Voodoo lily (Sauromatum venosum)
Description
Typhonium venosum (Voodoo-lily or Arum cornutum (traders' name)), is an ornamental plant in the Araceae. This is species is an aroid, not a true lily. Typhonium venosum, probably better known under its synonym Sauromatum venosum, is a common shade-loving house or garden plant from temperate and tropical Africa and Asia. It grows to around 20 inches tall from an underground corm. A large T. venosum corm can spawn multiple new corms. Inflorescences emerge before their leaves. This plant is also known as the Voodoo bulb because of its ability to flower from a corm without soil and water. An inflorescence has a purplish-brown-spotted, yellowish spathe and a purplish-brown spadix which emit a strong odor perceived as similar to cow manure, rotting flesh, or a dirty wet dog, depending on who smells the inflorescence. The odor lasts about 2 days, and attracts carrion-feeding insects, such as calliphorid flies and silphid beetles which can pollinate this plant.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum:
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Class: Liliopsida
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Order: Alismatales
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Family: Araceae
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Genus: Sauromatum
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