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Araceae
Rhaphidophora australasica F.M.Bailey
SUMMARY
Moderately robust, pachycaul, homeophyllous liane to 15 m; seedling stage not observed; pre-adult plants forming sparse terrestrial colonies; LEAVES: adult shoot architecture comprised of clinging, physiognomically unbranched, densely leafy flowering stems; stems smooth, later with lustrous papery epidermis, cataphylls and prophylls soon degrading into long, untidy fibres, internodes 1-5 x 0.5-1 cm, separated by prominent slightly oblique corky leaf scars; flagellate foraging stem absent; clasping roots densely arising from the nodes and internodes, minutely pubescent; feeding roots not observed; leaves spiro-distichous; cataphylls and prophylls chartaceous but soon degrading into long fibres; petiole deeply grooved, 9-22 x 0.25-0.3 cm, smooth, apical and basal geniculum prominent and drying slightly darker; petiolar sheath extending to apical geniculum, short-persistent, at first, chartaceous, soon degrading to fibres; lamina entire, lanceolate to elongate-lanceolate or elongate-oblanceolate, slightly falcate, 19-46 x 2.5-9.5 cm, subcoriaceous, base rounded to subacute, apex acute to acuminate; midrib raised abaxially, ± sunken adaxially; primary venation pinnate, slightly raised abaxially, much less-so adaxially; interprimaries sub-parallel to primaries, and almost indistinguishable from primary lateral veins; secondary venation reticulate, slightly to barely visible; INFLORESCENCE solitary, subtended by an incompletely developed leaf and much fibrous cataphyll remains; peduncle slightly robust, terete, 3.5-9.5 x 0.2-0.35 cm; spathe slender canoe-shaped, long beaked, 5-9.5 x 2-2.5 cm, stiff-fleshy, cream, caducous leaving a prominent scar; spadix cylindrical, sessile, inserted slightly obliquely on peduncle, 3.75-8 x 1-2 cm, cream; stylar region long-conical, weakly hexagonal in top view, drying longitudinally ribbed, 1.1-1.2 x 1-1.1 mm; stigma punctiform, minutely excavated, 0.1-0.2 x c. 0.3 mm; anthers exserted at male anthesis; INFRUCTESCENCE oblong-cylindrical, 8-9 x 1.5-2 cm.