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Araceae
Rhaphidophora spuria (Schott) Nicolson
SUMMARY
Moderate to large, robust, semi-pachycaul homeophyllous liane to 15 m; seedling stage not observed; pre-adult plants forming small terrestrial colonies; adult shoot architecture comprised of elongated, clinging, physiognomically unbranched, leafy, non-flowering stems and short, usually unbranched, free, sympodial, densely leafy, flowering stems; stems smooth, terete in cross-section, with sparse prophyll, cataphyll and petiolar sheath fibre, this soon falling, internodes 0.5-8 x 0.5-2 cm on clinging shoots, usually shorter and stouter on free shoots, separated by large, straight, corky leaf scars, older stems woody; flagellate foraging stems absent; clasping roots densely arising from the nodes and internodes of clinging stems, notably pubescent; feeding roots not observed; LEAVES weakly spiro-distichous on clinging and free shoots; cataphylls and prophylls membranous, quickly drying and degrading into sparse fibres, these soon falling; petiole deeply canaliculate, 14-66 x 0.3-0.1.5 cm, apical and basal geniculum moderately prominent; petiolar sheath prominent, extending to the apical geniculum, swiftly drying and degrading into sparse, soon-falling fibres; lamina entire, ovate-oblong to oblong-lanceolate or oblong-elliptic, sometimes slightly oblique, occasionally falcate, 5.7-76 x 2.5-32 cm, thinly to quite coriaceous (larger laminas tending to be thinner textured), often drying strongly discolorous, adaxially mid-brown, abaxially pale brown, base unequal, cuneate to rounded, subtruncate or weakly cordate, where present basal 'lobes' more developed on one side, apex acute to obtuse, acuminate with a prominent, short tubule; midrib prominently raised abaxially, ± sunken adaxially; primary venation pinnate, raised abaxially and adaxially; interprimaries sub-parallel to primaries, hardly less prominent, slightly raised abaxially and adaxially; secondary venation reticulate, slightly raised; INFLORESCENCE solitary to several together, strongly sweet-fragrant, if solitary then subtended by a partially to fully developed foliage leaf, if more then one than subsequent inflorescences each subtended by a soon-degrading membranous prophyll and cataphyll; peduncle compressed-terete, often with a deep longitudinal sulcus on the shoot side, 5-19 x 0.25-1 cm; spathe broadly canoe-shaped, stoutly beaked, 9.5-16 x 2.5-5.5 cm (up to c. 7 cm wide when flattened out), stiff-fleshy, cream at male anthesis, caducous leaving a large, straight scar; spadix cylindrical, inserted ± level to somewhat obliquely on peduncle, 6.2-15.5 x 1.2-1.5 cm, creamy white at male anthesis; stylar region mostly hexagonal, 1.6-2.4 x c. 2 mm diam., truncate, area around stigma sunken; stigma punctiform to slightly ellipsoid, c. 0.5-0.7 mm x 0.5 mm; anthers exserted at male anthesis; INFRUCTESCENCE stoutly oblong to tapering-cylindrical, 10-12 x 1.1-2.5 cm.