Amorphophallus bulbifer is the other species that lust bade me acquire this summer. Unlike A. paeoniifolius, the petiole is smooth with wonderful patches of light and dark, almost black, green. It reaches three to four feet (1 - 1.21 m) in height and can, I have read, reach this height in a six inch (15 cm) pot.
The petiole is topped with an umbrella-like leaf (lamina) that reaches about two feet (60 cm) in diameter. Like some other species (A. albispathus, A. krausei, A. muelleri and A. titanum) A. bulbifer has a tendency to produce two or more leaves concurrently, or one after the other, before they attain flowering size. While young, they may continue growing all year or go dormant after about five months. Once they're adult, they will always go dormant in autumn and will produce only one leaf in any single growing cycle.
Sometimes called snake skin voodoo lily, leopard snake arum or snake palm, whatever it's called, the petiole is striking.
The inflorescence is one of the more beautiful, to my eye - it's pictured in the graphic on page 1 showing the various forms that Amorphophallus can exhibit. It, too, emits a dreadful stink when the spathe first unfolds, belying the pristine beauty of the inflorescence. While removal of the inflorescence encourages leaf development and saves wear and tear on your nasal passages, it is such a lovely form that I think I'd rather acquire a gas mask so I could enjoy the visuals without nausea.
There appears to be another species (possibly A. muelleri ) that produces bulbils at the base of the blades, looks very similar to A. bulbifer and has a tall, chalice-like inflorescence of similar color, but has a light tropical citrus or ginger scent - pleasant to the nose. It has been sold at shows as "the good smelling A. bulbifer".
The spathe emerges before the leaf, reaching eighteen inches (45 cm) in length on a mature plant. This is a winter-dormant species that blooms in spring or early summer. The tubers will often rest for a season after producing a flower, before they put forth a leaf petiole. If they are going to leaf out, they do it immediately after flowering. I have read that plants will usually flower when they reach about three feet (1 m) tall.
This species gets its name from the brown "bulblets" formed at the end of the summer on each leaf. Young plants, like mine, only form one at the apex of the leaf, but older plants can, I understand, create more than one per leaf joint. If removed and planted, each will remain dormant through the winter and grow into a new plant in spring. Ray Maynard noted on Aroid-L that it will probably take five to six years to obtain a mature plant from a planted bulblet.
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