bockii, sazensoo and what they are.....

[guy gusman]

I also received tubers from China sent as A. sikokianum. They were planted
outdoors and are still dormant. In this way, I didn't see them in flower
yet. But, according to the pictures on the WEB, no doubt, it is Arisaema
engleri Pampanini (in Nuovo Giorn. Bot. Ital. 17: 236 (1910)).
Wilbert, what happens! Please, I wrote that the Japanese A. sazensoo and A.
sikokianum DO NOT occur in Continental China (AGS, 1997). I also published
a detailed study on this group of plants: A. sikokianum, A. kuratae
(endemic to Honshu), A. sazensoo and A. engleri for the Botanical Garden of
Meise, Belgium (1997).
Arisaema bockii is something else and I also explained in the NARGS (1997)
that this species - whose spathe is unknown in the diagnosis - is most
probably identical/close to A. yunnanense. In any event, this name must be
discarded.
Plants depicted in Chen Yi's photos are forms of A. engleri: purple spathe,
long limb, white spadix appendage, a conspicuous pseudostem, and
petiolulate leaflets. A wonderful plant endemic in Central China often
called: A. amurense var. sazensoo, A. sikokianum var. serratum, A. sazensoo
var. magnidens, A. sazensoo var. henryanum... and even sometimes, just A.
sikokianum.

Gusman G. (1997). Japanese Arisaemas. Quart. Bull. Alp. Gard. Soc. 65(1):
105-108 & 65(2): 195-200.
Gusman G. (1997). Arisaema bockii: An Attenuata Mystery. Rock Gard. Quart.
55(2): 101-104.
Gusman G. (1997). Note on the taxonomic position of the Arisaema (Araceae)
species related to A. sikokianum Franch. & Sav. Bull. Jard. Bot. Nat. Belg.
66: 159-162.
Last year, in Beijing, I bought the "Iconographia Cormophytorum Sinicorum
(1976) vol.5" and discovered with pleasure that the author use Pampanini's
name of A. engleri. Note that Pampanini is the only author who made a full
description of this species.
Best regards,
Guy


>I also received an "Ar. sikoikianum" from Chen Yi (not through Tony) which
>is now in bloom.  Unfortunately the infloresence is deformed but the
>spathe is purple striped with greenish-white and the appendix is
>greenish-white and not swollen but rather flattened.  The leaf is
>decidedly serrate and the leaf margin is red.  Does this agree with your
>Ar. bockii, Wilbert?
>
>Clarence
>----------
>From:   Wilbert Hetterscheid[SMTP:hetter at WORLDONLINE.NL]
>Sent:   Tuesday, March 09, 1999 3:46 PM
>To:     ARISAEMA-L at NIC.SURFNET.NL
>Subject:        bockii, sazensoo and what they are.....
>
><<File: ATT00000.html>>
>Dear peoples,
>
>I have received a few Arisaemas from Tony Avent a while ago, apparently
>all from China. One has a spathe quite similar to that of Ar. sikokianum,
>although hooded and partly pendulous. Of course it isn't Ar. sikokianum
>(no swollen appendix top). It was given as sikokianum though. Using the
>provisional key of the Flora of China by Li Heng (unpublished) I arrive at
>Ar. bockii. This species may indeed be purple, although also green (as it
>happens, I do have a green one flowering right now too, which was given to
>me as Ar. du-bois-reymondii........). Murata's provisional list of Chinese
>species (unpublished too), lists Ar. bockii and has in its synonymy "A.
>sazensoo auct. in China", meaning "what authors have called Ar. sazensoo
>in China". This again underlines the possibility of purple spathes in
>bockii, as sazensoo is purple.
>
>Both Murata and Li Heng do not list Ar. sazensoo for the flora of China.
>Contrary to this, Guy Gusman in his "Japanese Arisaemas" (Bull. Alp. Gard.
>Soc. 65 - 1997) claims that Ar. sazensoo does occur in China ("continental
>Eastern China"). Following Murata, may we assume that Guy actually means
>purple forms of Ar. bockii (as in my plant) and mistook them for Ar.
>sazensoo? Guy, what's your latest opinion, hearing this? Or did you
>already know this?
>
>Sazensically yours
>Wilbock