A. sazensoo

[guy gusman]

Dear Arisaemaphiles,
Sorry, yesterday I answered Wilbert to quickly. I'd like to add some
information and correct what I said.
In the AGS paper on Japanese arisaemas, I wrote about the Japanese A.
sikokianum and A. sazensoo:
i. we encountered A. sikokianum on Shikoku and this species is not found on
Kyushu;
ii. A. sazensoo inhabits Kyushu and the last specimens we found were seen
on Yakushima Island.

At the time of the paper in AGS, I wrote - being confident in the existing
literature - that A. sazensoo was also found in Continental China as var.
magnidens=8A and noted that a nice colour photo was shown in Lancaster's boo=k
Travel in China.
Later, I had the occasion to cross the Sea of Japan and visit Korea and E.
China, where both species are absent. I also visited Taiwan and Hong-Kong,
and they're also, no trace of these species.
After these travels, I read all original descriptions and papers on the
subject and progressively discovered that A. sazensoo was, since a long
time, in a confused state. A detailed study was published in 1997 (Bull.
Jard. Bot. Nat. Belg. 66: 159-162) and Paul Christian put it on the WEB.
Accordingly, the Chinese plant was recognised a different species and it
was suggested that it was safer to use Pampanini's name A. engleri in place
of A. sazensoo var. magnidens or A. sazensoo var. henryanum, A. sikokianum
var. serratum=8A for the Chinese species to put an end to the existing mess.
=46irst A. engleri differs from A. sazensoo by many characters and
furthermore there is an enormous geographical gap that separates both
species. The interesting photos (of A. sikokianum var. serratum, A.
sikokianum,) put on the WEB by Chen Yi, show plants that perfectly match A.
engleri.
I hope this will clarify the situation.

Tony,
Arisaema dilatatum is only coming up in my garden. I have a xerox of the
herbarium plate (University of Tokyo) and, for me, this plant is quite
close to A. elephas, differing by a green spathe with purple markings - but
a green/purple variation of the spathe is common in arisaemas, isn't it,
Wilbert? -  and a shining green spadix appendage below, purple above (I
don't see the apical part in Chen Yi's photo). Quite different from A.
utile.
It will certainly be a wonderful addition to the garden. There is a good
description in Noltie's Flora of Bhutan.
Best regards,
Guy