Sauromatum x Pinellia hybrid

**&* A* <t*@plantdelights.com>**

Dear Aroiders:

Last summer I posted images of a plant that we found in our garden that
appeared to be a possible hybrid of sauromatum x pinellia.  We received many
comments, such as, wait until it flowers, and it is only juvenile.
Okay...here we are a year later and I've posted images of the flower this
spring, and the plant as it currently grows in comparison with both putative
parents, Sauromatum venosum and Pinellia pedatisecta.  

http://www.plantdelights.com/gallery/Aroids/Copy_of_Sauromatum_x_pinellia_in
_bud

Every time I get ready to declare it an aberrant form of sauromatum, I keep
changing my mind.  The flowers are the first reason.  The color pattern of
the spathe and spadix are classis sauromatum, but the inflorescence is
stunted and never fully opens like a sauromatum...exactly what I would
expect from a hybrid.  

When I compare the foliage, which in pinellia and sauromatum is strangely
similar, the biggest difference that I see is the width of the hybrid leaf,
the exaggerated length of the hybrid leaflets, the exaggerated nature of the
hybrid leaf rachis, and the color of the underside of the hybrid leaves.
The underside of the purported hybrid and the pinellia are more silvery
green, while the sauromatum parent is more glossy green.  

The hybrid continues to produce multiple stems from one
tuber/corm...currently at four.  I checked several hundred other sauromatum
seedlings and none show this trait.  We have grown close to 1000 mature
sauromatum from seed, at the characteristics in this plant are such that I
have not seen expressed to this magnitude before.  

As a rabid skeptic, I'm still not to the point of declaring it a hybrid for
sure, but I am leaning in that direction.  I welcome a good discussion.
Thanks.

Tony Avent
Plant Delights Nursery @
Juniper Level Botanic Garden
9241 Sauls Road
Raleigh, North Carolina  27603  USA
Minimum Winter Temps 0-5 F
Maximum Summer Temps 95-105F
USDA Hardiness Zone 7b
email tony@plantdelights.com
website  http://www.plantdelights.com
phone 919 772-4794
fax  919 772-4752
"I consider every plant hardy until I have killed it myself...at least three
times" - Avent

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