Description
This is the North African representative of the genus which has also, more recently, been found in south eastern Spain and latterly in Portugal. Our plants came originally from Spain via the late Manfred Koenen.
In this species the spathe is larger and lies closer to the ground and often parallel to it. The flower stem is much shorter than the leaf petioles. The spadix is noticeably thickened, rounded at the end and shorter. As a rule the colours of simorrhinum are greens, olives and even blackish, rather than the whites and browns of its relatives. The colourings are broadly similar but at the same time clearly different!
Happy if grown as for the other species planted about 5 cm deep, although I fancy, without concrete proof, that it enjoys more sun and better drainage. It will also do well grown as a potted, Mediterranean ‘bulb’ where it will increase gently but steadily and burrow down in its compost.
