Precocious arisaemas

[Ellen Hornig]

I'm quite amazed to find two of my Arisaema erubescens/consanguineum ("the
weed of Yunnan") blooming now, about 20 months from sowing.  These were
the Seed Guild seeds from Kunming BG received at the end of 1995.  They're
on their third growth cycle (squeezed in 2 last year), and one is in full
bloom and another in bud.  The spathe is dusky purplish on the outside,
green inside, with faint white stripes inside the spathe tube (? i.e. not
inside the open part of the spathe) and a spathe appendix.  If anyone
cares, I'll retrieve the plant in daylight and provide more of a
description tomorrow.

I reviewed the earlier exchanges on erubescens vs. consanguineum and
remain sadly unenlightened.  If anyone cares to give a short course on the
subject ("Arisaema IDs for Dummies") I will be a willing pupil.

These are the same tubers that produced numerous tiny offsets during their
second growth cycle (and those offsets are all fully leafed out now).
Could this be the next Pinellia ternata?

Ellen Hornig