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Re: Sauromatum venosum

On Wed, 8 Oct 1997, David Constantine wrote:

> I wonder if members saw the article on Sauromatum venosum by Henry Noltie
> (RBG Edinburgh) in the June 1997 issue of The New Plantsman (volume 4 part
> 2).  In common with many authors (e.g. Polunin and Stainton, 1965; Bown,
> 1988; The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening, 1992; Mabberley, 1997) Noltie
> states plainly that " each corm bears a single leaf ".  In contrast, Mayo
> et al. (1997) comment that leaves of Sauromatum are " usually solitary,
> rarely up to 3 ".

Mayo is right.  Mature Sauromatum can easily have two or three leaves (see
http://ng.netgate.net/~kk/Araceae/Sauromatum/venosum.html). 

Last year, I wondered about the number of leaves in Sauromatum myself, and
several people on this list confirmed that multiple leaves are common. 

> I have been growing the plant for many years and have found it to be
> sufficiently hardy outdoors in Somerset that I no longer bother to lift
> corms in autumn.

Sauromatum is much hardier than some bulb suppliers would make you believe
(I've seen it rated in an otherwise very reliable catalog as US zone 9
(low temp 20F == -7C).  In fact, it has survived in the US zone 6 (low
temp -10F == -23C). 

> I would like to get hold of the other Sauromatum species, S. brevipes. 
> Does anyone know a source?

Yeah, I'd like one, too :-)

====================
Krzysztof Kozminski
kk@netgate.net
http://www.netgate.net/~kk/
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