Arisaema serratum
| Arisaema serratum | |
| Light: |    |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 5 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Cross Pollinated | |
| Height: | 3' |
| Blooms: | Early Spring |
| Open Woods Forest | |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Arisaema serratum
Propagation: Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a shady position in a cold frame[1]. Stored seed remains viable for at least a year and can be sown in spring in the greenhouse but it will probably require a period of cold stratification. Germination usually takes place in 1 - 6 months at 15°c[1]. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in light shade in the greenhouse for at least a coupe of years until the corms are more than 20mm in diameter. Plant out into their permanent positions whilst they are dormant.
Division of tubers when the plant dies down in late summer.
Cultivation: Prefers a cool peaty soil in the bog garden, woodland garden or a sheltered border in semi-shade[1][2]. Prefers a loamy or peaty soil and will tolerate a sunny position if the soil is moist but not water-logged and the position is not too hot or exposed[3][2].
Only plant out full sized tubers and mulch them with organic matter in the winter[2]. Plants need protection from slugs[2].
A very polymorphic species[4].
Most species in this genus are dioecious, but they are sometimes monoecious and can also change sex from year to year.
Range: E. Asia - China, Japan, Korea.
Habitat: Shady forests in C. and S. Japan[4][2].
Edibility: Tuber - must be thoroughly dried or cooked[5][6][7]. The tubers are 15 - 55mm in diameter[8]. Use with caution, see the notes above on toxicity.
Leaves - cooked[7]. Use with caution, see the notes above on toxicity.
Medicinal: The root is alterative, deobstruent, discutient, diuretic, expectorant, vulnerary[9][10]. Use with caution[9].
Pollinators: Flies
Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Flower Type: Dioecious
Known Hazards: The plant contains calcium oxylate crystals. These cause an extremely unpleasant sensation similar to needles being stuck into the mouth and tongue if they are eaten but they are easily neutralized by thoroughly drying or cooking the plant or by steeping
Also Known As: A. capitellatum. A. japonicum. Blume. A. niveum. A. pseudojaponicum. Arum serratum.
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Rice, Graham. Growing from Seed Volume 2. Thompson and Morgan, 1988.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Ohwi, Jisaburo. Flora of Japan. Smithsonian Institution, 1965.
- ↑ Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.
- ↑ Flora of China. 1994.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Stuart, George. Chinese Materia Medica. Taipei Southern Materials Centre.
- ↑ Duke, James and Edward Ayensu. Medicinal Plants of China. Reference Publications, 1985.