PlantFiles: Voodoo Lily
Sauromatum venosum

I received 2 of these bulbs from Michigan Bulb just last month as replacements for something they'd run of. When I googled Voodoo Lily, I was delighted! Now, looking at all the pics here, I understand why it's called "Voodoo". It's like magick the many different and unusual forms this plant takes on. The foliage is sooo different from the stem and flower, I was having a difficult time believing I was looking at the same plant. One of my bulbs has begun to grow, the other has not. I am hopeful. I'll let everyone know how they do in Buffalo, NY. Also, I'm thankful for everyone's input here. I was going to bring the bulb into work to put in my office. Oh m'god if it had bloomed there!!

We have had these for about 7 years now. We have one right now and we're wondering if anyone has seen anything like this before. Our original one now is 35 lbs. and has a double bloom on it. Had two palms this summer and now this winter it has two blooms. Has anyone seen anything like this before? We have lots of baby's and 2 other 5 in. diameter ones.

It took a lot of looking on the internet to identify this plant after seeing it growing outside the 14th St. bridge over Mill Creek in Salem, Oregon. I watched and admired it every time I walked to the store nearest my apartment and then, after it had flowered and made the seed pod, one of two stalks disappeared. I went to the owner of the property and he said the plant had been there for the several years he had lived there but he didn't know what it was and it had always been taken before it completely died down but always came back. What strikes me is that it is growing where the creek often floods and in fact, is between the creek and a stack of sandbags kept on site, yet hasn't washed out and apparently tolerates having periodic wet feet.

Purchased this plant four years ago, from a catalog, cannot remember which company. But I planted it out of doors, in the front of my home in a very protected area of other living plants.. It bloomed the first year and every year since, When it is getting ready to bloom, it begins to have an ordor, then when it is opening, (excuse the comment) but it stinks. Terribly..but its worth the smell to see the opening. This year after blooming it formed a pod, I left on the plant with many green seeds, but the green turned to orange and became very soft, So I cut it from the plant and now am drying it in the sun. but after reading your comment to plant the seeds quickly, I am now going to plant the seeds. This plant when in bloom attracts my neighbors and they come to watch it...
sincerely,
Victoria Z.

My wife planted these in her flower garden, and they reproduced so prolifically that they became a nuisance. She pulled them out and threw them in the woods, where a number of them took root and multiplied. They're a very nice addition to our woods, where we just let them grow as they wish. Every year we have more of them. Somehow they multiply over distances, and we have small specimens growing various places in a 15' radius of the original "dumped" specimens. She doesn't like how they take over her garden, while I like the way they thrive in my woods, hence the Neutral rating.

After having this bulb for approx. 8 years and putting it outside every spring, we finally had it flower. We brought it out earlier this year and when a sprout appeared we put it in a pot. The total height of the plant is 38". It grew an average of 2 inches per day. The flower is spectacular but very smelly. Does anyone know how to counteract the smell and how long the flower lasts?

I have had no problem with these in the ground over winter. They weren't even very deep. A couple were an inch or less deep, but I don't advise it: they top-root so soil above the corm is needed.

I've had them produce seed and had a great germination results. Don't let the seeds dry out. I kept them moist and in the fridge for a little bit, trying to wait for better light in the spring. I had also cut the seed head off the plant as I was afraid frosts might damage it. I kept it in a glass of water for awhile.

The seed should come up quickly, some even sprout before planting!

Robert.

i got these bulbs caus they were cool.........in a bazzaar way
............the guy running the booth at the home and garden show in chicao where i got them didnt have much info.,., so i am at your mercy...........right now, they are sitting on a plate in the kitchen...............no water for 3 weeks
no dirt??.............let me know something......please


dont get me wrong, they look really cool but dont i have to plant them soon???

voodoo grows well here in lakeland fl. i have two of them in the shade, filtered light and got two huge plants this year. anxious to see blooms next season. corky ps. does anyone have a fertilizer for this plant?

Typhonium Venosum is a wonderful plant, it grows nicely in the british climate, though i've yet to actually plant out in the ground and i've just removed mine from their containers for winter storage, they are reportedly perfectly hardy here. Very easy to grow and propagates readily from offsets. If you enjoy these plants I would recommend investigation of certain Amorphophallus species.

moved into this house this plant came up first couple years only as foliage, then one year emerged as a "flower" that looked like it should be in a sci-fi movie. After it was done flowering 12 plants emerged, am moving soon, will divide and take one with me hopefully. I have never dug this plant up for the winter and it comes back every year. Wild looking plant.

