I posed this question to Aroid-L too. Does anybody know anything about Piptospatha species? I am most intrigued. I'd really like to get a hold of some if there might be any US sources.
Piptospatha are primarily epilithic and grow on stone. They are small herbs with short creeping rhizomes which grow as as rheophytes on rocks or in cracks of rocks living along streams composed of five species. Other than that I can find very little but am checking all the IAS databases for Aroideana,
There are a few pictures that turn up with an image search. They just look like really cool little plants. The pictures of blooms that I saw looked like little magenta upside-down tulips--how unusual for an aroid! And the one species had very attractive foliage too. There was also a habitat picture showing a plant growing on a streambank and surrounded by a stand of Cryptocoryne. How cool would that be to make a little biotope aquarium setup with Piptospatha and crypts?! I wonder if there could be any hope of requesting an import from one of those growers in Thailand. European aquarium hobbyists might also have them. I found one reference from Europe on a page mostly about crypts.
Looks like the species count may be closer to 10 species now due to some new ones found by Alistair Hay as well as some revisions. All appear to be from Malaysia, Thailand and Borneo. I've never seen any but you might try posting a note on the ER forum since there are folks that participate that are in Australia as well as SE Asia. Also check the Asiatica website since they sometimes have such species. I found that MOBOT has a few so if you can make it down to the IAS meeting on April 24 you might get to see some in the greenhouse. I'll also ask Emily if it is possible to get a division.
Hmm, that's a good lure to throw out there. I really would like to go to that meeting and check out MOBOT. Please remind me about that if you think of it. Have you heard anything more from any of the Chicago area people about a regional meeting up this way? What is the "ER forum"? Asiatica really does get amazing stuff. It might be worthwhile to ask them to see if there might be any chance they could get some with an importation.
ER as in Exotic Rainforest...... you're a member! I've been told one of the Chicago members in planning on attending the April 24th IAS MidAmerica Chapter meeting at the Missouri Botanical Garden but I haven't heard anything about a chapter forming in the Chicago area.................yet! You should plan to come to the meeting in St. Louis! Dr. Croat is doing a special presentation and conducting a tour of the aroid research greenhouses which are not open to the public.
