Lasia spinosa (L.) Thwaites

Evergreen herb to 1 m tall. Subterranean stem a rhizome, 1–2 cm diam. Cataphylls sheathing separately petiole and peduncle, 1–25 cm long; petiole to 60 cm long; leaf blade pedate; leaflets 5(–7), oblong-elliptic, 13–16 × up to 6 cm wide, margins entire, apex acuminate, ending in a short arista, ca 1 cm long; central leaflet with a petiolule to 6 cm long; lateral leaflets shortly petiolulate, external ones asymmetrical, green. Inflorescence overtopping the foliage; peduncle to 85 cm long, carmine; spathe tube slightly funnel-shaped, ca 6 × 2.5 cm near the mouth, light yellow-green; spathe mouth margins with broad auricles, 1.5–2.5 cm wide; spathe limb ovate, ca 11 × 4 cm, light green, tip acuminate, ending in a short thread; spadix appendix protruding from the tube, but shorter than the spathe, 6–8 cm long, thin, sessile, lower part conical, ca 5 mm wide, covered with many, green, flexuous bristles, 3–18 cm long, and with short purple bristles just above the fertile zone; fertile zone staminate or bisexual; staminate flowers 3–4-androus; anthers stalked; thecae dehiscent by an elongate pore; pistillate flowers, infructescence and fruits unknown.