Description
Price per 1x tuber of Arum besserianum JCA17500A, this is not quite flowering sized. First time we have listed tubers of this species.
There is a story behind this Arum species, and the plant is a bit of a mystery:
A friend was given a pot of Eminium collected in Kazakhstan by the late Jim Archibald under the number JCA17500. The Eminium had died, but in the bottom of the pot was a small Arum tuber, which turned out to be this plant. It has subsequently been labelled as JCA17500A. Peter Boyce has ID’d the plant as Arum besserianum, which is a bit of a puzzle as Arum besserianum is not found in Kazakhstan. It has to be assumed that this was collected elsewhere by Jim Archibald but that his plant got muddled with the Eminium at some stage.
So, all I can tell you is that this is a Jim Archibald collection, ID’d by Peter Boyce as besserianum, but with no firm location data! It makes very early growth, often coming into leaf in early September, or even late August, and flowering in March or April.
This seems perfectly hardy in a normal UK winter, however, it is much better grown under glass or in a cold frame – the leaf petioles are long and fragile and winter winds quickly make the plant look untidy or damaged. The early growth means that it has to go through all of the usual Autumn gales and it seldom looks tidy outside.
All in all, a superb plant, and one of my favourite Arum species. Easily grown in a rich loamy soil.