Re: Synandrospadix vermitoxicus

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Somebody asked for a picture of synandrospadix vermitoxicus. This is the form I have been growing for about 10 years . This little beauty was given me by Julius Boos after the Aroid show years ago. I had never heard of thi I understand there are varieties with darker spathe coloration. Once it reaches this size as shown in the picture it flowers and fruits well and the seeds are easy to grow.. It sprouts from the corm/rhizome in march april and grows leaves and flowers quickly from the rhizome. Then it fruits With orange berries on the spadix wrapped inside the old spathe. Mine always go dormant by the time the Aroid show rolls around in mid- September. You can let it rest in the pot & soil without watering or unpot it and put it on the shelf in some peat moss to overwinter and sprout in springtime.

I assume it is a carrion flower, but I have never smelled the inflorescence stinking as being rotted flesh because I Âam not here in the nursery in the evening or at night. Be careful when handling plants stems, petioles and leaves as its sap is as caustic if not more so than Dieffenbachia juice. The name âVermitoxicusâ would roughly translate from latin as âWorm Poisonâ I do not know if this is an indication by the naming Botanist that the indigenous peoples used this plant as a wormicide for intestinal parasites or some other medicinal purpose. Whatever the reason it is a nice and very interesting aroid for the average plant nut to grow.

If you want to grow the seed you need to squeeze out the seeds from the ripe berries and remove the pulp stuff and also a thin red outer seed coating with a paper towel and rubber gloves. Using a pre-moistened peat and perlite soil mix in pots or trays push the seeds down into the mix about  inch but do not cover with soil. Cover with a plastic bag or plastic wrap to keep humidity. They will germinate easily but somewhat sporadically as a group of seed. Then you will probably have more seedlings than you will know what to do with. The first year they will grow a small plant before going dormant in the Fall.

If there are any Botanists out there, please correct any errors that I may have inadvertently made. Steve would always have something to say about whatever I wrote. So, go ahead and ask them any if you got any questions.

If anyone wants one I am sure you can contact Enid Offholter at natural selection Exotics and she can send you one from her internet retail website. Unfortunately the little worm killers are all dormant for the Winter.ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ

Denis

Silver Krome Gardens, Inc

Homestead Florida

Derek,

I was the one who had originally inquired about growing Synandrospadix Vermitoxicus, but have zero knowledge when it comes to the species; other than I obtained a corm late in the year.  I too would appreciate additional information in the form of an artcle, but unfortunately I am no help.  Sorry....

Lee Zagrakalis

----- Original Message -----
From: Derek Burch <derek@horticulturist.com>
To: 'Discussion of aroids' <aroid-l@www.gizmoworks.com>
Sent: Thu, 20 Jan 2011 22:16:15 -0000 (UTC)
Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] Synandrospadix vermitoxicus