ANTHURIUM

Anthurium (Schott, 1829), is a large genus of about 600–800 (possibly 1,000) species of flowering plants, belonging to the arum family (Araceae). Anthurium can also be called "flamingo flower" or "boy flower", both referring to the structure of the spathe and spadix.

Anthurium was discovered in 1876 in Colombia. TROPICOS lists 1901 types, although some of these are duplicates. It is one of the largest and probably the most complex genera of this family; certainly it is one of the most variable. Many species are undoubtedly not yet described and new ones are being found every year.

The genus has neotropical distribution; mostly in wet tropical mountain forest of Central and South America, but some in semi-arid environments. Most species occur in Panama, Colombia, Brazil, the Guiana Shield and Ecuador. According to the work of noted aroid botanist Dr. Tom Croat of the Missouri Botanical Garden, no members of this genus are indigenous to Asia. Deliberately or accidentally, however, some species have been introduced into Asian rain forests, and have become established there as aliens.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

CALLA LILY

Zantedeschia is a genus of 8 species of herbaceous, perennial, flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to southern Africa from South Africa north to Malawi. The genus has been introduced on all continents except Antarctica. Common names include arum lily for Z. aethiopica and calla and calla lily for Z. elliottiana and Z. rehmannii, although members of the genus are neither true lilies of Liliaceae, true Arums, or true Callas (related genera in Araceae). They are also often confused with Anthurium. The colourful flowers and leaves of both species and cultivars are greatly valued and commonly grown as ornamental plants.

Zantedeschia elliottiana, golden arum or calla lily, is a herbaceous ornamental plant growing from a bulb. It is said to occur in the province of Mpumalanga in South Africa, although other sources say that it is not found in the wild but appears to be a hybrid of garden origin.

Z elliottiana is a herbaceous plant up to 60 cm, with large deep green leaves spotted with white. It is summer-flowering plant with a yellow spathe marked with purple at the base The spathe surrounds a yellow spadix which occasionally produces a spike of bright yellow berries that are attractive to birds.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

TITAN ARUM

Amorphophallus titanum (titan arum) has a massive inflorescence (flowering structure) consisting of a spathe (collar-like structure) wrapped around a spadix (flower-bearing spike). The spathe is the shape of an upturned bell. It is green speckled with cream on the outside, and rich crimson on the inside. It has ribbed sides and a frilled edge, and can be up to three metres in circumference. The flowers are carried on the lower end of the greyish-yellow spadix. At the base of the spadix, within the protective chamber formed by the spathe, is a band of cream male flowers above a ring of the larger pink female flowers.

When the flowers are ready for pollination, the spadix heats up and emits a nauseating smell. This stench is so bad that the Indonesians call the plant ‘the corpse flower’. Analyses of chemicals released by the spadix show the “stench” includes dimethyl trisulfide (like limburger cheese), dimethyl disulfide, trimethylamine (rotting fish), isovaleric acid (sweaty socks), benzyl alcohol (sweet floral scent), phenol (like Chloraseptic), and indole (like human faeces). The inflorescence rises from a tuber, a swollen underground stem modified to store food for the plant. This tuber, more or less spherical in shape and weighing 70 kg or more, is the largest such structure known in the plant kingdom.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

ARISARUM

Arisarum vulgare, common name Cobra Plant,  Friar's Cowl or Larus , is a herbaceous, perennial, with an underground rhizome plant in the genus Arisarum belonging to the family Araceae.

Arisarum vulgare reaches on average 10–30 cm high. The leaves of this geophyte plant are basal only, wide, ovate to arrow-shaped, with a petiole 12–15 cm long. The stems are erect and unbranched, usually mottled and grow directly from the underground rhizome.

A single leaflike bract (spathe) forms a purplish-brown or olive green striped tube about 15 cm long, with an open upper part helmet or hood-shaped curved forward. It encloses a fleshy greenish club-like spike (spadix) bent forward, protruding from the tube and bearing at the bottom minute purple violet flowers. The 20 male flowers are located above the four to six female, with sterile flowers completely missing. The flowering period extends from Autumn to Spring. The sexes are united in the same individual plant. Pollination is granted by insects (entomophily). The fruits are greenish berries of about 1 centimetre long.

This plant native to Mediterranean region of southern Europe and northern Africa, east to the Caucasus, and west to the Canary Islands, the Azores and Madeira. Arisarum vulgare prefers grassy fields and rocky scrubland, forests and wasteland, mainly in shady and cool places and in moist soils, at an altitude of 0–800 metres above sea level.

Grow this cautiously in the garden as it can become invasive and take over large tracts of your garden beds! Once established, it is difficult to eradicate.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme,
and also part of the Friday Greens meme.

ARUM

Arum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to Europe, northern Africa, and western and central Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean region. Frequently called "arum lilies", they are not closely related to the true lilies Lilium. Plants in the closely related tribe Zantedeschia are also called "arum lilies".

They are rhizomatous, herbaceous perennial plants growing to 20–60 cm tall, with sagittate (arrowhead-shaped) leaves 10–55 cm long. The flowers are produced in a spadix, surrounded by a 10–40 cm long, coloured spathe, which may be white, yellow, brown or purple; some species are scented, others not. The fruit is a cluster of bright orange or red berries. All parts of the plants are poisonous, containing significant amounts of calcium oxalate as raphides. The genus name is Latinised form of the Greek name for these plants, aron.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

FRIDAY GREENS #4 - ARUM BERRIES

Welcome to this new meme active every Friday!
The theme is "Friday Greens" and you can post images, art, photos where the predominant colour is GREEN!

GREEN is the colour between blue and yellow in the spectrum; coloured like grass or emeralds.

Here are some Arum seedheads. Arum maculatum is a common woodland plant species of the Araceae family. It is widespread across most of Europe as well as Turkey and Caucasus. It is known by an abundance of common names including snakeshead, adder's root, arum, wild arum, arum lily, lords-and-ladies, devils and angels, cows and bulls, cuckoo-pint, Adam and Eve, bobbins, naked boys, starch-root, wake robin, friar's cowl and jack in the pulpit. The name "lords-and-ladies" and other gender related names refer to the plant's likeness to male and female genitalia symbolising copulation.

In Summer, the lower ring of (female) flowers deep in the spadix of the inflorescence form a cluster of green berries, which in Autumn turn bright red. These remain after the spathe and other leaves have withered away. These attractive red to orange berries are extremely poisonous!

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