Description
(orientale subsp. sintenisii, however it was never ever anything like orientale and the error dates to a time when the different species of Arum were less well known than they are today)
A vigorous plant originally from northern Cyprus which was described by Peter Boyce as recently as 1995. The spathe is slightly elongated, when compared to many species and is a warm red-brown inside. It disports itself in a slightly curled fashion around a deeper brown slightly-fattened spadix. The whole inflorescence is held in and above the leaves on a stout stem.
One of the best species and very attractive. A ready grower this makes offsets only slowly here but does make its apple-scented ‘flowers’ freely once it settles down – four inflorescences from one tuber is our record here. It is however unusual in its growth mode, making these multiple inflorescences from each tuber, but then it dies back to just one tuber again, not making any sizeable offsets, in the usual fashion of many Arum. Vegetative propagation relies instead on the few, pea-sized offset tubers which it sometimes makes and which, being slow-growing, can then take several years to get up to flowering size. I have seen it said that it increases prolifically, oh that ours did!
Sunny spot, planted 10-15 cm deep in a well-drained loam based soil, dryish in summer, though this is not critical.
Finally, and perhaps of importance to many I should stress that this does not have an unpleasant smell, just a slight smell which is pleasantly fruity (rather than reeking of fermenting carrion or dung) even when grown under glass.
