The MGS Forum
Plants for mediterranean gardens => Bulbs (including other geophytes with corms, tubers, rhizomes etc) => Topic started by: John on July 10, 2011, 11:37:27 PM
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I like Aroids and Arum are particularly interesting especially when they have attractive leaves. Arum pictum is just about possible in some places in the UK though perhaps borderline for hardiness. I have grown it under glass for many years and have selected some seedlings, this one is perhaps comparable to A. p 'Primrose Warburg'.
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Arum pictum is of course a Mediterranean plant, native to several of the islands, so grows well in mediterranean climates. Much more widely spread around the Mediterranean, the common Arum italicum often has really attractive marbling too.
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Hans A. has the most stunning reticulated form in the world. What an extrordinary plant.
Have no idea how common this great form is in the wild.
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The Arum in the photo appeared in my 'field' every year and I was unable to identify it until the Red Data Book of Cyprus was published in 2007. Lo and behold, there was a photo of what looked exceedingly like my plant. However, the only 2 locations in which it had been recorded at that time were in the north and north-west of the island whereas I lived way down in the south. Also they were situated between 250-600m and I'm at 30-40m. I consulted Georgios Hadjikyriakos, an expert on Cyprus flora, and he confirmed from his photographic records and herbarium specimens that my plant was indeed the rare Arum sintenisii. A sintenisii is sweet-scented and generally grows in olive groves and moist places. Mine is in the shade of a mandarin tree and benefits from the irrigation supplied to the tree. How this single individual arrived in this area is a complete mystery.
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What an amazing piece of luck to have such a splendid rarity growing under your nose, John! Fascinating.
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My Arum sintenisii is back and flowering. This Arum appeared in one spot in our field every year and I was unable to identify it. Unlike many arums it has a sweet scent. Then the Red Data Book of the Flora of Cyprus was published and to my amazement there was what appeared to be my Arum. It fit in every respect apart from location. Arum sintenisii is a rare Cyprus endemic that had only been identified in 2 places, both in the north-west of the island (I live in the deep south), and at altitudes between 250-600 metres (I'm at around 30/40 metres). I called in the expert, Georgios Hadjikyriakou, and he confirmed it as Arum sintenisii from his vast collection of photos and his personal herbarium specimens. It seems the plant likes moist conditions and its current position is in shade between a mature lemon and a smaller mandarin where it can benefit from the irrigation to both. It dies back every year and it is always a 'fingers crossed' time before it reappears each spring. It's a complete mystery as to how it got here. It has never produced a fruiting body and I have yet to pluck up the courage to attempt to divide it.
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I apologise if I'm getting boring about this plant but I'm always 'chuffed' when it appears every year. Especially this year as I finally plucked up enough courage last year to attempt to divide it, and it worked!! We now have 3 new clumps as well as the original.
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Think I'd be pretty chuffed as well, 'well done'
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John,
Congratulations, it is a rare beauty!
Hope they will produce seeds too ;)
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In THE PLANTSMAN a while back there was an extensive survey of the numerous named forms of Arum italicum available in the UK and Europe. While some were certainly quite 'spekky' (spectacular) I recall the concluding comments were that many were not very stable variations needing roguing to maintain their 'purity'. tn
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Wonderful to see a plant that is both so rare and so beautiful growing really well, John!
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John your A. sintenisii is spectacular. Perhaps there are a few more tiny popualtions which have been over looked. Does it set seed, because if it does you should be able to bulk up the numbers quite quickly.
I have grown many from seed over the years and it is also a good way to select more interesting forms, or at least in those with marked foliage. Here's some babies off my A. pictum where I am trying to select out more striking leaf forms. I may have posted these elsewhere under a different topic?
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I think that you are right, John, the Forestry Dept have been investigating possible new sites over the last few years, some with positive results, I believe. So far I haven't found a fruiting body but I did eventually pluck up enough courage to attempt a division. I'm relieved to say that it was successful and I now have 5/6 new plants. I was planning to take one to Athens this year for Sally to try at Sparoza, also I've offered to take one for our bulb specialist, Oron, if he's going to be there. That's all so it's no good anyone else asking for one, begging and bribery won't work either!
