Arisaema griffithii Schott
Saroj Kasaju
Thank you.Saroj Kasaju
Saroj Kasaju
J.M. Garg
J.M.Garg
Saroj Kasaju
Pascal Bruggeman
There is often confusion between propinquum and griffithii. Are the narrow forms of griffthii perhaps propinquum or not etc... The stem markings are of less concern in this discussion however. Looking at the description of propinquum and the plants still growing at the type locality the ones closest to propinquum have a narrow spathe, often flower before the leaves are fully unfurled and have a short appendix like this:
My personal view is that most of the narrower forms of griffithii still fall in the griffithii complex and are not true propinquum. The one Saroj is showing I would call griffithii. Which means the "typical" griffithii we see as this species is just the broad variant within the wide variation of the group. I have studied large groups of this complex in Nepal and Sikkim and quite often the variation in peduncle length, width of the spathe, length of the appendix and even color and pattern is quite large. Anyone familiar with the populations in N Sikkim around Lachung have seen that the higher into the valley one goes, the smaller the plants get and the narrower the spathes. I am aware it is a highly personal solution to the wide variation in this group that does conflict with some of the literature, but it is impossible in my view to artifically limit the names based on the width of the spathe or any other character that varies within populations. Instead I prefer to limit the name propinquum to a specific character combination in the form I just show and all other forms in the variation of what I artificially call the griffithii complex. In my view there are only 2 other nodes in the variation that can be identified by a specific set of characters: the rare vexillatum and ostiolatum (Shingallila Rodge).
Pascal
J.M. Garg
J.M.Garg