During summer, when the heat and insects outdoors make us too uncomfortable, we retreat to the living room and console ourselves with our bit of indoor greenery.
Our hearth is decorated with several plants, but Hydrosme rivieri, the voodoo plant, is the most prominent.
The picture shows it next to our simple old fireplace, which was used for cooking long ago.
The tall Hydrosme rivieri stands “guard” over various other smaller plants—members of the plectranthus clan, two flowering impatiens, a kalanchoe, and a few coleuses.
Cascading from the mantel itself is ascarina, which produces pink gloxinia-Iike blossoms.
There is enough light from nearby windows for our plants to grow well, but if there is not, we could move them to the window every few days or place them under fluorescent light.
Voodoo Flower
The voodoo plant will live for weeks in a poorly lit location.
The large odd-looking “flower,” which appears before the leaves, resembles a Jack-in-the-pulpit and has an unpleasant odor.
If the spadix is cut out as soon as the sheath unfurls, the odor will be less noticeable.
The voodoo blooms any time from January to June, depending upon when the bulb was planted.
After flowering is over, large stems 3’ to 5’ feet tall develop, each interestingly marked with purple spots.
Beautiful fanlike leaves are produced at the end of the stems. The plant stays green for several months, and then the stalk finally collapses.
The leaves turn brown, and the voodoo must be removed from the hearth to make room for the blazing fire, the whistling kettle, and the chirping cricket.
Bulb Of Voodoo
The bulb will live from year to year if it is stored at 50° degrees Fahrenheit when dormant. In late winter, it should be watered again and, as soon as growth begins, returned to its place in the living room.
The voodoo is often grown as an oddity in a greenhouse under various names—snake palm, sacred lily of India, or, erroneously, black calla.
44659 by Gladys Reed Robinson