The New Amorph from Mahajanga

From: "Wilbert Hetterscheid" hetter at xs4all.nl> on 2005.01.03 at 05:27:41(12534) Guys and people, I am happy to see on aroid-l that so many of you have plants of this species, which I think is new to science. I am preparing a manuscript on it helped tremendously by Ron Kaufman, Mike Mahan and Rick Peters in providing fine pictures and data on the flowering and leafing plants. Unfortunately I myself am devoid of this species but the original collector on Madagascar will send me a few soon. It's unbearable.............. One observation is missing: please, when any of you digs up the tuber when it goes dormant after the leaf has died down, observe what kind of offsets the species makes. Either small globose or spindle-shaped tuberettes or maybe rhizomatous offsets. Digipics of the tuber + offsets are also welcome. Thanks in advance. As to the planting depth thing: species from highly seasonal areas, like Madagascar, are usually quite deep in the soil and well-anchored either in stone debris, rocks or in clayish soil. The contractile main roots of the tuber also help in establishing the tuber well. Species from everwet areas are more often quite shallowly rooted in the upper leaf litter and need a totally different soil. Peter Boyce has reported on this a while back. So the Mahajanga species needs to be in firm soil and deep planted, but be careful not to plant it close to the bottom of the pot, where often waterlogging may occur. This may not stop the stalk from bending over when the flowering part is quite heavy though but it may stop the tuber from uprooting when this happens. Cheerio, Wilbert +More _______________________________________________ Aroid-l mailing list Aroid-l@gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

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