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Araceae
Schismatoglottis conoidea Engl.
SUMMARY
Small herb c. 10–15 cm tall. Stem epigeal, erect to decumbent, sometimes physiognomically branched, to 6 mm diam. with internodes 0.5–1 cm long, pleionanthic. Leaves to 5 together clustered at the end of the stem; petiole (2–)3.5–10 cm long, sheathing in the lower ⅓–3⁄5; wings of sheath fully attached, truncate at the apex; blade dark green and sometimes variegated with a central grey green line or irregularly spattered grey-green throughout, adaxially with minute verruculae on the surface when dry, elliptic to ovate, 7–10 cm long × 2–4.5 cm wide, the base acute to rounded (to subtruncate), the tip acute and slightly acuminate for c. 5 mm; midrib abaxially prominent, adaxially impressed; primary lateral veins 4–6 on each side, alternating with lesser interprimaries and diverging at 45–70°, abaxially faintly prominent, adaxially faintly impressed; secondary venation fine and dense, nearly all arising from the midrib, a few from near the bases of the primary veins, adaxially rather obscure; tertiary venation obscure. Inflorescence solitary (occasionally two in series with a long time interval between them); peduncle subequalling the petioles, subtended by a cataphyll completely hidden by the subtending leaf sheath. Spathe 2–2.5 cm long, more or less spindle-shaped; lower spathe 2–2.5 cm long, 5–7 mm across, narrowly ovoid, differentiated from the limb by a weak constriction, green; limb lanceolate, 2–2.5 cm long, slender, white, subcylindric for 1.2–1.5 cm, 3–5 mm diam. distally narrowed to a 1 cm acumen, crumbling-deciduous. Spadix 3.5–4 cm long, sessile, narrowly more or less spindle-shaped; female zone adnate to the spathe for most of its length, 9 mm long; pistils subglobose, somewhat lax, c. 1 mm diam.; stigma subsessile, broad, discoid, papillate, faintly impressed centrally, c. 0.5 mm diam.; interpistillar staminodes a few scattered among the pistils, but much more concentrated in distal part of female zone, variable in shape within a spadix from truncate-filiform to apically inflated and irregularly polygonal, to c. 1 mm diam., slightly taller than the pistils; sterile interstice massive, c. 1 cm long, 5 mm diam. At base, slightly conoid, occupying whole of upper half of lower spathe chamber; staminodes flat-topped, crowded, irregularly polygonal, c. 1 mm across; male zone c. 1.5 cm long, slender, subcylindric, c. 3 mm diam., extending to tip of spadix; stamens crowded, truncate, dumbbell-shaped with elliptic slit-like pores; appendix absent but for a few terminal abortive anthers, or these absent altogether. Infructescence unknown.