Schismatoglottis elegans A.Hay

Herb to 70 cm tall. Stem epigeal, erect to decumbent, physiognomically branched, freely rooting from the internodes, to 50 cm long, c. 2 cm diam., internodes to 1.5 cm long. Leaves to 10 together; petiole (10–) c. 25 cm long, sheathing in the lower ½; wings of sheath fully attached, tapering; blade mid-green on both surfaces, elliptic to rather narrowly (oblong-)ovate, (13)15–18 cm long × (4.5)7–9 cm wide, the base obtuse to rounded, the apex acute and acuminate for 2 cm; midrib abaxially prominent near base (dry), with c. 12 primary lateral veins on each side, alternating with lesser interprimaries, frequently with a few branches from near the base, abaxially prominent (fresh), diverging at 45–60°; secondary venation rather obscure, arising from the midrib and the primary veins; tertiary venation obscure. Inflorescence solitary, sometimes up to three in quick succession alternating with foliage leaves (i.e. not forming a true synflorescence); peduncle not exserted from leaf bases. Spathe (5.6–) c. 13 cm long, greenish yellow; lower spathe narrowly ovoid, (1.6–)2.5 cm long, differentiated from the limb by a distinct constriction; limb broadly lanceolate, rather coriaceous, opening wide except for convolute base, at first overarching, then reflexed, finally more or less twisted and then disintegrating and deciduous, (3.6–) c. 10.5 cm long. Spadix sessile, whitish, to 9.5 cm long; female zone c. (1.7–)2.5 cm long, adnate to the spathe in the lower ⅓; pistils more or less ovoid, with 2–3(–4) longitudinal lobes, crowded, c. 0.6 mm diam.; stigma small, button-like, narrower than the ovary, subsessile; interpistillar staminodes very occasional among the pistils, crowded into a row along the spathe/spadix adnation, stalked, clavate and flat-topped, c. 1 mm diam.; sterile interstice somewhat attenuate, c. 3 mm diam. in the middle (slightly wider at each end), (0.5–) c. 1 cm long, basally more or less covered with inflated abortive pistils (reduced stigmas), apically covered with sterile stamens; male zone (1.1–)1.3 cm long, cylindric, c. 5 mm diam.; stamens crowded, truncate, dumbbellshaped with the connective not elevated above the thecae, c. 1 mm across; appendix subcylindric, tapering in the upper ⅓ to an acute point, 5 cm long, basally more or less isodiametric with top of male zone; staminodes of appendix more or less columnar, flat-topped, irregularly polygonal (drying with the stalk collapsed but the top remaining expanded and tending to cohere in groups), c. 0.5 mm diam. Infructescence unknown.