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Project Noah Nature School
Arisaema utile
This very intriguing plant has a flower that is shaped like an extended hood of a Cobra. The leaves of Sikkim Cobra Lily are divided into three large leaflets. The middle one is rhombic to almost circular. The flower has large outer bract enclosing the flower-head, known as the spathe. The spathe is purple in colour with white stripes. A thread-like appendage, 15-22 cm long, longer than the spathe, extends forward from within the bract. Flowering: June July.
Western Himalayas.
It grows in abundance along with other two aroids in the forests of western Himalayas at 2000 mt above sea level.
Spotted on Jul 13, 2013
Submitted on Jul 15, 2013
3 Comments
What a strange co-incidence Harsha, you'd already spotted Sikkim Cobra Lily in HP. Nature knows no boundaries!
Thank you, Andrea. They look great in the forest.
Very interesting and unusual. Good spotting!