You are here
Araceae
Schismatoglottis latevaginata Engl.
SUMMARY
Small herb to c. 15 cm tall. Stem shortly epigeal, ?pleionanthic. Leaves few together; petiole to c. 14 cm long, sometimes red, longitudinally finely ridged, densely and minutely papillate, scabrid, sheathing in the lower 2⁄5–4⁄5; wings of sheath fully attached, the margin parallel to the petiole except at the base, the tip a bifid rounded ligule 3 mm long; blade narrowly ovate, rather markedly asymmetric, c. 12.5–15 cm long × 6–7.5 cm wide, shining green adaxially and sometimes variegated with a greygreen band near each margin, paler and matte abaxially, the base narrowly cordate with posterior lobes c. 1.5 cm long, the tip acuminate for c. 2 cm; midrib abaxially prominent, finely channelled and scabrid like the petiole, adaxially more or less flush with the lamina; primary lateral veins c. 13 on each side of the midrib, more or less regularly alternating with lesser interprimary veins and diverging at 45–70°; secondary venation arising mainly from the midrib, some from near the bases of the primary veins; tertiary venation forming a tessellate reticulum abaxially. Inflorescence ?solitary; peduncle length? Spathe 4.2–5.5 cm long, narrow; lower spathe narrowly ovoid, 1–1.5 cm long, yellowish flushed pale reddish brown, differentiated from the limb by a sharp constriction; limb 3.1–3.9 cm long, lanceolate, apically acuminate for c. 6 mm, reddish brown, deciduousness not observed. Spadix sessile, 2.5–5.5 cm long, subcylindric; female zone slightly conoid, obliquely inserted but not adnate to the spathe, 0.8–1.4 cm long × 3 mm thick apically; pistils more or less cylindric in the lower part of the female zone, becoming ovoid distally, c. 0.5 mm diam., sometimes somewhat squashed level with the spathe constriction and there ?abortive; stigma sessile, button-like to discoid, slightly centrally impressed, papillate, about half as wide to as wide as the ovary; interpistillar staminodes absent from among the pistils, confined to a row along the insertion of the spadix, almost sessile and irregularly cuboidal to shortly stalked and flat-topped, about equalling the pistils in height; sterile interstice relatively robust, 4 mm long, basally isodiametric with female zone, strongly narrowed near the base or in the upper half corresponding with the spathe constriction, lower staminodes clavate and flat-topped, c. 0.7 mm diam., upper 2–3 whorls irregularly polygonal and resembling sterile anthers; male zone 0.8–1.6 cm long, subcylindric, c. 2.5–5 mm diam.; stamens crowded, truncate, dumbbell-shaped, c. 0.5 cm across, with the connective not elevated above the thecae; appendix 0.6–1.8 cm long, subcylindric, basally isodiametric with the male zone, the apex truncate to tapering; staminodes of appendix large, irregularly polygonal (mostly rhomboid or hexagonal), white, c. 0.8 mm diam. Fruit unknown.