[Aroid-l] aroids for teaching

From: "derek burch" <dburch23 at bellsouth.net> on 2009.01.10 at 22:53:33(18887) Carol, I wonder if you may be making this too difficult for yourself. There are some very common things - cultivars for the most part but a few species are available -which fit your size requirement and free-blooming need, and are easy to grow (that is why they have become common). There is no point going for "rare". The students will not learn anything more from a plant scarcely known to science than they will from my suggestions: the new more dwarf anthuriums sold as flowering pot plants, and Spathiphyllum. The anthuriums in particular are almost ever-blooming, and are so floriferous that several classes can tear each up an inflorescence without you grieving over the end of a flowering cycle. If you want to make an interesting comparison, grow some Spathicarpa, and there is a sure-fire way to get them speculating about what bits are comparable and what are not. I'm sure that you will get some other great ideas from real aroiders, but I taught taxonomy for so long that I tend to shy away from fancy and go for what is sure to work. Regards, Derek +More -----Original Message----- From: aroid-l-bounces@gizmoworks.com [mailto:aroid-l-bounces@gizmoworks.com] On Behalf Of Carol McCarthy Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2009 2:51 PM To: Discussion of aroids Subject: [Aroid-l] aroid recommendations Hello Good People, I work at a university greenhouse that supports, among other things, the teaching of a plant taxonomy class. Can you please recommend some species in the Araceae family that I could grow for the class? Requirements: 1) Tropical or subtropical, a year round greenhouse grower. 2) Can be kept to about a 6 inch pot size or smaller and be a blooming size plant. 3) Ideally the plant would bloom fairly often or could be convinced to bloom around the second half of September in a greenhouse in the USA, West Virginia. 4) flower structure, fairly typical spathe and spadix. I have lurked on this list a while so I am somewhat familiar with the family. I can supply dry and or cool resting periods or extra heat and or light to encourage the plant at the needed time of the year. I would prefer a true species but an example is much better than no example. Between this greenhouse and another on campus we have several examples of species in the family but they are mostly philodendrons and Dieffenbachia that either don't bloom very often or only bloom when they are larger plants than we are usually able to accommodate. If you suggest something out of the ordinary, which I personally would prefer, please include some hints on where to obtain plants. Feel free to reply publicly or privately. Thanks for any help on this. Carol McCarthy carol.mccarthy@mail.wvu.edu West Virginia University - Dept. of Biology Greenhouse Manager _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l

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