Can someone identify this plant and tell me how to cultivate it. Last year it had a blossom that looked black to the eye. The camera saw it red. This year it only has leaves.
This does appear to be Amorphophallus konjac from both the appearance of the inflorescence and the stalk of the plant. The plant is from Japan and SE Asia and is used as a food crop, mostly to make a broth from the corm (what most would call a tubor). Most of the year the plant is dormant but in the spring will quickly grow to its max height. Come fall, or the first sign of cold, and it will go underground again. The plant rarely grows taller than 4 feet and produces the inflorescence every few years. It is a little cousine of the famous Amorphophallus titanum which can grow to well over 20 feet. The inflorescence of that plant can easily grow 6 feet tall and is often called the world's "largest flower". An aroid, the inflorescence is not truly a flower. There are flowers on the spadix but those are extremely small. They are divided into both male and female flowers and in the wild a beetle climbs the plant. Once it reaches the top it slides back down and pollinates the female flowers with the pollen it has gathered. It is induced to climb since the plant stinks quite badly. Some call these species "corpse flowers" since they often smell of rotting flesh. Amorphophallus konjac is fairly cold hardy as long as the corm is at least 6 to 8 inches in the soil. It has been grown as far north as Boston but most don't survive north of Kansas City (or that approximate line across the country.) A most interesting species. There are aroid specialists that grow nothing but Amorphophallus species. They are best grown in very loose soil. The plant should be kept damp while above ground but allowed to dry when dormant. They prefer very bright filtered light.
Thank you for your quick reply. It never entered my mind that I could eat this plant. Don't think I will try.
The Japanese grow thousands of them just for the corm. I have no idea what it may taste like! Supposedly you can cook it in many ways but mostly it is ground and turned into a cooking broth. By the way, the common name is the "snake plant". Look at the stalk and you'll see why.
