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Araceae
Rhaphidophora stolleana Engl. & K.Krause
SUMMARY
Moderate, somewhat robust, semi-leptocaul, homeophyllous (?) liane unknown ultimate height; seedling and pre-adult plants not observed; LEAVES: adult shoot architecture not completely known, but observed to comprise of greatly elongated, strongly pendent, physiognomically unbranched, leafy, non-flowering stems giving rise to abbreviated short, free, sympodial, flowering stems; stems smooth, climbing stems not observed, free stems weakly four angled to ± terete in cross-section, occasionally with two close longitudinal keels along one side, dull pale yellow brown, without prophyll, cataphyll and petiolar sheath fibres, internodes to 13.5 x 1 cm, flowering shoots abbreviated, arising from just above the axils of leaves and twisting to present inflorescences upwards; flagellate foraging stems not observed; clasping roots arising singly from the nodes and internodes, slightly pubescent; feeding roots not observed; leaves very weakly spiralled, scattered; cataphylls and prophylls membranous, caducous; petiole shallowly canaliculate, 13-14 x 0.35-0.7 cm, smooth, with a well defined apical and large, slightly prominent basal geniculum; petiolar sheath very prominent, extending to apical geniculum, swiftly caducous leaving a slight scar; lamina entire, elliptic to oblong-elliptic, 20-29 x 8-13 cm, membranous, drying discolorous, adaxially mid-brown, abaxially pale orange-brown, base subovate, very briefly decurrent, apex acute to briefly acuminate, slightly falcate with a minute apiculate tubule; midrib slightly raised abaxially, sunken adaxially; primary venation pinnate, slightly raised abaxially; interprimaries parallel to primaries, occasionally slightly reticulated, slightly raised abaxially; secondary and tertiary venation reticulate, prominent abaxially in dried specimens; INFLORESCENCE inflorescence solitary, subtended by a foliage leaf; peduncle terete, c. 6 x 0.3 cm; spathe elongate-cylindric, stoutly short-beaked, c. 10.2 x 1.7 cm, thinly stiff-coriaceous, duration unknown; spadix slender cylindrical, sessile, inserted very obliquely on to the peduncle, c. 8 x 1.1 cm; stylar region rhombohexagonal, 1--1.2 x c. 1 mm, truncate; stigma slightly longitudinally elongate to punctiform, c. 0.4 x 0.25 mm; anthers exsertion not observed; INFRUCTESCENCE not observed.