Arophyton simplex Buchet

Perennial herb, usually 2 leaves appearing at the same time as the inflorescence; rhizome, 4-8 x 1.5-2.5 cm, dark brown. LEAVES: Cataphylls membranous reaching 12 cm long. Petiole 35-50 x 0.5-0.8 cm, cylindrical, a little flattened in the upper part, green; sheath of the leaf ca. 2 cm long. Leaf blade ovate, hastate at the base, cuspidate at the apex, dark green on top, paler underneath, 15-25 x 18-20 cm; the anterior lobe 12-15 x 10-13 cm sometimes slightly narrowed at the base, the lateral lobes 8-10 x 5-6 cm, separated by a ± acute sinus; veins whitish, the midrib thick; 3 (-4) primary lateral veins on each side, the lower pair inserted at the base of the midrib, spreading out into the lateral lobes; the other lateral veins ascend towards the apex of the leaf blade; inner collective veins have a distance of 1.2-2 cm to the edge; outer collective veins 2-3 mm from the edge,weaker. INFLORESCENCE: Peduncle slender, 20-30 x 0.2-0.3 cm. Spathe linear, acute, 9-10 x 1 cm, white, rolled into a tube, cylindrical at the base; tube 1.5 x 1 cm; top part of the spathe spreading during anthesis, slightly longer than the spadix. Spadix absolutely free, slender, ending in a slender appendix, smooth, tapering, 3-3.5 cm and ca. 0.15 cm diameter; the male zone 3.5-4.5 x 0.3 cm, the middle sterile zone, slightly more slender, 0.3-0.4 cm long; the female zone 0.7 x 0.6 cm; the upper synandriums gradually more sparse in the appendix. Stamens (2-) 3-5, joined into an irregular synandrium, very narrowly elliptic, ca. 6 x 1 mm, the lower ones a little wider; 4-10 sessile thecae, sparse on the upper edge of the synandrium and a little sunken, dehiscing via a pore; the synandriums at the base of the male zone of the spadix absolutely flat at the apex; the synandrium situated higher up have a narrow slit in the centre. Pistils ca. 2.3 mm long, surrounded by a short synandrodium, cyathiform and purple or where a long style comes out; synandrodium ca. 0.75 x 1.5 mm.Ovary ovoid; ovule globose, flat, funicle long; style long, pale and covered in whitish spots; stigma ± disc-shaped, slightly concave in the centre, colour dark (reddish-brown?) only a little more wider than the style; sterile flowers ellipsoid, ca. 3 x 1 mm, with bulging sides and a central slit. INFRUCTESCENCE: Fruit unknown