Description
Although often compared with A. elephas in the literature, the two plants look and behave very differently in the garden though wilsonii is unquestionably a very variable species (with lots of synonyms) .
A. elephas can be a large and chunky plant whilst A. wilsonii makes robust but more slender growths, seldom over 30cm tall at flowering, though the stems elongate afterwards. It has a striped red-brown varying in some plants to very dark black-brown. The spadix can be anything from white (darkening with age) to a similarly variable red-brown to almost black and this folds downwards and then both reflexes back or curls as it emerges. The species flowers as the leaves develop, rather than afterwards. The leaves and leaf stem are considerably taller than the stem holding the flower however (at flowering time). The two species seem distinct and recognisable, so that the synonymy, or our naming, needs looking at! It must be said that the naming of some of these Chinese and Himalyan species complexes needs examination.
We find that this one copes better with less water than elephas (which can take a great deal) and it is happy under normal Arisaema conditions out in the garden. Flowering-sized tubers of Arisaema wilsonii are naturally smaller than those of Arisaema elephas but this really is a lovely plant, especially in the red form offered which is what we are currently propagating from.
