Just thought I'd share, my Cyrtosperma cupidispathum is flowering. I expected the plant would get a larger before flowering. Hopefully it will keep growing bigger, but it could be a shorter variety.

Very Nice! Thanks for sharing the picture. Do you have Cyrtosperma merkusii also?

Lariann I've got 2, a smaller one split from my original plant/s. I decided to try the original in a pond/drainage system. During the wet season the water was going up and down but mostly too deep for it. It deteriorated. Things are drying out now and it's sitting consistently in about 10 centimetres of water. So it's started to make a come back.

The split off plant stayed in a pot sitting in water about three quarters up the pot. It's doing quite well. So I'd say they prefer wet ground or very shallow water. The Typhonodorum lindleyanum that had the same fluctuating water levels was okay in those conditions.

This is a photo of the original before I split off part.

Fantastic!

Extremely nice flower from your C. cupidispathum Tropic, and it is very good to read that your "original" C. merkusii is making a come back.

I am looking forward to viewing more pictures from your garden as time goes along for you.

Thanks Susan. You don't see many different Cyrtospermas around, we only have 3 commonly available. And someone in Cairns has a hybrid one available. So I've got the 3 but not the hybrid.

Rachel, I was surprised to see the flower while the plant isn't very tall, not for that species anyway. I had it in a pot sitting in water but then put it in the ground where it gets a bit of overflow from a small pond. My C. johnstonii hasn't shown any sign of flowering yet. And the C. merkusii seemed to enjoy the water when first put in. But the water levels stayed up too long with the really wet wet season we've just had. I've got to a lot more work in that area to stabilise water levels a bit more.

I don't have any Cyrtospermas, but if I did and they bloomed, well, I wouldn't be able to resist the fun of hybridizing them. Just think, C. johnstonii crossed with C. merkusii - makes my mouth water!

Tropic, I am confident that you will figure a way to stabilize the water levels in the areas that need it. I've not read much concerning C. cupidispathum, but then again, I've not been able to find much information concerning growing the members in this genus outside their natural environment either. I can say that I've been lucky enough to keep my C. johnstonii alive and have a pup but no flower for me as of yet, either. We will get them though, you probably sooner than I.

LariAnn, I agree, that cross would be stunning to view! I can send you a small johnstonii if you would like to get started. Just let me know as I would be more than happy to share it with you.

Zig, Rachel.
In Boos' genus overview on the IAS he notes that these are sensitive to even "16o Celsius (60o Fahrenheit ) with wind" temps. Do you find them so in your climes?

RachelLF, thanks for the generous offer! Once I figure out how to get my hands on a C. merkusii, I may take you up on it.

I've also learned that these tender aquatic aroids do better in cooler air temps if their water is kept warm than if it also gets cooled. So keeping the water they are in warmed may work better than just warming the air around the plants.

LariAnn

eclayne, I've read Julius Boos' article as well and found it very informative. I've never let my johnstonii be exposed to temperatures below 75F. although, it has been a slower grower for me while indoors for the Winter months. I believe high humidity is also a key factor in keeping this plant looking well.

LariAnn, I believe you are right concerning the water temps. I learned this not long after bringing it indoors for the Winter months. I added a small water heater to the tub I had it in and after that it started doing much better. I've also been feeding them with the diluted Miracle Gro solution (as you mentioned for the Synandrospadix vermitoxicus) every three days. The pup has responded tremendously to this and is growing pretty darn fast and even has more leaves vs. my more mature plant.

Wishing you the best on finding a Murksii and my offer will still stand for you on a johnstonii in the future as well.

Julius told me that if you put an ice cube in your mouth and blew on johnstonii it would die!

He was quite a guy, I miss him very much.

eclayne said:Zig, Rachel.
In Boos' genus overview on the IAS he notes that these are sensitive to even "16o Celsius (60o Fahrenheit ) with wind" temps. Do you find them so in your climes?

Mine are outside all the time. Last winter the coldest temperature was in June when it got down to 10.3C. It wouldn't have stayed down for very long, probably about an hour or so before sunrise. There was no noticeable negative effect on any of the Cyrtosperma.

Zig, Is that a normal low for winter in your area? I Googled Noonamah and it looks like your less than 1000mi from the equator! Do you think higher water temps may have saved yours?

I'd be interested to know something about your native aroids.

Evan, the water that it's in is very small. Probably what would have helped it was the tree canopy overhead. But the length of time it stays cold probably has a big bearing on it as well. If it's cold long enough for the chill to get into the plant tissue there possibly could be damage. Last year was a mild winter. Normally July would have had those June temperatures one or two days also. This winter looks like being more normal, in that temperatures will probably bottom out a few more times. Already had a 15.8C although technically were not in winter yet.

This is a list of our local aroids, 17 of them. Over on the east coast (particularly Queensland) they have a lot more.

Amorphophallus galbra F.M.Bailey

Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (Dennst.) Nicolson

Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott

Epipremnum amplissimum (Schott) Engl.
[Raphidophora australasica F.M.Bailey]

Pistia stratiotes L.

Remusatia vivipara (Roxb.) Schott

Typhonium alismifolium F.Muell.
[Typhonium brownii auct. non. Schott]

Typhonium cochleare A.Hay

Typhonium flagelliforme (Lodd.) Blume

Typhonium johnsonianum A.Hay & S.Taylor

Typhonium jonesii A.Hay

Typhonium liliifolium F.Muell.

Typhonium mirabile (A.Hay) A.Hay
[Lazarum mirabile A.Hay]

Typhonium praetermissum A.Hay

Typhonium russell-smithii A.Hay

Typhonium sp. Berry Springs (P.Horsfall 1042)

Typhonium taylori A.Hay

The majority are Typhoniums but there's a revision going on now and they could be renamed Lazarum some time soon perhaps.

Zig

Thanks Zig. Your explanation of canopy and temperature duration make sense. I've been working through your list of natives and while familiar with a few as they're commercially available here, most are new to me. In the process I've come across some great websites.
This article by Hetterscheid helped explain your reference to Typhonium revision,
http://www.aroid.org/genera/ge....

Thanks again,

Our climate confuses some people. Winter time is when we have our higher day temperatures, summer is when we have our higher night temperatures. Although spring usually has the highest day and night temperatures.

The inflorescence on the C. cupidispathum is showing signs of withering, towards the tip of the spathe. That makes it about 6 weeks, not a bad length of time. Will be interesting to see whether some fertilising went on.

The main part of the spathe is still okay, the withering tip hasn't got worse. So it's up to about 2 months old now.

Wow, that inflorescence really lasts a long time. Like a popular candy here, the tootsie roll, has been advertised as "lasts a long time"! I have some Anthuriums whose seeds (berries) take more than a year to ripen, so I know some aroids can take their sweet time with their sexual reproduction.