AMORPHOPHALLUS 'MARY SIZEMORE'

PARENTAGE:

Amorphophallus albus x Amorphophallus konjac 'Nightstick'

ORIGIN:

Bred by Cyrille Claudel from Amorphophallus albus (female) and Amorphophallus konjac 'Nightstick', selected for beauty and growing properties and named by Claudel; introduced by Plant Delights Nursery and Juniper Level Botanic Garden in 2022.

HYBRIDIZER:

Cyrille Claudel

DESCRIPTION:

The tubers are round and slightly disciform, reaching up to 1800 g, and form rhizomatous offsets.¹ The leaf looks like a giant version of Amorphophallus albus, with a bright green petiole and peduncle that carry occasional dark spots, and the wavy, undulate spathe is exceptionally unusual.¹ Plant Delights reports green stalks 46" tall with black-green spots heaviest toward the base, topped by a leaf canopy 43" wide.² The inflorescence is 23" tall and opens in mid-June, with a liver-red spathe interior, a matching spadix that just tops the spathe, and a dark-spotted green stalk.²

NOTES:

1. Plant Delights gives the cross as Amorphophallus konjac x albus and names no konjac cultivar, whereas the registry names Amorphophallus albus as the female parent and Amorphophallus konjac 'Nightstick' as the male parent; the direction is therefore uncertain.²,¹

2. Plant Delights lists it under the trade label konbus (Amorphophallus konbus 'Mary Sizemore'); the x-name is a nursery label, and the cultivar-style name is 'Mary Sizemore'.²

3. The registry describes the petiole spots as occasional, while Plant Delights describes them as heaviest toward the base.¹,²

4. The registry records publication in the January 2026 issue of the IAS newsletter.¹

5. One of the named seedlings of Amorphophallus albus × Amorphophallus konjac.¹ Other named hybrids from the same two species: 'Meister Eckardt', 'Green Genes', 'Glow Light', 'Alan's Legacy'. See every recorded cross of these two parents.

STORY:

STORY TITLE: Named for Mary Sizemore

Claudel named this particular seedling in honor of Mary Sizemore, a good friend and outstanding aroid collector.¹ Plant Delights calls her a legendary Florida aroid explorer.²

REFERENCES:

1. International Aroid Society Aroid Cultivar Registry: Amorphophallus 'Mary Sizemore'

2. Plant Delights Nursery: Amorphophallus konbus Mary Sizemore

Photographs submitted to the IAS Aroid Cultivar Registry by Cyrille Claudel

Photos by Plant Delights Nursery