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Araceae
Rhaphidophora brevispathacea Engl. & K.Krause
SUMMARY
Moderate, somewhat slender, leptocaul, homeophyllous (?) liane of unknown ultimate height; seedling and pre-adult plants not observed; LEAVES: adult shoot architecture not completely known, but observed to be comprised of greatly elongated, spreading to strongly pendent, physiognomically unbranched, leafy, non-flowering stems giving rise to extremely short, free, sympodial, (foliage) leafless, flowering stems; stems smooth, climbing stems not observed, free stems weakly rectangular to ± terete in cross-section, dull yellow brown, internodes to 5 x 0.7 cm, flowering shoots extremely abbreviated, arising from axils of leaves and, where stems pendent then twisting to present inflorescences upwards, stems all but obscured by netted petiolar sheath and cataphyll fibre; flagellate foraging stems not observed; clasping roots arising singly from the nodes and internodes, slightly pubescent, later glabrescent; feeding roots not observed; leaves weakly spiralled, scattered; cataphylls and prophylls membranous, very quickly degrading leaving semi-persistent netted remains; petiole grooved adaxially, 7-9.5 x 0.2-0.3 cm, smooth, with a weakly defined apical and slightly prominent basal geniculum; petiolar sheath slightly prominent, extending beyond the apical geniculum by two ligules, caducous leaving a slight continuous scar from the petiole base, around the top of the apical geniculum and back to the base; lamina entire, elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate, 6.2-20 x 2.5-8.75 cm, coriaceous, upper surfaces very slightly glossy, drying strongly bicolorous, adaxially dark brown, abaxially bright orange-brown with copious, minute tannin cells, base subovate, very briefly decurrent, apex acute to briefly acuminate, with a minute apiculate tubule; midrib slightly raised abaxially, sunken adaxially; primary venation pinnate, slightly raised abaxially, prominent (darker veins against pale lamina) in dried material; interprimaries parallel to, but much less distinctive than, primaries, very slightly raised abaxially; secondary and tertiary venation ± invisible in dried specimens, very weakly reticulate; INFLORESCENCE solitary, subtended by several reduced leaves (lamina absent) with rapidly degrading petiolar sheaths and netted cataphylls, the whole obscuring the peduncle; peduncle terete, 3-4 x 0.25-0.3 cm; spathe ovoid-cylindric, stoutly very short-beaked, 3-4 x 2-2.3 cm, thinly coriaceous, marcescent to fruiting, then abcissing basally and pushed off by developing fruits, leaving a slight scar; spadix slender cylindrical, stipitate, inserted more or less level on stipe, 2.9-3.4 x 1.7-1.9 cm; stipe slender terete, c. 3 x 1.5 mm; stylar region rhombohexagonal, 1.7-2.1 x c. 2 mm, depressed centrally; stigma punctiform, c. 0.4 mm diam., prominent in dried material; anthers exserted at male anthesis; INFRUCTESCENCE not observed.