In this third part on the botanical characteristics of the cultivation of ocumo, I will describe some important points of the inflorescence: the first thing to keep in mind is that it has two or more inflorescences emerge from the apical meristem of the corm, between the petioles of the leaves.
▶ It is formed from an enveloping leaf called spathe that surrounds the spadix (these are characteristic structures of the Araceae). From the axis of the latter, the sessile flowers are inserted. In the lower part it bears pistillate flowers which do not develop, dry and fall off.
▶ Credits: plantasyhongos. – [Image of Public Domain]
The cultivation of ocumo has an erratic production of seeds, but there are known cases of normal seed formation in many localities of its geographical distribution.
A fact to keep in mind is that the growth cycle of ocumo begins with what is called "vegetative growth" which is an increase in the aerial part up to 6 months and a subsequent decrease.
This decrease involves a decrease in the number of leaves, leaf area and shortening of petiole size, which is manifested in a reduction in plant size.
In comparison, corm weight increases slowly from 3 to 5 months of growth, and from this time the increase in corm weight accelerated until 11 months. Leaf number increases from the time of planting until 5 months, after this point it remains constant until 8 months and declines from 9 months until harvest.
NOTE: Reference material.