anonymous at nowhere.com
Tue Sep 23 08:50:46 EST 1997
On 23 Sep 1997 12:48:09 GMT, "Eric Liew"
<liewfam at mbox2.singnet.com.sg> wrote:
>Do dumbcanes flower ?
>I am puzzeled.
Assuming that you are talking about Dieffenbachia, an arum, yes.
However, like many members of the arum family, the inflorescence
(group of flowers) is both not a 'typical' flower (appearance of
petals, sepals, etc.), and is often green. A spike of flowers (called
a spadix), shaped much like a slender corn-cob, each individual flower
lacking either petals or sepals, is surrounded by a specialized leaf
(called a spathe), which is often green. If my memory serves me right,
the entire spathe/spadix inflorescence for Dieffenbachia is only about
4 in (100 mm) long. Additionally, like many houseplants, the plant may
need to be quite large or old before it is mature enough to produce
flowers. So if your plant is young or small, it may be too early for
it to produce flowers yet.
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