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Araceae
Rhaphidophora guamensis P.C.Boyce
SUMMARY
Moderately robust, medium-sized semi-leptocaul, heterophyllous(?) liane to unknown ultimate height; seedling stage not observed; pre-adult plants forming scattered terrestrial colonies; LEAVES: adult shoot architecture comprised of elongated, clinging, physiognomically unbranched, scattered-leafy, non-flowering stems and free, sympodial, leafy flowering stems; stems smooth, mid-green, cataphylls and prophylls briefly persistent then falling leaving bare stems, internodes 0.5-3 x 0.3-1 cm, separated by prominent straight leaf scars; flagellate foraging stem not observed; clasping roots solitary to somewhat densely produced arising from the nodes and internodes adjacent to nodes; feeding roots not observed; leaves more-or-less distichous; cataphylls and prophylls drying chartaceous, briefly persistent; petiole deeply canaliculate, 9-15 x 0.2-0.4 cm, smooth, apical geniculum large but not especially prominent, basal geniculum almost invisible; petiolar sheath extending to base of apical geniculum, broad, chartaceous, short-persistent, degrading to very sparse papery strips, then falling; lamina entire, oblong-elliptic to oblong-lanceolate or oblanceolate, slightly oblique to markedly oblique, 15-32 x 4-8.5 cm, submembranous to coriaceous, base rounded to acute, apex acute to weakly acuminate; midrib raised abaxially, ± flush adaxially to weakly raised abaxially; primary venation pinnate, slightly raised abaxially, flush adaxially, drying darker than lamina; interprimaries sub-parallel to primaries, much less prominent, slightly raised abaxially, barely visible adaxially; secondary venation reticulate, raised, especially notable in dry material; INFLORESCENCE solitary, subtended by a fully to partially developed foliage leaf and one to several degraded and soon-falling chartaceous cataphylls; peduncle rather stout, terete, 6-8 x 0.3-0.5 cm; spathe broadly canoe-shaped, briefly stout-beaked, 10-12 x 2-7 cm, spongy-fleshy, very thick-walled, pale yellow, caducous, falling leaving a very prominent oblique scar; stipe stoutly terete, 1-1.5 x 0.4-0.5 cm; spadix slender to somewhat stout-cylindrical, stipitate, cochleate at insertion on stipe, 7-9 x 1-1.5 cm, white at male anthesis; stylar region strongly conical, mostly hexagonal in top view, 0.9-1.2 x 1-1.1 mm; stigma punctiform on the tip of a long (c. 2 mm) stipe, 0.5-0.2 x c. 0.3 mm, glossy and black in dried material; anthers not exserted at male anthesis; INFRUCTESCENCE not observed.