My family has been growing this plant since the late 1950s early 1960s in Charleston, SC. Bought the first one a 5,10 $1 store (Woolworths, I think). I has now spread all over the garden; infact one just bloomed for my sister in Agusta, GA. I have brought several to San Antonio, TX to see how it will do here.

This is such a strange and beatiful plant. I'm glad to know what it is now. This the second year it has come up on it's own. I still don't know enough about it to really give any help.

Plant the Voodoo late in May or End of second week in June. Cover the "teat" or "nub" with only 1 or 2 inches of soil. Water well until it breaks ground. Then we usually water weekly unless it is unusually hot. Japanese beetles love the leaves so be on the look out. Once the frost hits-and the "Tree" has fallen over-dig up the bulb. Wipe the dirt off with your hands. Place in a cardboard box and keep in the basement-not in garage-it may freeze. Ignore most of the winter. Check about February to see if it's growing. If your lucky and the bulb has stored enough food, you will get a flower that is the most beautiful thing but boy does it stink. Bad-rotting meat bad.

Great plant for the shade garden in the deep south. I grow them under large oaks. Naturalizes well and self seeds. Seeds can be gathered in the late summer at the base of the leaves, when the leaves die off. Seeds are usually red. Plants take 3 to 4 years to mature from seed increasing in size each year until the leaf is 3 feet tall and as wide. Always arouses interests in visitors. When transplanting, may need to be staked the first year due to shallow root system.

Last summer, after moving into our (upstate NY) house the fall before, I noticed a strange stalk with green and cream mottled coloring, and leaves with a couple of cream colored lines on them in the middle of my garden. Along side it was a smaller one. Nothing happened, but I have to say when I saw it out of the corner of my eye the first time, I jumped a little. I thought it was a snake or something, then realized it was a plant. This spring it came up again and was a little larger. I gave it fertilizer for perennials along with the rest of my plants, and it grew quite nicely. A few weeks later I noticed a green spear-like rolled leaf jutting out the top. A week later, a shiny burgundy colored rod peeked out the top of it and the base just above the leaves had become bulbous. Yesterday it opened up and exposed the 8-10" slightly bumpy stamin? The edges of the 'rolled leaf' were ruffled and tinged with burgundy and inside it was totally burgundy colored all the way to the base where it turned mottled burgundy and green. I thought it might be related to the anthurium family. I emailed a picture to my sister and she looked it up in her botanical guide and told me it was Voodoo stick or lily. So I looked around on the internet and sure enough, there were pictures similar to mine. I went out to see if it smelled and when I got my nose down to it's level, sure enough...it stinks! I love it! I think it is neat and different! I will try to upload the picture.

My wife and I purchased this plant at a garage sale 3 years ago. On the advice of the person we bought it from, I dug it up in the fall and stored it in a pot in a cold dark location in the basement. Each spring it was brought up and planted in the garden to grow into a very attractive and unusual looking plant. I was told it would flower in the spring, but until this point only ever saw what appeared to be the shrivelled and dried remains of a spindly flower when taking it out of hibernation. This year I made it a point of taking it out much earlier.
A small sprout had already started to form so I watered it well and placed it at the sliding doors of the basement among the rest of our tender plants near a closet door. Eventualy it grew to be approximately 20 inches tall and started to bulge at 3 inches from the soil. I received an excited phone call at work from my wife explaining that the two dogs we have went crazy when she took them into the basement to let them outside. The hair raised on their backs and they kept growling at the closet door. My wife was sure there was a weasel or possibly a mink (we have both visiting the backyard occasionaly)in the closet because of the strong odour in the basement. I told her not to do anything until I got home that night. A few minutes after receiving the phone call I remembered the stage of the flower and that the night before it had not opened yet. I called back and told my wife to check the flower and if it was open, to put it outside. Sure enough, the dogs settled down and the smell left the basement.
It is amazing to think that a plant could fool the dogs into thinking there was an animal in the house. I am looking forward to this plant growing again in our garden and next year's flower.

This is a definite oddity. Like most aroids, flowering is not assured each year. Single leaf stem emerges from each bulb; leaves very late to emerge in spring. Leaf stalk grows to 48". Stalk is dark green with purple blotches all over. Leaf is palmate, shaped more like a tiara. Flowering, if occurs, is finished before leaf grows. Flourishes best in shade.

Bulb migrates up and down in soil depending on life cycle; varies from 2" to 8" deep. New offsets produced annually.

Everyone who sees it pronounces it a "martian plant" and clamors for one.

Great and unusual looking flower :) Also try growing the bigger species, like Amorphophallus rivieri (Hydrosme rivieri).