Mangonia Schott

HABIT : seasonally dormant small herbs, tuber depressed-globose, deeply embedded in soil. LEAVES : few to several. PETIOLE : sheath long. BLADE : linear-elliptic or broadly ovate-elliptic to oblong-sagittate; primary lateral veins pinnate, few, running into margin, higher order venation reticulate. INFLORESCENCE : solitary, appearing before the leaves. PEDUNCLE : fairly long, mostly subterranean. SPATHE : erect, not constricted, lower part convolute into subcylindric tube, blade lanceolate to oblong, erect, gaping. SPADIX : subequal to spathe, female zone short, densely flowered, male zone less densely to laxly flowered especially in basal portion, either contiguous with female or separated by short ± naked axis, apical third to half of spadix more densely flowered and covered with sterile male flowers. FLOWERS : unisexual, perigone absent. MALE FLOWER : 2-5-androus, stamens with filaments connate, forming stipitate or sessile synandrium, anthers free, connective inconspicuous, thecae ellipsoid to globose, dehiscing by a narrow slit or apical pore. STERILE MALE FLOWERS : synandrode stipitate, consisting of 3-5 subcapitate, basally connate staminodes. POLLEN : inaperturate, ellipsoid, medium-sized (40 x 25 µm.), exine areolate to subrugulate. FEMALE FLOWER : gynoecium surrounded by whorl of 3-4 clavate-spathulate staminodes, ovary globose to ovoid, 2-3-locular, ovules 2 per locule, anatropous, funicle short, placenta axile in upper part of septum, style distinct, narrower than ovary, stigma 3-lobed or discoid, broader than style, concave centrally. BERRY : depressed-globose, in dense, subglobose to shortly cylindric infructescence. SEED : ellipsoid, somewhat compressed, testa smooth, embryo and endosperm unknown.