the debate continues....

[Hachadourian, Marc]

Hello all!

Well the ground is still quiet here in New Jersey, no news from my
arisaemas yet. I have been away at an orchid show all week and came home
to about one hundred pieces of mail.It took me a while to go through it.
I figured I would add my two cents on one subject and revive an older
one....

According to a taxonomist I spoke to Arisaemas have a stem tuber not a
corm. According to him is is not a corm since it lacks the leaf sheaths
from the previous years growth. Corms and tubers are both produced from
swelling of the stem tissues, leaf sheaths are one of the distinguishing
features. Now remember potatoes are not the only tubers, another example
is the common tuberous begonia.

A while back someone asked for information on long term pollen storage.
Pollen for many plants can be easily stored for over a year (orchids,
gladiolus) while some plants like grasses cannot be stored. It all
depends on how resistant pollen is to dessication. Although I could not
find any information on the long term viability of Arisaema pollen, I can
tell you how pollen can be stored for long periods and maybe it will
work.

1. harvest the pollen
2. place the pollen in gelatin capsules. gelatin capsules can sometimes
be obtained  from a pharmacy. gelatin capsules are used because they
allow the exchange of moisture.

3.shake the capsule to distribute the pollen evenly over the interior
surface.

4. place the capsule in a jar of dry silica gel for 24 hours to remove
any excess moisture.

5. after 24 hours the capsules can be removed and placed in a container
in an ordinary freezer. A thermos makes an ideal container because if
there is a temporary power outage the insulated container will keep the
pollen at the proper temperature. When placing the container in the
freezer keep it towards the back. If it is in the front of the freezer it
is subject to greater fluctuations in temperature from the opening of the
door.

i hope that answered some questions. I would love to hear about any
successes or failures in long term pollen storage. :)

Marc Hachadourian
mhach at ix.netcom.com