Robin Bell's Hybrids

[Roy Herold]

Hi Robin,

I, too, have been playing around with Don Jacob's sikokianum x
takedae over the years, growing both open pollinated and
intentionally crossed seedlings. At the time I got the parent plant,
I was feeling cheap and ordered the all-green version for $10 instead
of the variegated type for $18 (or something like that).

The original plant (which is just finishing up blooming now) has the
big knobby spadix of sikokanum, but has lost the stark white
coloring. Instead, the spadix is kind of a beigy color with purplish
speckles.Nevertheless, it's still quite handsome, especially when
backed up by the striped spathe.

I don't know when I first got seed to set on it, but it was probably
in the same time frame as yours. I only had one, so the pollen must
have come from something else-- perhaps straight takedae (also from
DJ), or sikokianum, or whatever else was around. One thing to note
was that I was paranoid to grow them directly in the garden for a
while, and they spent their first few years in pots. As such,they
probably bloomed a bit early.

Somewhere along the line I started to make real crosses. In an
attempt to get some variegation back into the leaves, I used A.
angustatum peninsulae variegata for a couple of years running (plus
it was the only other thing in bloom at the time). These, in addition
to the OP seedlings, are blooming for the first time this year (after
a long period of neglect). As you have noted, there is a lot of
variation. Mine are fairly consistent in height, but the leaves and
inflorescences are all over the place. Interestingly enough, both the
OP seedlings and the ones with angustatum variegated have a fair
number with variegated leaves. None of the flowers approach the
original sikokianum, but the knobby spadix is very prominent in most
(must be a dominant characteristic, unlike the white coloration).

Anyway, they are just about bloomed out now. All were males this
year, so there won't be any fourth(?) generation seedlings for a
while. Now we need help from fellow AEG'ers who received some of my
seed a few years ago from (sikok x takedae) x angustatum peninsulae
variegata. Anyone else have them in bloom?

Speaking of height, I don't think you should lend too much importance
to this characteristic. Height in arisaemas is strongly dependent on
age and maturity of the plant. I've had sikokianums (and triphyllums
for that matter) bloom when the entire plant was under 6" tall, but
they got much taller as the years went by.

Let me know if you'd like to swap any of your crosses. (Speaking of
which, my amurense x sikokianum with variegated leaves is still
hanging in there.)

--Roy