Uli, if I may, I believe you are speaking of Sauromatum (typhonium) venonsum ‘Indian Giant’ which I grow here in Pennsylvania. And it lives up to its name. My main leaf on my most mature tuber (which I lift each autumn and which weighed 8 lbs (3.62 kg) last year was 5’ (1.5 meters) tall and wide). It is a BEAST. I’ve had seed heads develop as well but composted as they are prolific offsetters. The flower reaches a meter tall when mature. It blooms for me (in the house!!) in late April or early May and then gets placed in the garden. I have found Indian Giant to prefer shade. The leaves burn in hot sun here. I grow mine in the garden in nice soil and feed with a fish fertilizer a couple times each season. I will see about getting some pics on the wiki later. It’s very easy to tell straight venosum from the Indian Giant. IG has many fewer spots on the petiole. I used to grow the straight species but don’t bother any longer and guess who has a compost pile dotted with regular venosum poking out all over? This is a tough plant. The tubers definitely were unprotected through the winter with maybe a few leaves and sticks on top. I will share my offsets this autumn with the exchange if anyone is interested. Some will likely be flowering size. Best to all, Bridget. > On Jul 13, 2019, at 5:53 PM, Johannes Ulrich Urban <johannes-ulrich-urban@t-online.de> wrote: > > Hello James, > > Typhonium giganteum 'Indian Giant' is very distinct from the ordinary form. The tubers can attain a diameter of about 10 inches, if not more, the flower and especially the leaves are truly gigantic. A friend of mine in Germany grows them in 100l containers (one tuber per container) to get the best results. it is not reliably hardy in Germany so it is pot grown. > > Here in Portugal I grow it in the open garden. Last summer it got a bit neglected and did not get much water because I was so busy with everything else. I dug it up in autum and to my surprise two tubers flowered out of the paper bag in which it was stored. The smell was phantastic... Both tubers and a few offsets are now in a good place in the garden and get regular water. The leaf has not yet fully unfolded but looks gigantic already. A magnificent plant. > > What you say about your plant sounds much more like the ordinary form, maybe there was an error somewhere? > > I have never had seed on my plants because I think it is all one clone, propagated by offsets. The pink fruit mentioned, did it contain viable seed? Also, I canot comment on the depth the tubers grow, mine are planted with about 5 inches of soil above the tuber. > > Bye for today, > > > Uli > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…