Pinellia tripartita

Pinellia tripartita, or Green Dragon, is a very easy-to-grow woodland Aroid from China, Japan and Korea with beautiful green spathes and tall upright spadices. It has distinctive three-lobed tripatite foliage with each leaflet having a wavy margin. Pinellia tripartita is perfect for cooler shady situations and an ideal Aroid for the UK and northern Europe. It is vigourous and very quick growing and soon forms a decent-sized clump, spreading both by its self-dividing tubers and by a liberal supply of seed which self-seed from the pale greenish-white berries in the autumn and appear as new plants the following spring.

The spathe is very exotic looking and although it appears very tropical it can be grown as far north as Scotland in the UK.

The genus is named after Giovanni Vincenzo Pinelli, the sixteenth century humanist, botanist and bibliophile who was a mentor to Galileo and influenced Galileo's understanding of optics.

Pinellia tripartita is a highly-rewarding plant and makes an ideal Aroid for both the experienced plantsperson or for someone just beginning to discover the joys of growing Aroids. There is also a form with purple spathes.