Scientific Name
Other Names
Life Form
Family
Ornamental - It is used as decorative plant in gardens and as a houseplant. Medicinal - It is used for its medicinal properties, such as treating fever, colds, and headaches.
Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal
Thrives in temperate deciduous forests of East Asia, preferring moist, shady areas with rich soil, at an elevation 1600-2400 m.
It is tuberous perennial with a solitary upright stalk emerging from the ground each spring. It's a herbaceous plant that dies back to its underground tuber after flowering.
Stem is short and inconspicuous, arising from a fleshy underground tuber that stores nutrients. The single stalk supports both the leaf and flower.
Leaf is single digitately compound, wonderfully symmetrical, whorled like a Chinese umbrella of leaflets. Leaflets are 7-13, stalkless, inverted-lanceshaped to elliptic, base narrowed.
Flowers are unique structure, resembling a cobra with a hood. The hood (spathe) is usually green or purplish with white stripes, while the spadix (central stalk) inside is often purple or maroon and has a pungent odor that attracts pollinators.
Fruit is cluster of small, red berries that develop from the spadix after flowering.
Flowering: June