Rhizoma Arisaematis seed

LATIN NAME: Arisaema erubescens

COMMON NAME: Arisaema Rhizome

The arisaema is the hooded cup of the shaded floor, and the small, greenish-purple flowers hide inside the fine, striped spathe. The perennial herb rises from the small, fleshy corm and carries the long-stalked, palmately divided leaves of the narrow leaflets and the curious, hooded flower heads with the fine, striped spathes through the late spring, to be followed by the dense clusters of the small, bright-red berries, one of the fine, curious sights of the shaded garden. The corms have a very long record in the old practice of the warm East. It is a plant of the open, partly shaded, moist, rich, well-drained ground. The corms are for the eyes only, not for eating or touching without the gloves.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The arisaema is a curious subject of the plant science, and the hooded cups keep showing up in the work on the aroid group. The chemistry of the corms, which carry the irritant crystals and have a very long record in the old practice of the warm East, has been studied steadily, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the aroid group, the traditional root herbs and the members of the arum family. The palmately divided leaves and the fleshy corms have also made it a fine study plant, and the arisaema is a regular subject of the work on the hooded cups of the shaded world.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The arisaema is a fine, curious plant of the shaded garden and the study collection. The curious, hooded flower heads with the fine, striped spathes open through the late spring, one of the fine, curious sights of the shaded floor, to be followed by the dense clusters of the small, bright-red berries, grown for the bold leaves and the hooded flowers rather than for the table. The plant is one of the fine choices for the shaded border, the woodland garden and the study collection, best kept out of the reach of the small hands. It has been written about in the botanical and the horticultural papers for the hooded cups and the red berry clusters, and it is a fine, curious plant of the open, partly shaded, moist, rich, well-drained garden.

Give the corms a cool, shaded spot and the steady moisture through the growing season.

To grow the arisaema from seed, sow the small, round seeds a centimetre down in a tray of coarse, free-draining soil, keep the tray in a warm, bright spot and water gently, then set the young plants out in the shaded bed. The seedlings come up in their own good time and grow on slowly at first. With the light shade and the moist, rich, well-drained ground, the hooded cups will open through the late spring.

The drug is collected in autumn and winter when the stem and leaf are withered, removed from fibrous root and outer tissue, dried in the sun, and cut into slices. The drug can also be processed.
Dries Dampness; Transforms Phlegm; Expels Wind; Calms convulsions