Amorphophallus

[CraigP]

For years we have grown Amorphophallus paeoniifolius around or ponds to use as quick, temporary shade to protect the marginal plants that are not sun lovers. They grow rapidly during the summer, but then go dormant in the late fall and don't need to be nursed though the winter. Mine are entering dormancy now, so I have begun a harvest of the corms which I store in a cool, dry place until I am ready to set them up to break dormancy in the spring.

The large corm in the forefront of the picture is a brute....measuring 12" across and weighing in at 20 lbs. I suspect it will put up a properly large bloom next summer that will have my downwind neighbors stand up and take notice. <g >

[KingstonKoi]

"Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (also known as the elephant foot yam) is a distant (and much smaller) relative of Cornell’s renowned titan arums (Amorphophallus titanium). A native of tropical Asia, this perennial herb is cultivated for its edible tuber. In Indonesia, it is the third most important source of carbohydrates after rice and maize. While titan arums can produce inflorescences up to 12 feet tall and 200-pound tubers, elephant foot yams are more likely to top out at a little more than 2 feet with tubers up to 30 pounds. But like its larger cousin, it smells of rotting flesh when it flowers to attract flies and carrion beetles as pollinators. As the name suggests, its leaves resemble those of peonies.

Trees are pretty, but based on the description of the odor when it flowers . . . . glad I live in a climate where it won't thrive.

[gray cat]

It is a pretty & very interesting plant. It seems to serve your shade problem well.