You are here
Araceae
Schismatoglottis crinitissima A.Hay
SUMMARY
Herb to c. 30 cm tall. Stem suberect, condensed, c. 1 cm diam., clothed in old leaf remains, pleionanthic. Leaves few (c. 3) together; petiole dark blue-green, 10–24 cm long, densely clothed in white (rust-brown when dry) multicellular unbranched hairs 2–3 mm long, sheathing in the lower 1⁄8–¼ with the apex of the sheath extended into a tongue-shaped (sometimes longitudinally split) ligular part c. 1.5 cm long; blade narrowly ovato-sagittate, dark green adaxially, grey-green abaxially, 14–17 cm long × 6.5–9 cm wide, the apex acute and apiculate for 2 mm, the base retuse to cordate (always some cordate-based leaves on a plant); adaxially with densely scattered hairs on the midrib and otherwise mainly between the veins, the margin ciliate and the abaxial surface densely hairy on the primary and secondary veins with scattered hairs on the lamina in between the veins; hairs on the blade similar to but shorter and thinner than those on the petiole; posterior lobes rounded, 2–3 cm long, somewhat spreading; primary lateral veins rather prominent abaxially, about 8 on each side of the midrib, alternating with lesser interprimaries and emitting one or two branches from half way or less from the midrib, diverging at 60–70° then ascending to join a marginal or submarginal (see Notes) vein c. 1 mm from the margin; secondary veins moderately dense (c. 1 mm apart) to rather sparse (c. 2 mm apart — see Notes); tertiary venation forming a rather distinct reticulum or obscure (see Notes). Inflorescence solitary or two together; peduncle very short, c. 2 cm long and almost completely obscured by leaf bases. Spathe c. 3 cm long, yellowish cream; lower spathe more or less cup-shaped, 5 mm long, differentiated from the limb by a faint constriction; limb deciduous (?crumbling) 2.6 cm long in all, subcylindric level with male zone, then inflated over appendix, finally acuminate for 8 mm. Spadix 2 cm long, sessile; female zone 4 mm (adnation, if any, unclear); pistils densely packed, subglobose, c. 0.5 mm diam., (covered with fine whitish crystals); stigma sessile, discoid, about as wide as ovary; interpistillar staminodes ?absent; sterile interstice c. 1 mm long, a whorl of flat-topped more or less lens-shaped and longitudinally aligned staminodes; male zone cylindric, 5 mm long × 2.5 mm thick; stamens mostly in partially adnate pairs with the connectives much elevated above the thecae and slightly capitate, c. 0.25 mm diam.; appendix ellipsoid, 1 cm long, 3 mm thick at the middle, blunt-tipped, composed of very slightly convextopped irregularly polygonal staminodes c. 1 mm diam. Fruiting spathe broadly urceolate, c. 1 cm long and wide.