Rotting of tubers

[Bonaventure W Magrys]

Yes Jeanne, possibly there is symbiotic fungi in association with the roots (may
be why washed tubers rot faster - no protection).
I seem to recall reading somewhere, perhaps on Aroid-L, that Amorphophallus has
contractile roots which pull the tuber down as growth matures. At any rate the
dry upper autumn/winter detritus surface turns weteer and composts in the spring
thus allowing wetter conditions and supporting and feeding new growth.
Bonaventure

Jeanne Hannah <Jmh98law at AOL.COM> on 03/15/2000 05:34:10 PM
Please respond to "Arisaema Enthusiast Group (AEG) Discussion List (and other
hardy              Aroids)" <ARISAEMA-L at NIC.SURFNET.NL>



To:  ARISAEMA-L at NIC.SURFNET.NL
cc:  (bcc: Bonaventure W Magrys/ADM/SHU)

Subject:  Rotting of tubers [formerly "Updated Collection Update"]




In a message dated 3/15/2000 3:42:50 PM US Eastern Standard Time,
magrysbo at SHU.EDU writes:

<< Triphyllum is supposed to be one of the most resistant to rot but I have
found
it in very wet conditions almost on the surface, hardly buried at all with
the
upper face of the tuber covered by only a few fallen leaves. >>

Indeed, Triphyllum seems to thrive in many conditions. Here, it grows more
often in the forest loam near the edges of the woods, less often in the
middle of the woods, but also in the sandy soil at the edge of the drive.
Last fall, while seed collecting, I found three enormous plants growing in a
nearly horizontal position in very little soil -- only what the wind had
blown in. They were in a very damp wooden trough -- part of a very rotten
fallen tree. There was almost no soil at all around the tubers, and yet, of
the mature plants in our woods, these were among the largest, as were the
seeds.

Jeanne Hannah
Traverse City, MI 49686
USDA Zone 5b
IAS, AEG, NARGS, AOS