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Getting some clonal material into safe hands is a great start and to others who will eventually distribute it further. You will soon have your own colony anyway!
I have 2 clones of Arum creticum, Turkish amd Simi plants flowering now and have been out for ages due to our cold spell. Also A. purpureospathum has been out for ages. All in a frost free greenhouse. No sign of them flowering outside yet!
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Does anyone grow Arum idaeum which looks rather attractive in Wilson's FIELD GUIDE TO THE BULBS OF GREECE? tn
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A question about Arum idaeum was posted under Dracunculus so I am conitinuing it here.
Yes I have grown A. idaeum on and off over the years. Unlike A. creticum it has never been happy in the garden and dwindled to nothing each time I have tried it. I currently have only seedlings in a pot.
In my experience it has a better scent than A. creticum though the strength varies. The best scented plants were small spathed ones from the Omalos in western Crete. It is a sweet smell without any additional unpleasant tones which I find you get with A. creticum. They are obviously very closely related but I never saw any hybrids in the wild.
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John J was kind enough to bring two bulbs of Arum sintenisii with him to the AGM in Greece last November. One is now at Sparoza and the other in my garden - still in a pot but flowering happily.
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Excellent, Fleur, that's a relief, I did get the right one! When I dug them up they were dormant, no foliage, etc, so I was worried I might have misremembered exactly where I had planted them and taken the wrong ones! One of my clumps has just produced 3 spathes. Have you tried smelling them? Unlike most arums they tend to have a slightly sweetish scent.
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Lovely Arum sintenisii!
A good one for the garden is also Arum creticum - here Arum creticum 'Norman' with Canarina canariensis in the background.
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My prized arum has produced its first flowers of this season.
Oron, you missed out on getting one of the plants that I took to Greece a couple of years ago (Fleur got it instead) but I have been successful in producing more from division, they don't seem to produce fruiting bodies for some reason. If you are still interested maybe we can find some way of getting one to you?
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Weirdly beautiful - an eye catcher.
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The first flower of this year, a little earlier than usual. Our Arum sintenisii is still attracting attention as we had 2 local amateur botanists to see and photograph it yesterday. Useful contacts though as in return they offered to show us the location of another rare Cyprus endemic later in the year when it's in flower. Just another example of how a passion for plants can bring people together.
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Pleased to say that the divisions I have taken from my original plant are establishing well and beginning to flower. The photos show just two of them that are in flower now.
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Off-topic, but:
John, I've a few plants of Iris sintenisii, presumably like your fine Arum also named after Paul Sintenis a 19th-century German botanist and plant collector. They have been growing happily in our hot Greek garden for many years but I don't think they've ever flowered.
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Alisdair, I believe you are correct in your presumption that both plants are named after Paul Sintenis. I knew nothing about this iris so looked it up. From what I can gather they are native to temperate areas and grow at altitudes between 900 - 1500m. They prefer soil that doesn't dry out in summer as their roots are shallow and they don't like intense summer heat. They also appear to need lots of water in order to bloom.
As I say this is all taken from the Internet as I have no experience of these plants.
Maybe your location is too hot for them and that's why they don't flower.
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It's that time of year again, the Arum sintenisii are making their annual appearance.
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A few weeks ago a Cypriot botanist/photographer came to my garden to photograph the Arum sintenisii in flower. Today he returned to ask if he could take apart a flower in order to photograph its reproductive parts. It seems that when he was preparing to put the plant onto his website he couldn't find any evidence that pictures of them had ever been posted on the Internet. When he left I took a couple of photos myself.
For anyone interested his website is www.savvastryfonosplants.com.
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Interesting picture John - you should be proud to be furthering the available knowledge about this plant.
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Fascinating!
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The first flower on our arum appeared yesterday, seems to get earlier every year.
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Not an endemic, being common around the eastern Med, but also growing wild in our garden is Arum hygrophilum. Unlike our A. sintenisii they do produce fruiting bodies. Not a good photo but I think it's enough to see them forming.
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- an interestingly surreal image, of a strange woody swimming creature with a mouthful of peas
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is that what it is?