Arisaema candidissimum
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Arisaema candidissimum • Click here to visit our Main Plant List page for current availability of this plant
• common name: cobra lily (also a common name for Darlingtonia) or jack-in-the-pulpit
• flowering season: early to mid summer
• height: 2+ feet
• Light requirements: filtered light, or morning sun and afternoon shade
• Soil requirements: average to rich and well drained
• Water requirments: average water requirements, weekly deep watering is recommended to keep it from going dormant before summer's end
• Growth habit: a slowly expanding colony
• How to propagate: divide in mid spring; marking its location with a stake will help you find it while it is still dormant if you plan to dig and divide it the following year
• Leaf type: broad, trifoliate leaves
• Ways to use it: grows well with other flowering perennials in the garden; in time its grows into a large group
• Special characteristics: hooded flowers of light pink with white stripes are large and attention-getting
• Other points of interests: its new growth is unusually late to appear
Surviving outdoors without snow cover to -20°F, this species makes you wait longer for its arrival, not showing until well after you have given up all hope that it will appear in spring. When spring is nearing its end in June, the flower will open at the same time as the leaf, and will last in full bloom through most of July. It is said to be scented although I cannot detect it. The three-parted leaflets continue growing larger after the flower is spent. And as long as its ground doesn't dry out at the end of summer, the leaves will last well into October. The inside of the flower's hood, the spathe, is pink with white stripes. Enclosed within the spathe, the spadix, the sexual part of the flower, is green. Interestingly, the plant is often male when young. As its size and strength are built up over several years, it may become female, and able to develop seeds. After it produces seeds one year, it may revert back to male until its strength is built up again. The tubers of Arisaema candidissimum we send are several years old. Please realize that it is normal for them to hold off starting to grow until the month of June. They are not touchy about their watering when planted in the garden, but if kept in a pot, be sure to not to overwater them until you see a shoot appear at the soil surface. Until then only lightly mist the soil and let the surface dry out somewhat between mistings.