Typhonium
(from Typhon, a mythological giant; the name was given by the ancients to some Aroid). Including Heterostalis. ORD. Aroideae (Araceae). A genus embracing about thirteen species of stove, tuberous, perennial herbs, inhabiting tropical Asia, Australasia, and the Pacific Islands. Flowers monoecious, the males and females remote; spathe tube convolute, accrescent, persistent, the throat constricted, the lamina ovate or lanceolate, acute or acuminate, erect or recurved, deciduous; spadix sessile or stipitate, included, the appendage variable, often stipitate; peduncle usually short. Leaves cotemporary with the flowers, sagittate or hastate, three to five-lobed or parted, or pedatisect, the petiole elongated. The species known to cultivation are described below. They thrive in light, rich soil, and during the growing season require an abundant supply of water. After the leaves have died down, water must be withheld until growth recommences. The pots containing the tubers can be stored away in any dry, warm place. Propagation is effected by division of the tubers.
T. Brownii (Brown's).* fl., spathe with the convolute base ovoid, the lamina 4in. to 5in. long, very broad, of a deep purple inside; male and female spikes about 1/2in. long, 1in. distant; peduncle shorter than the petiole. April. l. divided into three narrow or broad-lanceolate lobes or segments, the lateral ones horizontally divaricate, 4in. to 6in. long, the middle one usually rather longer and narrower; petioles 6in. to 12in. long. Australia, 1875. (B. M. 6180.) T. cuspidatum (cusped). fl., spathe tube green, ovoid or oblong; lamina lanceolate, prolonged into a whip-like process, or shorter and acuminate; spadix whitish, shorter or longer than the lamina, sometimes very long, the appendix very shortly stipitate, conico-subulate; peduncle slender, scarcely one-third the length of the petioles. l. sagittate or hastate, oblong and scarcely cordate at base, or three-lobed or parted; petioles three or four times longer than the blades. h. 1ft. Bengal, Java, &c., 1819. SYN. Arum flagelliforme (L. B. C. 396).
T. divaricatum (divaricate).* fl., spathe tube oblong-ovoid, the lamina dark purple, ovate, long-acuminate; peduncle usually short. July. l. cordate or hastate-sagittate, somewhat three-lobed; middle lobe somewhat ovate or oblong-ovate, acute or acuminate, twice as long as the ovate or lanceolate lateral lobes; petioles slender, twice as long as the blades. h. 2ft. East Indies, 1759. SYNS. T. trilobatum (of Curtis), Arum divaricatum, A. trilobatum (B. M. 339; L. B. C. 516), A. t. auriculatum (B. M. 2324). T. diversifolium Huegelianum (Huegel's variable-leaved). fl., spathe erect, 4in. to 7in. long; lamina rich velvety purplish-brown inside, reticulated with pale green at base and apex; spadix shorter than the spathe; appendix 2in. to 2 1/2in. long, blackish; ovaries purple; stigmas white. l. one or two, very variable in form, sagittate, hastate, or five-lobed, with the basal lobes directed upwards. Himalayas, 1879. SYN. Heterostalis Huegeliana. T. trilobatum (three-lobed). fl., spathe tube oblong; lamina greenish outside, rose-purple within, oblong-ovate, acuminate, four times as long as the tube; spadix with a terete, conical, shortly stipitate appendix; peduncle slender, one-third the length of the petioles. l. hastate, sub-tripartite; lobes all broadly ovate, acuminate; petioles nearly thrice as long as the blades. h. 1 1/2ft. East Indies, 1714. SYNS. Arum orixense (A. B. R. 356; B. R. 450; L. B. C. 422).
T. trilobatum (three-lobed), of Curtis. A synonym of T. divaricatum.