Anubias gigantea (Araceae)
Rhizome creeping, prostrate and rooting, 1-3 cm thick. LEAVES:Top densely leaved. Petiole slightly shorter than or up to 2.5 x longer than the leaf-blade; up to 83 cm long. Sheath short or up to the middle. Geniculum 1-2.5cm long. Leaf-blade hastately lobed, sometimes nearly tripartite, middle lobe ovate or lanceolate, 13-30 cm long, 5-14 cm broad, 2-4 x as long as broad, widest below the middle, glabrous below, coriaceous. Lateral lobes 9-28 cm long, 3-10 cm broad. Many prominent lateral nerves, with 2-4 less prominent lateral nerves between them, which sometimes unite before the margin, at the edge anastomosing in 2-3 marginal nerves and with numerous slender, transverse veinlets between them. INFLORESCENCE: Peduncle a little shorter than the petiole, 14-60 cm long. Spathe 3.5-8 cm long, oblong, thick, fleshy, not spreading at maturity but at the top open. Before anthesis opening halfway down, but not reflexed and closing tightly and entirely again after a few hours. Short acuminate, green. Spadix a little longer than the spathe, up to 9 cm long, cylindrical, 5-10 mm thick, male part ± 1.5-3 x as long as the female part. female and male part densely flowered. Stamens 4-6(8). Lower male flowers sometimes sterile. Stigma large, white, discoid, subsessile or on a short contracted style. Thecae on the side of the synandrium, oblong, opening with a longitudinal fissure. INFRUCTESCENCE: Berries depressed-globose. Dried seed yellow, with many brownish spots, 1.5-1.8 mm long, 0.9-1.2 mm broad, 1.3-2 x as long as broad. (Seeds and berries only once observed, Adams 4551, B).
A. gigantea is very closely related to A. afzelii, from which it differs merely by the shape of the leaf-blade. Other characters more or less different from A. afzelii are: petiole/leaf-blade ratio, colour of the stigma, length of the petiole and the spadix/spathe ratio. It is possible, that A. gigantea represents a variety of A. afzelii. However, as no intermediary specimens were observed and both taxa are very constant with regard to shape of the leaf blade, it seems preferable to maintain the two species.
Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Togo.
Ecology: Semi-aquatic, at the banks of rivers or in the riverbed. Mostly on rocky places