A. triphyllum variants in the woods

[George R Stilwell, Jr.]

Mike, Here is Huttleston's key to A. triphyllum.  It looks much better in
WordPerfect form.

Arisaema triphyllum Key
Dr. D. C. Huttleston

1. Leaves usually glaucous beneath when mature; lateral leaflets strongly
to moderately oblique or lobed; growing in moist, not wet, ground; flange
at top of spathe tube only slightly reflexed, not rolled under.

2. Spathe blade broadly lanceolate to broadly ovate with acute to
acuminate tip, usually marked with purple; spadix-appendix more than 3 mm
(7/64") in diameter, straight, usually clavate.

A. triphyllum ssp. triphyllum

2. Spathe blade oval with apiculate tip, unmarked green;
spadix-appendix 2 mm (5/64")or less in diameter, cylindric, bent.

A. triphyllum ssp. quinatum

1. Leaves never glaucous beneath; lateral leaflets slightly to moderately
oblique, very rarely lobed; growing in swampy ground; flange at top of
the spathe tube strongly reflexed and inrolled.

3. Spathe tube not strongly fluted; inside of spathe wholly
purple or wholly green, rarely striped.

A. triphyllum ssp. pusillum

3. Spathe tube strongly fluted; inside of spathe blade green with
purple stripes mostly toward the base, rarely wholly green, never wholly
purple.

A. triphyllum ssp. stewardsonii


acuminate    narrow pointed
acute                pointed
apiculate    abruptly terminated by a small point
clavate              club shaped
glaucous     covered with a waxy bloom, a grayish powdery coating,
like a cabbage leaf
lanceolate   lance shaped
ovate                broad with rounded tip

Note the description of A. triphyllum ssp. pusillum. You might benefit by
reading:

Huttleston, Donald C. 1984. The North American Species of Arisaema .....,
Aroideana 7(1):, 15-17

Huttleston, D.C. 1949. The three subspecies of Arisaema triphyllum.
Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 76:407-413.

Lovett Doust, L., Lovett Doust, J.N., and Turi, K. 1986. Fecundity and
size relationships in jack- in-the-pulpit, Arisaema triphyllum (Araceae).
Amer. J. Bot. 73: 489-494.

Lovett, D. J. & Cavers, P. B. 1982. Resource Allocation and Gender in the
Green Dragon, Arisaema dracontium (Araceae), Am. Midland Nat., 108:144-8.

Thompson, Sue 1996. Unpublished treatment of Arisaema in North America,
Carnegie Museum of Natural History

Treiber, M. 1980, Biosystematics of the Arisaema triphyllum  complex,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (copies are available from
University Microfilms at $30.00 each.)

It is true that currently A. triphyllum is the proper name for A.
atrorubens,
A. triphyllum ssp. stewardsonii is the proper name for A. stewardsonii,
and
A. triphyllum ssp. pusillum is a proper sub-species name.

It is also true that the species is quite varied, and some would say it
needs revision.

I grow a variety that has the under side of the spathe limb very dark
purple with the body of the spathe green with white stripes. The juncture
from green to purple is remarkably abrupt in a straight line exactly at
the lower end of the limb. I call it 'NLC' after New Life Camp' where it
grows in the septic field servicing the camp kitchen. A. triphyllum ssp.
pusillum and other varieties also grow nearby.

You might want to discuss this subject with Sue Thompson
<thompsons at clpgh.org>. See if you can get her to put her unpublished
paper on Arisaema-L and to send us a copy of Treiber's paper so I can put
it in machine form,  and with
Roy Herold <rrh at genesis.nred.ma.us>. Roy grows the biggest collection of
A. triphyllum variations
I know of.

Ray
<GRSJr at Juno.com>