatatum in the wild, I did read in Gusman's book that some consider A. wilsonii, dilatatum and asperatum as one variable species. Have you ever seen these species growing together in the wild?

[Pascal B]

Robin,

I think that assumption is correct and the situation can be compared with the griffithii-group where the species (as we know them under their names) are nodes in the variation with a specific set of character combinations instead of stable individual characters. The characters are very variable throughout that group and have lead to numerous intermediates that show the "look" of the "species"  to some extent. You are correct that if 2 species grow side by side in mixed populations it would be an argument to see them as separate but all fieldreports I have seen and all pictures I have seen from wild populations suggest a highly polymorphic complex and the species as part of a variational cline influenced by bio-geographic factors.
I would even go as far as to say that the griffithii-group and the wilsonii-group are connected through Arisaema elephas, more particularly in N Sikkim and the neigbouring areas of Tibet.
See below the purple variant of the plant you have as A. asperatum (sorry for the poor picture, it's a scan of a slide). The name asperatum actually refers to the rough suface of the flowering and leaf stalks but that is a variable character in itself so was a badly chosen name from the beginning. Just like Arisaema "verrucosum" was.

[Knud]

Two Arisaema triphyllum illustrating what I gather is normal colour variation of the species. Grown from seed picked near Kingston, Ontario in Canada.

Knud

[yijiawang]

Arisaema dahaiense