Arisaema franchetianum Engl. Arisaema franchetianum is hopelessly confused in cultivation, as many plants that have been distributed under this name are really Arisaema fargesii.. This is a very different species in flower, but they are almost impossible to tell apart by the leaves. (Arisaema candidissimum is very similar in leaf, too.) The plants pictured below were collected in Tiger Leaping Gorge Village in Yunnan, China, in October, 1996. They were growing on a steep, dusty embankment directly above the main road that goes from Lijiang to Zhongdian. Most were in the shade, under shrubs, growing in fairly rich soil. Tubers were near the surface. There are plants in distribution under the name A. f. purpureogaleatum, but these are distinctive from that strain. Click on the picture to see a larger image.
Arisaema franchetianum growing in cultivation in Massachusetts. (Photo: John Perkins)		The same plant, a year later, growing in the ground.
A different plant, with less green on the top of the spathe.		Seedhead (infuctescence) in October.