[USDA zone 7a – 9b] maybe colder (?).
 
Plants are 2 year, 1” tubers. With proper culture expect plants to flower in 1 - 2 years. These tubers keep the previous years exhausted tuber attached to the base. This explains the shriveled ends to the tubers. It took me a couple years to realize this. Tuber photograph is representative of this offering.
 
This species is native to Manchuria, north central China, south central China, south eastern China, and southern Tibet. This species as with most Amorphophallus and Arisaema species are seasonally dormant. Plants sprout from a subterranean corm or tuber in the same fashion as the spring Crocus. Plants of this species grow 12” – 20” tall. Each tuber produces 1-2 large arrow shaped leaves. Each leaf is 8” – 12” long. The plant alone is very ornamental. Unlike S. venosum the flowers are produced in mid-summer among the foliage. The inflorescence is single flowered and 8” – 12” tall. The “flower” is actually a modified inflorescence that consists of the spathe (outer ornamental part) and the spadix (internal sexual bits). The spadix is 3” – 4” tall. The spathe that surrounds the spadix is 6” – 9” long. The exterior is green basally and overlaid with dark maroon to purple black at its apex. The interior is a dark velvety maroon to black-purple. Flowers last only a single day. The flowers attract flies for pollination.