Amorphophallus salmoneus and... is the climate changing?

If you have been following this blog for quite some time, you may have already anticipated this: posts about Amorphophallus come out during late spring or early summer. However, this post comes a bit earlier than usual. Because whereas the rains habitually announce their return during May, triggering the beginning of the year's activity period which manifests a couple of weeks later, this year's precipitation fell in April. Strange, considering that April is THE driest month in my area. Memory tells me that I have never seen a raindrop fall in April. Ever. Now, this would have been quite a trivial matter to discuss, even briefly, but since last year, I have been noticing rather strange Amorphophallus behavior coinciding with the prevailing climate. Some of my plants woke up very late- around the end of July and early August. And while most of them entered slumber during November and December- which is typical- there were those that lasted until February; one of my A. bulbifer stayed up until March and another pot of A. bulbifer came out of dormancy in January and is still going strong to this day. A few other species exhibited aberrant dormancy and activity cycles, including, but not limited to A. paeoniifolius, A. prolificus, and A. variabilis. Amorphophallus albus 'Chen Yi', A. macrophyllus 'Bluto', and A. urceolatus 'K'laja' were among those that broke from dormancy last month. They should still be sleeping! Incidentally, I saw posts in the Facebook group 'Amorphophallus' last year where some collectors from other parts of the world are also reporting unusual behavior among their plants. So what gives? Could the climate really be changing? I'm not sure if I am qualified to answer that, but taking into account the unpredictability of current Amorphophallus behavior that is in sync with the climatic quirks we have been experiencing, there might be a reason to think that it indeed is. Besides, it's not only the amorphs that are activating this early, but also the gingers (kaempferias and cornukaempferias) and the Gloriosa.

Now, that is quite an introduction, isn't it?

My first plants of A. salmoneus were given to me either in 2007 or 2008. Some years the plants would grow so vigorously resulting in multiple leaves per tuber, and some years they'll grow just like any other Amorphophallus, that is, only one leaf for the rest of the growing season. This is one of the more durable species, and can withstand heavy rains for days at a stretch. My dactylifers would turn to goo in less than a week if subjected to such treatment. In the vegetative state, the plants are rather unremarkable, with plain green petioles (sometimes with sparse, tiny white dots) and quite plain-looking leaves. The foliage is similar to the recently described A. fornicatus, also from the Philippines, but the leaves of A. salmoneus abruptly taper to an acuminate point, and the veining is more prominent. Spathe color is variable in A. salmoneus, ranging from white to soft yellow to white suffused with brown-pink. The scent is typical of Amorphophallus, but rather weak. The stench is given off late in the afternoon and persists till the early evenings. This is one of the smaller members of the genus, and is well-suited for those with limited growing spaces.

Amorphophallus salmoneus was described in 1994 by Wilbert Hetterscheid from a specimen collected in Palawan and cultivated at the Hortus Botanicus in Leiden. In the protologue, it was said to be similar to A. krausei, a species native to Thailand, Burma, and China. The species name refers to the salmon-colored male flowers, and while perhaps true for the designated holotype, it does not represent the entire spectrum of variation. In many specimens, the male flowers are in shades of yellow. Please click here to see the protologue of A. salmoneus (along with some other species described in the same paper with it: https://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/566370%20

One of my pots of the species. Note the acuminate leaf tips.

Mmmm.... sexy, isn't it?