Araceae
Mangonia uruguaya (Hicken) Bogner
SUMMARY
Tuberous perennial, glabrous herb (geophyte); the inflorescences appearing before or with the leaves; usually with (5-)7-11 leaves. Tuber depressed-globular, 2.5-3.5 cm in diam. and 1.8-2.5 cm thick, (up to 12 cm in diam. in nature), light brown to beige outside. Cataphylls (1.0-)2.5-13(-15) cm long and 2-4(-5) cm wide, green, apex acute to cuspidate; before the inflorescence 4 cataphylls, the first one the shortest and the last one the longest, if not flowering then 3 cataphylls before the foliage leaves. Petiole 15-20 cm long and 2-4 mm in diam., terete and canaliculate on upper side, middle green, with a long sheath 4-7 cm long, margins of sheath membranous; leaf blade very narrow-elliptic, rarely very narrow-lanceolate, 15-25 (-29) cm long and 1.5-4.0(-4.3) cm wide, middle green, apex acute (rarely somewhat cuspidate), base cuneate; venation reticulate, 3-4(-5) primary lateral veins on each side of the strong middle vein ascending at an angle of ca. 20° towards the apex and running more or less parallel to each other, finer second-order veins between them reticulate with the third order veins, one or two collective veins along the margin at a distance of .5-1.0 mm from the margin, collective veins not running to the apex but only a certain distance and ending there in a inner collective vein which is repeated a few times. Inflorescence solitary, rarely tuber with two or three inflorescences in one growing season. Peduncle (6-)12-15 cm long and 2.5-3.0 mm in diam., more or less whitish to cream-colored. Spathe 9.0-19.5(- 220) cm long and 1.5-2.4(-3.5) cm wide, usually not constricted or only very slightly, outside and inside light green to olive-green or pinkish (fide collector's note), at base sometimes slightly reddish tinged outside and inside, basal part convolute and forming a tube 1-3 cm long enclosing the female zone of the spadix, upper part expanded, spathe usually longer than the spadix. Spadix cylindric, usually straight but often somewhat curved, 8-18(-20) cm long, female zone l.0- l.2 cm long and .5-.6 cm in diam., male zone 5-7(-8) cm long and .3-.4 cm in diam., upper zone with sterile male flowers 3.5-9.0(-10.5) cm long and .3-.4 cm in diam. Flowers unisexual, without perigone; female flowers densely arranged, 1,5-2.0 mm tall, ovary ovoid, ca. 1.5 mm in diam., cream-colored, bilocular, with 2(-3) anatropous ovules in each locule, placenta axile, style ca . .5 mm long, red-brown to purplish; stigma discoid (to slightly lobed), ca. 1 mm in diam. and slightly sunken in the center, red-brown to purplish, gynoecium surrounded by (3-)4-5 clavate, red-brown to purplish, shorter staminodes, apex of staminode subcapitate, papillose and ca .. 5 mm in diam.; male flowers laxly arranged, especially in its lower part of the male zone of 2-4 cm length nearly naked and the cream-colored to beige axis well visible and only scattered with some synandria, in upper part of male zone synandria irregularly clustered and separated 2-3 mm from other clusters, cream-colored to beige, 0-)2-4 stamens forming one flower, anthers subsessile, free, .5-.7 mm long and 1.0-1.5 mm wide but the short filaments connate and forming a synandrium, thecae more or less globose, dehiscence by an apical pore, connective inconspicuous; pollen grains ellipsoid, inaperturate, ca. 40 x 25 mm, exine areolate; also the synandrodes of the upper sterile zone clustered and at a distance of 1-2 mm from each other, sterile male flowers .7-1.0 mm long and 1.0-1.5 mm wide, yellowish to light yellow, 3- 5 staminodes forming a synandrodium which is connate only in its basal part and divided in the upper part with subcapitate apices. (Synandrodes always lighter colored than the synandria, this also clearly visible on herbarium specimens). Infructescence ca. 2 cm long and 1.7 cm in diam., densely covered with berries. Berry obovoid, ca . . 8 cm long and .9 cm in diam., with stigma remnant, bilocular with 2 seeds in each locule; seed more or less ellipsoid, ca. 5 mm long and 3 mm wide, somewhat compressed, testa smooth, embryo elongate, endosperm copious.