Arisaema sikokianum

Arisaema sikokianum is a tuberous woodland aroid from the deciduous forests of Shikoku and Honshu, Japan, grown not for its foliage but for one of the more unusual inflorescences in the Araceae family. A deep purple-black striped spathe curls into a hood around a spadix that is a stark, brilliant white club, a colour contrast strong enough to have earned the species the nickname 'Star of Bethlehem' among hardy-aroid collectors. One or two long-petioled leaves, each divided into three to five leaflets, emerge from the tuber alongside or shortly after the bloom, then die back completely as the plant goes dormant for winter. Unlike the tropical aroids that dominate most collections, this is a hardy perennial suited to temperate woodland conditions, and it has become a crossover plant for collectors who also grow tropical variegated aroids.

Native range

Japan (Shikoku and Honshu, deciduous woodland understory)

Classification

Genus

Arisaema

Family

Araceae

Type

Wild

Growth habit

Tuberous, deciduous, low clumping

Morphology

Leaf shape

Ternately divided into 3-5 leaflets

Leaf length

15-25 cm per leaflet

Leaf width

8-15 cm per leaflet

Petiole colour

Green, mottled toward the base

Venation

PinnateVeins or lobes arranged like a feather, branching out symmetrically on both sides of a single main central vein. within each leaflet

Texture

Matte

Variegation

N/A

Growth habit

Tuberous perennial, one or two leaves and a single inflorescence per season, dormant in winter