03/05/2024
This tropical-looking aroid is a relative of arisaemas. In spring, the peculiar inflorescence (flower head) is the first sign of life...it's just life from another planet. Each sauromatum flower stalk is 300mm to 600mm tall and only 30mm wide. As it unfurls, the inside of the spathe is patterned with a rich violet and yellow...the ultimate in weird! A month later, a giant hand-shaped leaf, to 350mm across, emerges from the bulb on a very mottled, green and black stem. After flowering, a unique seed head (resembling a 50mm round alien space object) forms at the base of the leaf. Eventually, sauromatum corms multiply and make a nice colony...of weird plants.
